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electrical questions re:2 HP dust collector.

9K views 39 replies 10 participants last post by  Steve Neul 
#1 ·
So for 50 bucks, I got this ol' Reliant dust collector. The thing worked fine as demonstrated by the seller, however I'm concerned about how much energy it draws. Right now it's set up for 120 volts and the guy I bought it from did mention that it draws about amps. At the same time, the label says it draws 12 amps when wired in at 230 volts. I know very little about electrical so I thought I might ask a couple advance questions before I call the electrician.

  1. Should I try plugging it in (normal 120 volt) and see if it trips a circuit?
  2. Can *I rewire it for 230 volts and simply plug it into my Dryer outlet (which I think is 230 volts) with the correct type of plug attached.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

Thanks,

Greg

*meaning I would have an electrician do it!
 

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#11 ·
If your dust collector draws 18 amps and it's not tripping your 15 amp breaker you have a problem with your breaker. Get that fixed before it burns your house down.

There is no possible way a 24 amp rated motor will run on a standard 15 amp circuit.
 
#25 ·
Name plate ratings don't normally list start up amps, they list running current. You basically have locked rotor amps on startup due to the rotor being stationary. It drops off rapidly. I have never seen a 30 amp 110V receptical in a residential location. That's the reason I said I would not try it. The largest wire you will find in a 110v circuit is normally 12 gauge and it's only rated for 20 amps.
Tom
 
#13 · (Edited)
Circuit breakers exist to protect the house wiring. Like Steve said, it won't hurt anything to try it. If the breaker pops, then you will know. Also, residential circuit breakers do not pop immediately when they go a little above their nominal value. Think of them as "slow-blow" fuses. If you are on the hairy edge, it might pop the breaker after a couple of minutes, though. Briefly exceeding the rated load won't hurt your wiring.

When a motor starts up, it pulls a higher amount of current until it reaches it's normal operating level. So you might find it works on a 15 or 20A circuit. But any additional load on that breaker will very likely pop it. Also, the current pulled by a motor increases as the load on the motor increases so you might find that it works ok without being hooked up but when using it to actually collect dust you may pop the breaker. You could test that by restricting the intake on the DC.

It would definitely be better to switch the motor to 220 - it will run cooler and you won't have to worry about popping the breaker at an inopportune moment.

edit- I see steve said the same thing. I posted about 3 minutes after...
 
#19 ·
Let's agree 15 is "adequate". Now let me ask how many shops have 15 amp circuits on their 120V lines? Most of the power tools - routers, drills, sanders, miter saws, etc, would all run "adequately" on 15 amp circuits. I don't think I have a 120V power tool in my shop that wouldn't run on a 15 amp circuit. Do I have any 15 amp circuits? Nope. My one 240V circuit is 20 amp, yet I don't have any tools that even approach that. The biggest is my shaper, and it's only about 7-8 amps. Yet the cost differential between a 15 and a 20 amp circuit is peanuts, 120 or 240 volts. JMHO.
 
#17 ·
Thanks for your help folks. So, to stay on the safe side, I have an electrician coming on Friday to advise. I also need j boxes installed to take care of my to my 120 volt saw and jointer, etc. Will report back on the results. Thanks again.

Greg
 
#21 ·
Its a lot more likely that you'll push 15 or 20 tover 30 or 50. Making the jump from 15 to 20 is a minimal step up price wise, slightly bigger breaker and 12 over 14 gauge wire. Being the minimal cost difference there is, and the addition safety margin because of it, is anybody going to argue that they couldn't use an extra 5 amps?
 
#22 ·
OK, personal point of view: OP just bought a dust collector, so he many very well be on his way to more & bigger WW machines.

Were it me, (depending on existing electrical), and assuming a sub panel in the shop, or all feeds from main panel in an attached garage/shop:

I'd throw a sub panel on a 30 or 40 amp breaker from wherever the source, a 20 amp 240 out of that for the DC, and have room to expand for any more equipment as needed, 120 or 240. Of course a lot depends on existing setup, but if the source for the sub panel is close by, works for me.
 
#29 ·
ah well

So the bottom line is unless I pull a 220v line or upgrade my service to go above 15 amps, I can't run this thing. Since my tablesaw, jointer, planer, miter saw, etc are all fine with my 120v, 15 amp service, I figured it makes the most sense to sell this collector and a get a lighter duty unit. In the interim, I'll just use the shop vac. When I get more serious (like if I get a cabinet saw), I'll consider upgrading to 220 volt service down the road. I learned some stuff though and very much appreciate everyone's help! Thanks again everyone.
 
#32 ·
So the bottom line is unless I pull a 220v line or upgrade my service to go above 15 amps, I can't run this thing. Since my tablesaw, jointer, planer, miter saw, etc are all fine with my 120v, 15 amp service, I figured it makes the most sense to sell this collector and a get a lighter duty unit. In the interim, I'll just use the shop vac. When I get more serious (like if I get a cabinet saw), I'll consider upgrading to 220 volt service down the road. I learned some stuff though and very much appreciate everyone's help! Thanks again everyone.
15 amps really isnt a lot of power. The average contractor table saw pulls 13-25 after all. Personally, I'd still be looking into getting service upgraded to 20 amp 120 with a 220 line thrown in as well. Even most portable DC units that aren't ment to be moved from tool to tool are still pulling 8-10 amps, so you couldn't even really run a tool with a smaller dust collector.

Bottom line is its always better to have too much power than not enough. You might not need much now, but down the line you'll need more, so what not get it done while you can
 
#33 ·
I just took a closer look at the boxes the electricians put in today. They added two 120 volt GFI boxes and all (but the dust collector) seem just fine. Each box is wired to a 20 amp breaker, so 20 amps for the saw and 20 amps for the other machines (running one at a time I guess). I'm not doing massive projects or lots of volume. Also I think the electrician might have said I'm out of room on that breaker box! So, between the shop vac dust management and maybe a 1 hp dust collector (and the space is only about 10x25, am I just spinning my wheels? Are the 1 hp dust collectors like this one https://www.grizzly.com/products/G8027 useless?
 
#35 ·
They arent useless, just meant to be used a little different. Large DC's are meant to be stationary and pull everything through overhead ducting, whereas smaller ones like that grizzly are meant to be moved from tool to tool and pull air a minimum of distance.

40 amps will get you a pretty good distance in a home shop. The highest number of tools one person can use at a time is 1 after all, maybe 2 if you factor in a dust collector. Provided that you run the table saw/planer/jointer/bandsaw/nail gun on one circuit and the DC on the other you shoulnt have any issues power wise.

Still think you shouldve had a 220 line installed though. Opens up a new world of exciting tool purchases. Cabinet shops go under all the time after all, wouldnt want to pass up a chance to get a 3hp unisaw for $100 because you couldnt power it. Got a clothes dryer anywhere close to your shop?
 
#37 ·
The dust collector will just pick up more than the shop vac. It comes down to how much air it is displacing. I used to have a shop vac hooked up to my table saw and still had to open it up from time to time and shovel dust out. With a dust collector it gets nearly every grain of the dust.

I don't see any reason you couldn't make a 220v extension cord to run from the dryer plug out to your shop for the dust collector.
 
#39 · (Edited)
Epilogue : Sold the Reliant for 50 bucks which is what I paid. As I mentioned, I'm using the shop vac with a Dust Deputy which seems to work well connected to one machine at a time. I also run a box fan with a/c filter taped to it (half assed air filter) and I wear a mask when I'm cutting, but I'll probably end up getting a 1hp collector that plays nice with my 110v setup. If at some point, if I get serious and get a cabinet saw, I'll definitely get a 220v line added in (along with a bigger fuse box). I did cut a 4x8 sheet of walnut ply into panels for a mini bar I'm building. The shop vac Dust Deputy combo does ok. I might try to seal up my contractor saw better and affix it to a more permanent stand since a fair amount of big dust particles find their way out of those openings. You can see one my attempts to seal it up towards the end of this thread. http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/dust-management-ridgid-r4510-question-62445/. Thanks again everyone for you help on this!
 
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