*This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro*
Brian, Hope I can help you with the A/C problem. It sounds to me like the
motor has the standard 230 volt with a neutral wire and a ground wire.
Disassemble the plug that has the four pins. By law and the National
Electrical Code, the NEUTRAL wire must be white or natural gray color, while
the ground can either be green or a bare wire. The two power leads can be any
other colors than white, natural gray or green. The most common colors are
black and red, but you sometimes see black and blue, or blue and red, or any
other combinations of colors. IF you insist on using the dryer plug you can
connect one of the colored wires to one of the flat prongs of the plug, and
the other colored wire to the other flat prong. The white/natural gray, and
the green/bare can both be put under the single rounded bottom prong (the one
that looks like a laid over "D"), and the unit should run fine. In the same
breath I will emphasize what another lister has already pointed out, that the
green wire needs to be seperated for any ground fault interupting breakers to
function properly.
The white/natural gray wire is called the "grounded conductor" which carries
any unbalanced load from the motor back to the panel. This conductor is in
fact "grounded" in the panel box to the equipment grounding wire. The
green/bare is the "grounding conductor" and carries any unwanted current to
ground.
There are a couple of things wrong with the use of the dryer plug. First is
that you are exposing yourself (and your family) to a possible shock hazzard
from the air compressor by attaching the ground (green/bare) wire to the
neutral (white) lead. The white lead COULD POSSIBLY have some voltage on the
line, which will then come back to the air compressor frame by way of the
ground (green) wire. Second is that most dryers have at least a 30 amp fuse
or breaker feeding them, which will NOT protect the electrical components of
your air compressor from damage. It is possible to overload the 13 amp full
load capability of the motor and still not bother the 30 amp fuse/breaker in
your panel.
To do this correctly, you should get a four conductor wire
(black/red/white/green) and connect this to a new 4 prong female plug that
matches the one that's already on the compressor. Then connect the red/black
leads to a single 2 pole 15 amp breaker in your panel. Then connect the
neutral to the lugs with all the white wires on it and the ground to the one
with all the green wires on it. Check with your local Home Depot or similar
store, and I'm sure they will be more than glad to help you. This is not a
major problem, but you do need to be careful while installing wires in the
main power panel. If you don't feel comfortable with doing this, contact a
local licensed electrician and pay him the $50 to connect it up for you.
It's cheaper in the long run than burning your house down or getting
electrocuted by an incorrectly wired air compressor.
Good Luck, Tom Campbell
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jun 01 2000 - 22:37:13 PDT