GMCAMARO
Well-known member
How do you prevent the lights from restarting(flickering) when the compressor comes on?
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Flourescent Lights and Compressor
- Thread starter GMCAMARO
- Start date
Jim Johnstone
Well-known member
Have enough power coming into your garage that the start up load of the compressor doesn't starve the lights.
What is your electrical setup like in your garage?
What is your electrical setup like in your garage?
rlitman
Well-known member
Is your compressor 120 or 240V?
If it is 120, can it be wired for 240?
If it is 120, can it be wired for 240?
pro machine Engineering
Well-known member
60 amp service. I dont think your going to stop the lights from flickering when the compresser starts up. There is a pretty good amount of amp draw when a compressor motor starts
Jim Johnstone
Well-known member
60 amp service. I dont think your going to stop the lights from flickering when the compresser starts up. There is a pretty good amount of amp draw when a compressor motor starts
I agree, a true 7.5hp compressor draws right around 34 or so amps at full load. Start up load on most electric motors is 2 to 3 times higher. So figure 70 to 100 amps on start up. The breakers don't trip because it is a split second start up load, and the breakers are slightly time delayed for that reason.
Gary S
Well-known member
I agree, a true 7.5hp compressor draws right around 34 or so amps at full load. Start up load on most electric motors is 2 to 3 times higher. So figure 70 to 100 amps on start up. The breakers don't trip because it is a split second start up load, and the breakers are slightly time delayed for that reason.
I think this is a good assessment of the problem. Larger service coming in would overcome the voltage sag from the motor startup current.
djjsr
Well-known member
What type of light fixtures are they? Electronic ballast, magnetic ballast, no ballast?
Provincial
Well-known member
Unless you bring in a bigger service feed to the garage, your only hope is to reduce the starting load of the compressor. Some sort of "soft start" setup is necessary. I am not aware of any Soft Starts for single phase motors, but there may be such a thing. Before solid state electronic motor controls became available, it was pretty common to set up banks of capacitors to aid motor starting. It takes someone with experince to design one of these setups. Perhaps someone on the Board knows more?
BillK
Well-known member
GM.
Put a voltmeter on one of the lines going to the lights, or probably just into a wall outlet will do the trick. Watch it while someone else turns the compressor on. You WILL see the voltage drop because your service is not big enough. That is why the lights are dimming, period. Only way to fix it is to upgrade the service so that there is not a voltage drop when the compressor starts. By the way, it might not be the actual service, maybe just the feed cables if they are not large enough.
Put a voltmeter on one of the lines going to the lights, or probably just into a wall outlet will do the trick. Watch it while someone else turns the compressor on. You WILL see the voltage drop because your service is not big enough. That is why the lights are dimming, period. Only way to fix it is to upgrade the service so that there is not a voltage drop when the compressor starts. By the way, it might not be the actual service, maybe just the feed cables if they are not large enough.
StaggeringGoat
Well-known member
If you have magnetic ballasts new electronic ballasts may solve the problem. I've had the same issue with a regular 20A circuit and a smaller compressor and some lights plugged in. The lights with magnetic ballast flicker when the compressor kicks on but the electronic ballasts do not.