Alkin W31 Compressor question

[KOMPRESSOR]

I may be dumb as a sheep about electrics, but my spouse is an electro engineer specialist so we get along without burning down the house every time I start rebuilding something here.

The electric motor plate says: "1P 230V 60Hz"

OK, now here's where I drop out... Last time I checked you guys were still running 110/115 volt into your houses. This DOES explain why a lot of homes burn to the ground every year, since the amps go sky high and you really need some thick cables to get the juice flowing to something like a compressor (2200 watts on this one maybe?).

Now here we have 1 phase 230 volt 50Hz as the household current. Larger appliances is usually run on 3 phase, but we're still struggling along with 230 volt here as well, along with only Albania I think... Everyone else in Europe use 400 volt on their 3-phase, which is much easier to handle. And we're moving slowly in that direction as all new houses usually have 400 volts inlet power, if possible.

If your electric motor is marked "1P 230V 60Hz", how the heck can you get it going on barely 115 volts? And second, if it actually does run, how will you prevent your house from burning down, as the internal cables in the motor are likely dimensioned for lower amps than you will need to run it on, if possible at all, with your 115 volts?

Are you absolutely certain you've got a compressor built for US electricity standards??!

As stated, I may be dumb as a sheep with electricity. But I would really like someone to explain this for me. Please, do not hesitate to use a tea spoon while doing so...

 

[Doc Harry]

Are you absolutely certain you've got a compressor built for US electricity standards??!

That was my original question, Kompressor, and why I started the thread!

Did I get the correct compressor sent to me??? Or is it a simple matter of changing the plug? The electric motor seems to be the correct one - single-phase 230 volts. The plug threw me off.

BTW, we have both 120v and 240v in our homes.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

That was my original question, Kompressor, and why I started the thread!

Did I get the correct compressor sent to me??? Or is it a simple matter of changing the plug?

BTW, we have both 120v and 240v in our homes.

1. I would think they've wrapped up a version meant for a different part of the world. Maybe they sent it late friday afternoon...

2. How does the market adapt to selling appliances for 120 AND 240 volts side by side? Rather weird to me... You are talking about 1-phase, right? What's your 3-phase standard then? (If there is one...)

 

[pescador775]

Kompressor, most US homes have dual voltage and sufficient current for running a 4000 w/220v motor. We use 115v for lighting and small appliances. Reduces the chance of electrocution (children, elderly, etc.) Those plugs in European hotels and dwellings make me nervous. I look at them and know what they contain. Our military use 440v installations in some applications such as Navy ships and aerodromes.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

Kompressor, most US homes have dual voltage and sufficient current for running a 4000 w/220v motor. We use 115 for lighting and small appliances. Reduces the chance of electrocution (children, elderly, etc.) Those plugs in European hotels and dwellings make me nervous.

How does lower voltage (= higher amps on the breaker for the same consumtion) reduce ANY risks?? Forgive me for asking with double question marks, but I will always think higher current AND lower amps is safer... Maybe I'm dumb as a sheep, but hey, maybe I'm right!

On a low consumtion loop for house lighting we usually have a 10A breaker on our 230 volt current. If you reduce the current to say 115, you need to double the amps to 20A to provide enough electricity to run the same number of lights. I suppose 20A is normal for you? Since we heat our homes with electricity we use 16A breakers on loops for heating appliances. -With larger wiring than in the 10A loops of course.

-Of course you have sufficient current for running a 220/230 volt motor, if you have 230 volt in your system! But if you run a 4000 w single phase motor, the amps rocket even with 230 volts. And you need some grand cables to avoid overheating, and house fires...

 

[pescador775]

Kompressor, a 12v battery has beaucoup amps, will burn metal but will not electrocute anyone. A 110 volt socket has its dangers but unless the ground is near perfect the human hazard is restricted to a painful shock. Keeping ones fingers and toes is a plus for 110v. Grounding (earth) a 220 volt socket will draw a 3 inch electrical arc, weld steel and stop the heart. Children stick things in sockets. My opinion, treat those 220 volt sockets with care and minimize their number regardless of fuse rating and one will be alright. Yes, a 220v cable is designed to conform to the rated current flow and length of run. They may be slightly larger than those designed for low power applications, particularly if the cable run is from a house to an out building. However, the only really large cables in a USA dwelling are those outside the house and those that run to the main breaker panel. The others are of "normal" size depending on the application.

 

[cool_hardware52]

How does lower voltage (= higher amps on the breaker for the same consumtion) reduce ANY risks?? Forgive me for asking with double question marks, but I will always think higher current AND lower amps is safer... Maybe I'm dumb as a sheep, but hey, maybe I'm right!

Higher voltages will more easily breach insulation, and find a path to ground, making any potential failure more likely to result in an unplanned conduction path, so there is some theoretical increase in risk between an appliance operated at 115 and one operated at 220 VAC.

There is a reason why low voltage wiring ~24 volts or less is permitted to be used in direct burial application, and to be run with out protection or conduit for example thermostat wiring. At low potentials there's very little risk of shock.

There is a reason why "High Tension" cables, meaning transmission lines at many 1000's of volts are run way over head, or when buried the conduits are typically encased in concrete.

You are partially correct in your thinking, however, a high voltage, low amperage shock will usually do nothing more than hurt a bit, think static electricity, shuffling across the floor and then touching a ground point, zap, lots of voltage, almost no amps.

For consumer goods I really don't see a great difference between 115 VAC and 220 VAC in terms of the safety risk. In the right conditions, like using a hair dryer in the bath tub without a GFI, either can deliver enough current to kill.

One does not hear about a 2x fatality rate in Europe vs the America's due to inadvertent electrocution.

BTW, "Sparky" aka the "Chair" use ~20 amps @ 20KV. The difference between 115 or 220 and 20,000 is huge.

Tobin

 

[rjack321]

That was my original question, Kompressor, and why I started the thread!

Did I get the correct compressor sent to me??? Or is it a simple matter of changing the plug? The electric motor seems to be the correct one - single-phase 230 volts. The plug threw me off.

BTW, we have both 120v and 240v in our homes.

Yup you have the correct motor on that compressor for the USA. Just the wrong plug. I think mine actually didn't come with a plug at all.

We make 220V power at home by combining 2x 115V legs. If you look that the wiring coming into your house from the pole you'll see 2 black wires with insulation on them. And one (probably) bare wire which also looks like its holding everything up cause its taut. If there's no bare wire it will have white tape on it somewhere.

The black are "hot" while the bare or white is "neutral". Each black is 115V. The neutral is basically a fancy ground. Low draw household stuff gets hooked up to just one hot and the neutral. Dryers, hot water heaters, oven and compressors get hooked up to both + the neutral.

A wire cutter/stripper, a screwdriver, a dryer plug, and 15 mins of your time will have you in biz.

 

[pescador775]

Copper is expensive. Cheaper wiring is a consideration when specifying volt/amps in residential and business wiring. That is the reason Europe went that route.

As far as a "low amperage" shock, 10 amps is huge. It only takes a milliamp to stop the heart. That is the reason that wiring codes in the US trend toward "ground faults" for some high risk locations. This is an electronic circuit breaker which disrupts current more rapidly than a common breaker switch.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

Higher voltages will more easily breach insulation, and find a path to ground, making any potential failure more likely to result in an unplanned conduction path, so there is some theoretical increase in risk between an appliance operated at 115 and one operated at 220 VAC.

There is a reason why low voltage wiring ~24 volts or less is permitted to be used in direct burial application, and to be run with out protection or conduit for example thermostat wiring. At low potentials there's very little risk of shock.

There is a reason why "High Tension" cables, meaning transmission lines at many 1000's of volts are run way over head, or when buried the conduits are typically encased in concrete.

You are partially correct in your thinking, however, a high voltage, low amperage shock will usually do nothing more than hurt a bit, think static electricity, shuffling across the floor and then touching a ground point, zap, lots of voltage, almost no amps.

For consumer goods I really don't see a great difference between 115 VAC and 220 VAC in terms of the safety risk. In the right conditions, like using a hair dryer in the bath tub without a GFI, either can deliver enough current to kill.

One does not hear about a 2x fatality rate in Europe vs the America's due to inadvertent electrocution.

BTW, "Sparky" aka the "Chair" use ~20 amps @ 20KV. The difference between 115 or 220 and 20,000 is huge.

Tobin

Well, thanks Tobin! I don't know if I understand it all, but you guys actually have 230V into your houses, but by special wiring "reduce" this in the distribution loops by using only one leader + one neutral? I really cannot grasp the idea, if this is correct. Still, a coffee machine pulls say 1000 watts. You still need twice the amps to run it compared to "hot+hot+ground" = 230V, right?

Well, here we use much more electricity in our homes than most other places. It's darn cold in the winter and rather chilly in the summer. We shut off the heating in mid May... Need I say more? So an average home in Norway usually have 3000-7000 watts continous electric heating in the winter. I suppose that'd bring you straight to financial trouble with power prices more normal in warmer countries. Anyways, we split up the wiring in either 10A or 16A loops in most houses. For my compressor I have a 3-phase 16A 230V, which will run a 3.0 Kw Bauer with ease. I'd prefer 400V 3-phase though, but it's not available where I live. Then a 10A loop would be enough for "the press".