California Air Tools 10 gallon compressor voltage starved!

[Leadberry]

I just bought this little guy for $120. It has the most cockeyed construction I've ever seen...no two pieces are parallel. But man is it quiet. My roommate and I can stand right next to it and have a conversation. This is perfect, because I live in a dense urban neighborhood and I want to maintain my good relationship with my neighbors!

Now here's the problem...my entire 2-car detached garage is on a single 15A circuit. The voltage drop is just too much for this thing. It starts up fine when empty, but when it's got air in it, the motor tries to turn over a couple times and gets stuck. It runs just fine when I hook it up to a 20A circuit in the house.

So, easy fix right? Add another circuit! Well, maybe not. I'm renting my house. I get along real well with the management company, so I asked them if they/the owners would be willing to have another circuit ran out to the garage. They came back and said they'll see how much the electrician quotes them. I'm waiting to see if they say no before telling them I'm willing to foot the bill!

*crosses fingers*

 

[dowmace]

Is it tripping the breaker? What's the voltage at the receptacle in the garage?

 

[Leadberry]

Is it tripping the breaker? What's the voltage at the receptacle in the garage?

It's not tripping the breaker, though I am shutting the compressor off almost immediately when it starts to bog down. I didn't bother checking the voltage at the outlet. We got our first snow of the year tonight and I really wanted to be out of the cold, so I dragged the compressor inside lol. I'll check the voltage at the receptacle tomorrow. I would estimate that the outlet is right around 75' from the panel.

I haven't had any problems in the garage up to this point. I figure I'm running 4-5 amps of lighting, and not much else. The most power hungry tools I've used until now draw 10-11 amps, and they run fine, albeit with a slight dimming of the lights.

 

[CNGsaves]

Nice little compressor you scored for $120 . . . . that's an oil-less compressor worth owning as portable . . . AND . . . quiet !!

+1 to add 20A circuit in garage as landlord knows, like us all, that 15A running the entire garage is ****. Lean on landlord to install the circuit on his nickel. It's actually MORE SAFE to have proper circuit in garage to prevent potential fire from overloading the existing 15A. In long run, that new 20A circuit will be "selling feature" for renting that house, as nobody wants a garage with couple outlets that blow breaker all the time.