Where to install air compressor?

Hi, I am getting an stationary, 240 volt, 60 gallon air compressor, and need
to know where to put it. Unfortunately, I don't have a garage, and the area
where I work on or park my cars is about 60-70 feet from the house, and the
service panel is even further away. A gas-powered compressor is out of the
question due to price. I don't want to store my compressor outside, or in
the basement. The basement is too humid (though not wet), unlocked, and I
would worry it would rust. Plus getting it down there and out would be a
pain, as there is no bulk head. I will put it on the first floor of the
house.

Here are my options:

Option 1:

Compressor in first-floor storage room, which is about 12-15 feet away from
service panel, which is directly below this room in the basement. Compressor
would then be about 90-100 feet from car/work area and I would run the air
hose out the window.

Option 2:

Compressor in first-floor side entry way, about 35-40 feet from service
panel in basement. Might have to drill holes to run the wire, or run it
along the walls, which could add another 20 feet to the length, unless I ran
the wire through the middle of the floor and not along the wall. Compressor
would then be about 60-70 feet from car/work area.

The Haynes tool book which I read said in situations like this where the
work area is far from the service panel, it is always preferable to put the
compressor as close to the panel as possible, since otherwise there will be
voltage drops and you could trip a breaker or cause a temporary brown out.
Also, I have used 50 ' air hoses in the past at school, with no noticeable
air power loss, so I can't imagine 100' of air hose would make much
difference, right?

Also, what type wire should I use to connect to the service panel? 8 gauge?
And what size breaker? 50 amp? Do I have to ground the compressor, since the
house outlets are not grounded right now, since it is over 100 years old! I
assume the service panel is not grounded as well, so grounding wouldn't give
any benefit, would it? I know the house can run 240 volt appliances, since
there are 240 volt outlets for a dryer, and the range and furnace are also
hard-wired. And both of those are about 35-40 feet from the service panel.

Thanks!

You are correct about the short wire long hose idea. You might want one
of those wheel dollies for garden hoses with the roll up handle on them.

For the 240V, you likely just have 2 120V feeds joining up like we do in
the house here.

For a stable ground for our computers and our dryer we tagged the cold
water line in the house. You can confirm that this is a good ground
with a multimeter set on volts. You feed one probe into one side of the
electric outlet and put the other probe to the pipe. You might have to
try both sides of the outlet, but one should give you a 120 volt reading
to the pipe. Don't be surprised if you only see 110 or 115 volts in
your lines, this is normal for some areas.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's


"Julie P." wrote:
>
> Hi, I am getting an stationary, 240 volt, 60 gallon air compressor, and need
> to know where to put it. Unfortunately, I don't have a garage, and the area
> where I work on or park my cars is about 60-70 feet from the house, and the
> service panel is even further away. A gas-powered compressor is out of the
> question due to price. I don't want to store my compressor outside, or in
> the basement. The basement is too humid (though not wet), unlocked, and I
> would worry it would rust. Plus getting it down there and out would be a
> pain, as there is no bulk head. I will put it on the first floor of the
> house.
>
> Here are my options:
>
> Option 1:
>
> Compressor in first-floor storage room, which is about 12-15 feet away from
> service panel, which is directly below this room in the basement. Compressor
> would then be about 90-100 feet from car/work area and I would run the air
> hose out the window.
>
> Option 2:
>
> Compressor in first-floor side entry way, about 35-40 feet from service
> panel in basement. Might have to drill holes to run the wire, or run it
> along the walls, which could add another 20 feet to the length, unless I ran
> the wire through the middle of the floor and not along the wall. Compressor
> would then be about 60-70 feet from car/work area.
>
> The Haynes tool book which I read said in situations like this where the
> work area is far from the service panel, it is always preferable to put the
> compressor as close to the panel as possible, since otherwise there will be
> voltage drops and you could trip a breaker or cause a temporary brown out.
> Also, I have used 50 ' air hoses in the past at school, with no noticeable
> air power loss, so I can't imagine 100' of air hose would make much
> difference, right?
>
> Also, what type wire should I use to connect to the service panel? 8 gauge?
> And what size breaker? 50 amp? Do I have to ground the compressor, since the
> house outlets are not grounded right now, since it is over 100 years old! I
> assume the service panel is not grounded as well, so grounding wouldn't give
> any benefit, would it? I know the house can run 240 volt appliances, since
> there are 240 volt outlets for a dryer, and the range and furnace are also
> hard-wired. And both of those are about 35-40 feet from the service panel.
>
> Thanks!

Julie P. wrote:
> Hi, I am getting an stationary, 240 volt, 60 gallon air compressor,
and need
> to know where to put it. Unfortunately, I don't have a garage, and
the area
> where I work on or park my cars is about 60-70 feet from the house,
and the
> service panel is even further away. A gas-powered compressor is out
of the
> question due to price. I don't want to store my compressor outside,
or in
> the basement.

Why not build a shed for it?

"Mike Romain" > wrote in message
...
> You are correct about the short wire long hose idea. You might want one
> of those wheel dollies for garden hoses with the roll up handle on them.
>
> For the 240V, you likely just have 2 120V feeds joining up like we do in
> the house here.
>
> For a stable ground for our computers and our dryer we tagged the cold
> water line in the house.

Can I connect a green ground wire from the 3 prong outlet where I plug my
computer surge protector in to to a radiator pipe in the house so I can have
a ground too?


You can confirm that this is a good ground
> with a multimeter set on volts. You feed one probe into one side of the
> electric outlet and put the other probe to the pipe. You might have to
> try both sides of the outlet, but one should give you a 120 volt reading
> to the pipe. Don't be surprised if you only see 110 or 115 volts in
> your lines, this is normal for some areas.
>

Thanks Mike!

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Julie P. wrote:
>> Hi, I am getting an stationary, 240 volt, 60 gallon air compressor,
> and need
>> to know where to put it. Unfortunately, I don't have a garage, and
> the area
>> where I work on or park my cars is about 60-70 feet from the house,
> and the
>> service panel is even further away. A gas-powered compressor is out
> of the
>> question due to price. I don't want to store my compressor outside,
> or in
>> the basement.
>
> Why not build a shed for it?
>

That's an idea. But I don't own the house, and I'm not sure if my landlord
would like it. Plus, I would be concerned about theft. And there really
isn't room for the shed.

And wouldn't I still need to string electric wire from the service panel to
the shed?

On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 19:54:33 -0400, "Julie P."
> wrote:

>That's an idea. But I don't own the house, and I'm not sure if my landlord
>would like it. Plus, I would be concerned about theft. And there really
>isn't room for the shed.
>
>And wouldn't I still need to string electric wire from the service panel to
>the shed?
>

No offense intended but you obviously don't know as much about
electricity as you need to know before adding things to the landlords
electrical panel. Get a friend who knows what they are doing to come
and help you or hire an electrician to make the connections and add
the breaker.

Gauge wire needed depends on amps used by the compressor and somewhat
on distance. The instructions should detail this for you. The manual
should also tell you what size breaker you need. Since you are
running 220 the power demands won't be as bad as you might expect.

Steve B.

"Julie P." wrote:
>
> "Mike Romain" > wrote in message
> ...
> > You are correct about the short wire long hose idea. You might want one
> > of those wheel dollies for garden hoses with the roll up handle on them.
> >
> > For the 240V, you likely just have 2 120V feeds joining up like we do in
> > the house here.
> >
> > For a stable ground for our computers and our dryer we tagged the cold
> > water line in the house.
>
> Can I connect a green ground wire from the 3 prong outlet where I plug my
> computer surge protector in to to a radiator pipe in the house so I can have
> a ground too?

Normally yes. Usually the hot water heating has a direct connection to
the cold water line which is the line that goes underground. Usually
this is a good place to get a stable ground for the surge protection.
Do the below check with the meter to verify you have a ground there.

>
> You can confirm that this is a good ground
> > with a multimeter set on volts. You feed one probe into one side of the
> > electric outlet and put the other probe to the pipe. You might have to
> > try both sides of the outlet, but one should give you a 120 volt reading
> > to the pipe. Don't be surprised if you only see 110 or 115 volts in
> > your lines, this is normal for some areas.
> >
>
> Thanks Mike!

You are welcome.

Mike

"Mike Romain" > wrote in message
...
> "Julie P." wrote:
>>
>> "Mike Romain" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > You are correct about the short wire long hose idea. You might want
>> > one
>> > of those wheel dollies for garden hoses with the roll up handle on
>> > them.
>> >
>> > For the 240V, you likely just have 2 120V feeds joining up like we do
>> > in
>> > the house here.
>> >
>> > For a stable ground for our computers and our dryer we tagged the cold
>> > water line in the house.
>>
>> Can I connect a green ground wire from the 3 prong outlet where I plug my
>> computer surge protector in to to a radiator pipe in the house so I can
>> have
>> a ground too?
>
> Normally yes. Usually the hot water heating has a direct connection to
> the cold water line which is the line that goes underground. Usually
> this is a good place to get a stable ground for the surge protection.
> Do the below check with the meter to verify you have a ground there.
>

Ok, thanks. I know on the outside of the house, by the electrical meters,
cable box, etc., that is where all the servicemen attach the ground wires to
this pipe which goes into the ground. But maybe the hot water pipes go
through the furnace, in which case I would have to use a jumper wire to
bypass any gauges or meters. I think even for a cold water pipe, you have to
use a jumper wire to bypass the meter.

"Julie P." wrote:
>
> "Mike Romain" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Julie P." wrote:
> >>
> >> "Mike Romain" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> > You are correct about the short wire long hose idea. You might want
> >> > one
> >> > of those wheel dollies for garden hoses with the roll up handle on
> >> > them.
> >> >
> >> > For the 240V, you likely just have 2 120V feeds joining up like we do
> >> > in
> >> > the house here.
> >> >
> >> > For a stable ground for our computers and our dryer we tagged the cold
> >> > water line in the house.
> >>
> >> Can I connect a green ground wire from the 3 prong outlet where I plug my
> >> computer surge protector in to to a radiator pipe in the house so I can
> >> have
> >> a ground too?
> >
> > Normally yes. Usually the hot water heating has a direct connection to
> > the cold water line which is the line that goes underground. Usually
> > this is a good place to get a stable ground for the surge protection.
> > Do the below check with the meter to verify you have a ground there.
> >
>
> Ok, thanks. I know on the outside of the house, by the electrical meters,
> cable box, etc., that is where all the servicemen attach the ground wires to
> this pipe which goes into the ground. But maybe the hot water pipes go
> through the furnace, in which case I would have to use a jumper wire to
> bypass any gauges or meters. I think even for a cold water pipe, you have to
> use a jumper wire to bypass the meter.

I wish, I have had more 'blue fires' at meters than I care to remember,
some can just blast. I have gotten in the habit of using a jumper cable
when I have to mess with a 'hot' meter now. I work on pipes....

The hot water heating has a fill pipe that is a cold water line so it is
usually ok and a clean ground still.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

> Ok, thanks. I know on the outside of the house, by the electrical meters,
> cable box, etc., that is where all the servicemen attach the ground wires to
> this pipe which goes into the ground. But maybe the hot water pipes go
> through the furnace, in which case I would have to use a jumper wire to
> bypass any gauges or meters. I think even for a cold water pipe, you have to
> use a jumper wire to bypass the meter.


If you use a water pipe as a ground it is required by code to be
connected within a specific number of inches from where the cold water
pipe enters the house. This stops an innocent plumber from being
electrocuted when he/she disconnects a water pipe ten years from now.

The best ground point is your panel which should be tied to the same
stake you mention above.

Steve B.