Convert air compressor from 240 to 110?

Posted by dan on October 10, 2007, 5:28 pm

I have a Sears air compressor that is 240 and uses a different plug.
It's a PITA because I have to add a new (240) outlet to every house I
move to. Can I simply convert the motor to 110? How difficult is this?
Or do I need to buy a new compressor?

--

Posted by RBM on October 10, 2007, 5:38 pm

If the motor is dual voltage, which it will say on the name plate, you can
convert it. However whatever the amperage draw is at 240 volts will be
double at 120 volts, which pretty much means you'll need to run a dedicated
circuit anyway

>I have a Sears air compressor that is 240 and uses a different plug.
> It's a PITA because I have to add a new (240) outlet to every house I
> move to. Can I simply convert the motor to 110? How difficult is this?
> Or do I need to buy a new compressor?
> --
>

Posted by dan on October 14, 2007, 11:59 am

RBM wrote:

> If the motor is dual voltage, which it will say on the name plate,
> you can convert it. However whatever the amperage draw is at 240
> volts will be double at 120 volts, which pretty much means you'll
> need to run a dedicated circuit anyway
>
>
>
>
> <dan> wrote in message

> > I have a Sears air compressor that is 240 and uses a different plug.
> > It's a PITA because I have to add a new (240) outlet to every house
> > I move to. Can I simply convert the motor to 110? How difficult is
> > this? Or do I need to buy a new compressor?
> >
> > --

Thanks all! After having an electician look at the compressor, it looks
like I just need to buy (eventually) a 110v compressor.

--

Posted by on October 14, 2007, 4:02 pm

On 14 Oct 2007 15:59:10 GMT, "dan" <> wrote:

>RBM wrote:

>> If the motor is dual voltage, which it will say on the name plate,
>> you can convert it. However whatever the amperage draw is at 240
>> volts will be double at 120 volts, which pretty much means you'll
>> need to run a dedicated circuit anyway
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> <dan> wrote in message

>> > I have a Sears air compressor that is 240 and uses a different plug.
>> > It's a PITA because I have to add a new (240) outlet to every house
>> > I move to. Can I simply convert the motor to 110? How difficult is
>> > this? Or do I need to buy a new compressor?
>> >
>> > --

>Thanks all! After having an electician look at the compressor, it looks
>like I just need to buy (eventually) a 110v compressor.

You must move very often.......
With that said, why dont you just take the outlet with you when you
move? It's not all that hard to add a dual breaker, piece of wire and
an outlet in a box, assuming this is in an open garage. Surely not
worth buying another compressor if that one works. Besides, 240
motors are much more efficient. From experience, I found that many
120v compr... wont start in cold weather, while a 240v one will.

Posted by Jeff Wisnia on October 10, 2007, 7:11 pm

dan wrote:

> I have a Sears air compressor that is 240 and uses a different plug.
> It's a PITA because I have to add a new (240) outlet to every house I
> move to. Can I simply convert the motor to 110? How difficult is this?
> Or do I need to buy a new compressor?
>

Tell us the (real) horsepower of the motor or how many amperes it draws
at 240 vac and lots of guys here will be able to give you a more
definitive answer.

My guess is that unless you imported a small compressor from somewhere
where 220 or 240 is the standard "household voltage" it's probably got
such a large motor that you'd be hard pressed to run it off a 120 volt
20 ampere circuit.

I said (real) in my first paragraph because more often than not the
advertised horsepower of air compressors and vacuum cleaners is
exagerated hype. They use some stupid "peak horsepower" measurement of
the energy the motor puts out when they apply a load which is large
enough to cause it to stall.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

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