Upgrade my compressor to 240V?

[tjmonsen5]

I have the Craftsman Professional 25 gallon horizontal compressor. Its a 1.8hp motor 120/240v. I just bought a air grinder and it ***** my tank dry pretty fast. I can tell that the pump has a hard time keeping up if i do non stop grinding.

So, it came out of the box with the 120v cord. It seems I need to rewire it to step up to 240v. I would also need to run new wire in my garage to have a 240v outlet.

My question is, what is the advantage of upgrading? Will the motor be more powerful?

 

[midnightcruise]

It will not increase the capacity of your air compressor. It is good if you want to pull less current and the motor will typically start without a large inrush of current when running 240v.

I wired mine for 240v because it draws less current and doesn't pop breakers any more. When it was running at 120v it was drawing nearly 20a on start up and would trip the breaker ever couple hours. I got tired of that real quick... so I ran a 240v 60a drop to the garage... now I can run my welder, compressor, and plasma cutter at the same time with no problems. Not that I need too

 

[danski0224]

If you hook up that 120v motor to 240v, it will spin twice as fast.




























For a little while.

 

[gsmoljan]

giving it more voltage does not mean it will go faster being an electrican i know the motor will spin at the rating it is made for
is the unit wired with the correct wire size and the breaker rated for that wire
i have found that a bad wire conection will cause problems and or a fire.
when was the last tine you cleaned the unloader sounds like the compressor is starting under a load
changing pullies will make it go faster but the compressor output is the compressor output
even if you had a 100hp motor turnig at 3480 and a 1hp turnig at3480 the motor turnes at 3480
you may need to find a bigger volume pump insted
i had same problem went on craigslist to find a larger volume pump

 

[OccupantRJ]

The motor will start more easily, and will dim the lights less if you do the changeover to 240 volts. I had a well pump on a piece of property that was wired 120 to a mobile home. After the home was moved out, I had to power the pump from another home on the property, further away, with an underground cable I had previously buried in anticipation of this event. 120 would start and run the pump most of the time, but I had problems with the pump not starting properly, and losing prime. It also kept burning out contact points in the pressure switch. After 2 switches, I switched the motor over to 240 volts, and all problems have ceased. Motors REALLY don't like voltage drop. Take drop cords and run a motor by increasing the length of the cords if you want to see a real world effect, for a learning experience. It doesn't take a lot of distance to see the effect.

 

[sberry]

If its otherwise working changing input voltage will not help it make any more air, the pump and motor are only so big and thats that.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

What are the amp ratings on the motor? My old 1hp Craftsman draws 17.8 amps on 115 volts and half that on 230 volts (thats how its listed on the motor data plate.) If you are able to run it on 120v, then it may or may not be 1.8hp like they say it is, and I'm surprised it will run on a 20 amp 120v breaker.

Going to 240v will not help in its ability to keep up with your air grinder. An air grinder uses LOTS of air, more than that compressor can produce, plain and simple.

What the higher voltage will do is... if you are having the cord get hot because you are running so much current thru it, or it is tripping breakers, or a hesitating start due to voltage drop, installing a dedicated 240v circuit will solve these problems. If the unit starts and runs OK, then going to 240v will not do anything to solve your problem and make the compressor less portable.

when was the last tine you cleaned the unloader sounds like the compressor is starting under a load

He never said he had starting problems, just that it could not keep up with the air grinder.

Charles

 

[tjmonsen5]

It used to dim the lights really bad when i plugged it in the garage, on a 15amp plug. I bought a 50 foot heavy duty extension cord, and ran it to a 20amp plug in my kitchen. It kind of ***** having to run the cord under the garage door to the kitchen whenever i want to use my compressor. It doesnt dim the lights anymore on this plug. Sounds like going to 240v will just make it start up easier. Im not having any problems with heat in the cords. I dont use the air grinder too often so its not a big deal. Surprising how a impact uses almost no air at all while a simple air grinder can drain the tank in a minute or two.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Going with 240 would let you get rid of the drop cord feed method. I used to think air tools were cool, and the way to go, but I have added electric tools to my collection to save wear and tear on my compressors. I now have an electric die grinder I use for a lot of things. Rather large, but has awesome torque.