Replies

1. 
   GLASTARZA | Dec 12, 2008 12:04am | #1

   Dear Bill,

   Thank you for your post.

   I am forwarding it to John White.

   Sincerely,

   Gerald

1. 
   BillGray | Dec 12, 2008 02:53am | #2

   thanks, look forward to his reply
   Bill Gray

2. 
   JohnWW | Dec 12, 2008 03:03am | #3

   Bill,

   It makes no difference at all, the motor works exactly the same and produces just as much power output on 110 volts as on 220 volts.

   The only advantage to using 220 volts is if the 110 volt wiring in the shop isn't adequate for the draw of the DC's motor, especially if other machines and lights are also on the same circuit, in which case using a 220 circuit, which delivers more current with less voltage drop, is the best way to go.

   John White

1. 
   BillGray | Dec 12, 2008 04:28pm | #4

   MANY THANKS JOHN.Bill

2. 
   steve2 | Dec 18, 2008 07:00pm | #5

   John,

   When you are calculating amp loading on a circuit, do you simply add the peak amps on a circuit.  For example, I often run a 16 amp 1 1/2 hp bandsaw with a 11 amp 1 hp dust collector and it never trips the 20 amp circuit breaker.  Why is that?

   Steve

    

1. 
   JohnWW | Dec 19, 2008 04:05am | #6

   Steve,The band saw motor would only draw its rated amperage if you were doing some very heavy sawing, most of the time it is drawing considerably less than its rated amps. The same is true of the DC, although the load never changes all that much, the design of the fan may not need a full 1 hp to keep it spinning at full speed and so the motor never actually draws 11 amps.John W.

1. 
   steve2 | Dec 19, 2008 06:07pm | #7

   John,

   That makes a lot of sense, but makes planning difficult.  I'm considering buying a larger dust collector, maybe a 220v.  Given you always run a DC with another tool on, what would recommend for planning purposes in terms of max amps.

   Thanks for your help John. 

   Steve 

1. 
   JohnWW | Dec 21, 2008 04:21pm | #8

   Steve,The best approach is to have several circuits in the shop, a few for power tools, one or two for the lights and one for the DC. Set up this way you don't have to worry about adding up the loads, which can vary, on each circuit.You probably know this, but just in case: The size of a circuit breaker is matched to the size of the wiring in the walls. For instance, a circuit with 14 gauge wiring in the walls can't have a circuit breaker larger than 15 amps. If you needed 20 amps you can't just replace the 15 amp breaker with a 20 amp size. For a 20 amp circuit you would need to have larger 12 gauge wiring. Using a circuit breaker that is too large for the wiring can lead to the wiring overheating and starting a fire.As to the size of a circuit for a new DC, it all depends on the amp rating of the new DC's motor at the voltage you plan to run it on. One advantage to running on 220 volts is that the amp load of the motor at 220 volts is half the load at 110 volts which allows you to use smaller wiring to the machine.John White