240V help

[alex carey]

Ok so here is whats going on, My dad and I opened the breaker box. There is room for the breaker but wiring it will be tough. There are two unused 30 amp breakers at my disposal.

Here is my first question. For the 3520B 2 HP, is 30 Amps and 10 gauge ok to use or is 30 amps too high. Do I risk burning the motor or is that fine? If we can avoid going from the box we'd like to because access and space are limited.

Second question- The line already going to the stove has a 220V 40 amp breaker and is 8 gauge wire. Would it be possible to tap into that line and then make another breaker just for the lathe line?

Third- What is the big difference between power transmission and chassis wiring? The distance between the circuit breaker and where the lathe will be is about 50 feet, give or take 15.

Last question- If you live in torrance, know how to do this easily and want a 30 pack of beer send me a message. :)

Thanks for all the help.

Alex

[Bill Bolen]

I am no electrican although I wired my basement shop and did a bunch of electrical for my son's older home. The lathe you are talking about will be fine with a 20 amp 220 breaker. If you have two opennings in your electrical box then you should be able to put a single 220 breaker in that space. Depending on how far you have to run your wire 10/3 should be fine for a 50 ft run. I don't think I would try and pigtail off the dryer or the stove. What if mom was running a big load of wash and you were turning at the same time. Yep, the breaker would trip and mom would have wet wash...Hope this helps and hope a more experienced electrical person jumps in for you...Bill...

[Bernie Weishapl]

30 amp with #10/3 should be just fine. Don't pig tail it off another breaker. 50 ft should be ok also. I have a 220 V @ 30 amp with a #10/3 run about 58 ft and haven't had a problem.

[Brodie Brickey]

30 amp with #10/3 should be just fine. Don't pig tail it off another breaker. 50 ft should be ok also. I have a 220 V @ 30 amp with a #10/3 run about 58 ft and haven't had a problem.

Bernie's right. I wired my garage for 220, 30 amp, 8 guage. Electrician said it was overkill when he did the check. The PM will be fine on a 20 Amp breaker. If you've already bought the 30 you might consider putting it in, so you can run DC off the same line if you add on.

[Jeff Nicol]

Alex, The PM3520B is rated at 6.2 amps ! So all you really need is a 15amp breaker. Over kill is bad as things can go to far in the motor and ruin it before the breaker will trip. It comes from the factory with #12 stranded wire in the cord. I used a 20 amp and #12 wire and there have been no troubles. In this casr more is not better!

ELECTRICIAN IMHO!!

Be careful!

Jeff

[alex carey]

The reason we went with 30 is that there was already unused 30 amp breakers in the box. If others are doing this then it can't be too bad right. Is it likely to burn up the motor? How does that happen?

Alex

[Paul Andrews]

"Is it likely to burn up the motor? How does that happen?"



Alex.

Will a 30 amp breaker work, sure! Will it burn up your motor, no not unless you develop a short.

If a short were to develop in your system, your breaker would not shut off the supply until it drew 30 amps. Is that enough to burn up the wiring in your motor? Possibly, but why take that chance? A simple insurance policy would be to invest in a 20 amp breaker, which is not expensive, to replace your current breaker.

Paul

[Scott Amerson]

Good morning alex,

Some thing to consider. The breaker Is not intended to protect your motor. It is to protect the wire. If you would develope a short somewhere in the circuit the resistance of the circuit goes to 0 and the amps go to infinity and would cause the breaker to trip. Even the larger breaker should trip in a short situation. When you apply a load to the motor the amp draw goes up. How much load you apply determins the amp draw. A smaller breaker would help in an overload situation only if load execeed the breaker rating for a period of time. I do not know much about your tool, but I agree with Jeff about using the smaller breaker. If motor protection is what you are after, I would put the next breaker size larger then the full load current of the motor being used. Hope this helps

Scott