electical wire for Air Compressor

[december45]

went to HD and looked at their 60 gallon Air Compressor, $438.00 where i want to place the compressor is about 100 feet from the electrical panel box, i got a 20 amp receptical and a 20 amp 2 pole breaker, can i use 12/2 wire (romex) for this, tagging the white wire with black tape? thanks for your help

the compressor is 220 vt 15 amp

 

[CenTex52Chevy]

Someone more knowledgable than me will chime in soon, but if it was me I would up size the wire to a 10 guage. You may experience some voltage drop due to the lenght of the run, also if you upgrade you compress at a later date you already have the wire in place for a 30 amp service.

 

[mrb]

voltage drop calc says you need #10 for 20amps and #12 for 15amps. Since it is a motor load, i would go with #10 myself...

 

[sberry]

The wire needs to be 125% of the FLA of the motor, 12 would suffice with that unit since its 15A. 100 ft is so-so, could be better but if its not constant run deal likely wont make much difference. You can try a 20, if it doesn't trip OK, if it does trip on starts, (usually about half a dozen or so) put a 30 in.

 

[nadogail]

1. 12 Guage will work, I would use RED or BLUE tape.
2. 10 Guage would be better, but #1 still applies

 

[Torque1st]

For the few extra $$ involved run #10 and use a 30A breaker with 30A plug etc.

 

[Aceman]

Dammit, my whole post just got deleted!

To sum it up once again, what you posted is legal. However if it was mine I would use #10 on a 30 amp breaker with a 30 amp receptacle. It's not worth chancing premature motor failure from constant undervoltage at startup using #12. For a few dollars more why take a chance?

Whatever you decide, the receptacle must match the breaker rating.

EDIT: What Torque said!