Thanks for the correction. Learned something from it. I'm a dedicated DIY'er but I limit household electrical to changing lights, switches, etc. You won't see my hands inside the breaker box. That's for the pros. That **** can kill you now or later. I'm reminded of the time we had a power outage. I stopped by a local grocery store and found a guy I know hooking up a generator to keep the coolers on. He was up to his elbows in this big commercial box, which I think was 440v 3 phase. As he is getting ready to unhook the main feed cable from the box I asked, "Scott, is the power company going to call you before they turn the juice back on." He did it anyway. You can probably guess he is not an electrician.
I’ve not seen a plug like that, you motor plate indicates it’s 220 volt though. Maybe @Crazy Steve can shed some light?
I still have my Craftsman Compressor that was used to paint my Model A sedan back in the mid 70’s Maintenance is key with anything.
It is a 220 plug. I have a couple in my shop, one is running a 3hp on the shear, and the other is connected to a phase converter on a 3hp band saw.
Replacing light bulbs in the limit of my electrical confidence. Wonder if that is a GFCI plug? How a bent prong changes things I have no idea. That plug & outlet don't match unless the ground prong was cut off and the plug gets turned 180 degrees.
What your pic is , a 20 amp socket, single phase 120v. It just has that slot in it to denote a 20 amp circuit if memory serves.
Thanks, But that is way over my electrical comprehension level. Can we step back and use square peg in a round hole ****ogy? IF I went to the hardware store and bought a GFI wall outlet AND a male plug for an extension cord that fits the outlet, cut the plug off the compressor wire and replaced it with the new matching plug, then install the GFI would the electrical Gods be happy or does the house burn to the ground?
The data plate on the compressor motor clearly states 230 Volts. Your house wiring and the hardware store GFI outlet are 115 Volts. The electrical Gods will be unhappy and will summon Lucas, the Prince of Darkness to let the smoke out of the compressor motor (and maybe the extension cord). Russ
Smoke = You let the Genie out ! One of my favorite sayings . The plug is a 220 15/20 amp plug it was common years ago . Still available at a good hardware store . My next concern is the condition of the tank/tanks . Your getting into total force issue contained inside of a closed pressure vessel . If you suspect and corrosion what so ever in the tank , DO NOT PRESSURIZE the tank . I had a Buddy loose a tank from rust , it took out the front of the garage completely , it would of killed him if he was near the explosion area .
I have a Sears compressor from the same era. 3hp version, also 230 only with same plug. They were offered in 3 and 4 hp versions. I also have a Delta wood planer, 80s build and 90s Century mig welder with that plug. 20a/240v in today's standard, used to be 230 back then. I bought one back then but upgraded to an 80 gallon and sold that one. The one I have was purchased by my Dad, and that's why I still have it. The motor and pump will go on another tank one day, and I'll give it to my grandson.
That plug is there to prevent people from plugging it into a 110 volt outlet. As others have said, changing the plug so you can plug it in to 110 will ruin it. What you need to do is get a 220 plug and wire it into your electrical panel. Electrical wiring back around 1978 should be OK but maybe you should post a picture of your electric panel and any tags or labels that are on it. Also, open the cover and take a picture of the breakers inside.....especially the one at the top of the panel. Obviously, don't touch anything inside the panel or you may be the one emitting smoke. No one can tell you what you have just by guessing what it "should" be. As for the compressor.....my experience with Sears compressors was that they liked to advertise bigger hp compressors for inexpensive prices. I ordered a 4hp one "back in the day". Really disappointed when it arrived, so I returned it without ever plugging it in. The problem was that they put somewhat bigger HP electric motors but used extremely small tanks. That looks like what you have. No one needs 4hp to air up a tire, and when you run them with any kind of tool the motor will kick on and off continuously. The pump will get hot and the air will be hot and full of moisture. I used to be a big fan of Craftsman tools and still have a lot of their wrenches and ratchets from their quality days. Then they began to screw people and lower their quality. Bought brand new ratchets and they slipped immediately. Sears is gone and Craftsman has moved to other venues. So have I.......... I'd sell it ........maybe to a collector and get a decent compressor with a larger tank. You will like it better.
Thanks for posting this. I have an antique air compressor that I should look into and probably retire. It only goes up to 40 or 50 psi, but still.
The best way to feed it would be to use an old, fused sub-panel and put one or two of those time delay fuses in it to protect the compressor. You could buy one of those fused switches that they use on furnaces so they can have the time delay feature. I just had a new furnace installed and it had one so they still use them. There is nothing wrong with fuses, actually they are safer than breakers. I'm run into breakers that have welded themselves on. You could run 100 amps through them and they would just grone and smoke but not open..
The house won't burn to the ground but that GFCI won't last long.... There are literally dozens of plug/receptacle configurations, all for specific applications. These are all different so someone doesn't plug the wrong cord into the wrong receptacle. They are all identified by a NEMA number, the one you need to match the cord is a 6-20R. The cord cap is a 6-20P. This is a 20 amp, 250V ONLY rated plug/receptacle combo, the 120V version looks nearly the same but the flat blade configuration is opposite. https://www.americord.com/nema-charts These are just the common ones. Get into higher voltages, current over 60 amps, or explosion-proof, there's more yet... and BIG $$$$. That's not a bad little compressor. Most of us probably started with one like it as the big 60 gal ones used to be expensive commercial versions, it wasn't until consumer versions of those came out that these fell out of favor. Good for running some air tools (impacts, air ratchets, drills) but would quickly run out of air on grinders/sanders/media blasters. Were marginal for spraying paint, especially if using a pro-style gun back then. They will actually work pretty good now with a modern HVLP gun with its lower SCFM use. If you want to use it, get a 6-20R receptacle, wire in a dedicated 20 amp 220 or 230 volt circuit to it and you'll be good to go. You'll probably have to order the receptacle, but it's still available. Expect to pay about $20-30 for it.
It can be used if you provide 230 Volts Single Phase. NOTE: The descriptor of 220 Volts, 230 Volts and 240 Volts are used in various publications. This is the voltage used for electric stoves, clothes dryers, etc. EDIT: See Crazy Steve's comment above
You have a few options. Sell it and put money towards a 120v compressor, or have a qualified person install a breaker and run a 220v drop/plug socket. Edit: looks like we all were replying at the same time!
Nobody can mention furnaces without me remembering standing between mine and this CRAFTSMAN tool box on the bench two feet away from it. I was standing between them two minutes before it blue up. It was loud.
Using a Binks compressor/spray system puchased in 1963, was originally given to a Binks system instructor upon his retirement on or about that year & was still on the factory crate skids.
One final note. The more common configuration used these days are twist-locks. You'll likely have to find these from somebody who stocks commercial/industrial parts, but if you need an extension cord the respective cord caps will be much easier to find. More $$, but not a ton more and they won't come unplugged like the non-locking type. Same basic NEMA number, just put a 'L' in front of it (for 'locking'). You can even get a water-resistant type if using them outdoors.
Let me explain "somewhat" the difference between 110 and 220. The wiring coming into your house will have 3 wires. Two of those wires are each separate 110 volt wires. They come into the electrical panel box and there are two vertical rows of breakers. Left and Right. The breakers on the left side are all hooked to one of those two 110 volt wires. The breakers on the right side are hooked to the other 110 volt wire. The breakers simply snap into place along a bar (called a buss). Think of it as a bunch of pigs lined up on one side of a feeding trough. There will be two buss bars. One for left and one for right. Some pigs line up for the left trough and the others feed from the right trough. Each breaker has a set screw that lets you then attach a wire that goes to a few outlets in your house. The main thing to remember is that you never ever mix these two incoming wires as far as shorting between them. Ask me how I know......... They are separate but equal. Simply think of it as each of them being a separate water line with a series of spigots attached and the breaker is a disconnect that shuts all the flow off from that breaker.....while the other breakers operate normally. While you cannot directly short between the two 110 volt power wires, you can use both of them to supply power to a motor. The motor magically accepts the 110 left and the 110 right and powers a motor with 220 volts. Thats how you get 220. Its that simple. The two 110 volt wires are simply run to different connectors in the plug. Still separate, still left and right, but just hooked to a left and a right connector in the plug. With your 110 volt plug, you are only using current from ONE of the 110 volt power wires. This brings me back to the comment that you have 3 wires coming into your house from the power company. That third wire is called a "neutral" wire. It returns to the power company and is essentially "I'll call it a common ground" for simplicity's sake. All current must have a path to ground in order to flow. That 3rd wire will attach to a silver looking bar in the electric panel that has a bunch of setscrews in it. So the current from each leg will flow thru your compressor motor and back out that neutral wire to that silver bar in your breaker panel and then into that 3rd incoming wire and return all the way to the power companies common ground. The only electricity in the "neutral" wire is current that is returning from the motor to the electric company. All electric panels should also have a local ground near the panel. A rod is driven into the earth and a wire is run from the ground rod to the panel and set screwed to the silver bar. Thats a safety precaution to insure there is a path to ground if something happens to the neutral that is returning to the power company. Basically if you have a 220 volt plug with three connectors: The left will be 110 volt The right will be 110 volts The center one will be the neutral or ground Some wires have four wires in them allowing you to run both a neutral wire and a separate local ground back to the panel. In your 110 volt plug: You will have 1 wire providing 110 volts. It can come from the left OR the right You will have a neutral wire You will have a ground wire Hopefully this gives you a basic idea of how it works from an amatuer's standpoint. Once you learn the basics of how it works, its really pretty easy to wire things up. Always turn the power off before working on any wiring.
Ok, so where does the magic happen, at the wall receptacle or back at the panel, what is the deal on the wire between the two? Why is the wire that runs from the main house panel to the garage panel larger than the wire a bird is sitting on between two phone poles, that feeds 30+ houses on the street?
You probably have at least a 100 amp service at your home, you don't know anyone knowledgeable enough to wire up a 220 outlet near the main panel? I would guess to hire an electrician for this would cost more than the compressor is worth, but its a very simple project for a friend or neighbor. Then if it turns over by hand and has oil in it FIRE THAT MOTHER UP !
The power on the main line is probably around 14000 volts, there’s a transformer at each pole that reduces it to 110 volts. Higher voltage on the lines reduces loss of power.
Excellent description for the non electrician! Really easy to do wiring as long as you follow those directions. I've done all the rewiring on my house through the years. I wired in a common stove outlet and put the stove plugs on my compressor and Lincoln buzz box. I just plug in whichever one I need at that moment. Think I'm using a 30 amp breaker on that dedicated line IIRC. Only time it ever trips is if I'm doing a lot of hot, high amp welding, which I seldom do.
Those receptacles to fit the plug on your compressor's electric motor are readily available. I have a couple as I have similar Sears compressor of 1989 vintage-3 hp Devilbliss. 220v/20a. Find someone in your area to put receptacle in for you, and you're ready to go- electrically.
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