Dust collector & circuit breaker help

Hey Tyler,

Changing the wiring couldn’t be that hard. When I bought my new house I cut open the wall and put in lots of 20 amp circuits with appropriate wiring and outlets. It really helps.

I think you can replace the 15 amp breaker with a 20 amp one… it should fit.

-- There are three kinds of people... those who can count, and those who can't

Tyler, the collector will do fine but if you have something else that is operating at the same time on that circuit the breaker will trip, your light isn’t a problem though.
If you simply replace it with a 20 amp breaker you must be SURE that the wire is the proper size to handle 20 amps.
Breakers are sized to protect the wire from over heating and causing a fire. A typical 15 amp circuit is wired with #14 wire. You need #12 wire for a 20 amp circuit, assuming the wire is copper. If you have aluminum wire then it will need to be at least #10.

-- .

Here lies a problem…What ya gotta think of is “Will I be running that dust collector on the same circuit as the other tools?” The Delta 50-760 is a 1 1/2hp unit…bout the same as a homeshop tablesaw. They draw a average 7amps when running freely, a bit more when cutting (loaded). Add the dust collector to the same circuit and you’ll be drawing around 12-14 amps. Getting near break point stage ya know? Now turn on the lights and…POOF! No more power. So adding a 20amp breaker would be the answer. But with a 20 amp circuit breaker you’ll also need to have it on 12awg wire and…an outlet rated at 20 amps! Otherwise you’ll have a fire hazard! And POOF! No more shop!

My suggestion would be to put the dust collector on it’s own circuit. 15amp will be fine. Also your overhead lights should be on their own circuit as well. Then if the saw kills the circuit, you won’t be in the dark! But if the lights go out you’ll be sawing in the dark! How exciting!

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

As pointed by Dadoo, it will work fine on its own 15amp circuit. And as he mentioned, lighting is a real safety concern. Always have a second light on from a different circuit from your main lighting. You never know what will happen and another light; even a small one, will shed enough light to be able to turn things off.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

If you are pulling 15 amps on a 15 amp barker I’ll guarantee you will trip the breaker every time you start it up. A 15 amp circuit is using 14 gauge wire that is insufficient for a 20 amp circuit and could be fire hazarded you should run # 12 wire.

What I would suggest you do is to look into installing a 200 amp sub panel and run new 20 amp circuits from ypur sub panel using the proper size wire and outlets, I would also suggest installing GFI for each circuit you run.This would give you all the power you need now and in the feature, good luck

I agree with Mike. You will never get it started, let alone use it on a 15 amp breaker.

-- David, Southern Indiana, http://www.freedhardwoodflooring.com

1.5hp in watts is 1118watts according to google, so at 120V that is about 9amps, and breakers are not that fast. And unless you almost jam the motor it will not draw anywhere near 9amps when it is running. You should have no problem.

I would agree that I would try to get another circuit for your tool of choice when the dust collector is running. Back when I lived in an apartment I ran a 12 gauge extension cord down the stairs into the attach garage from my kitchen. The only outlet in the garage was shared by the light, and my entertainment unit directly above the garage :-) It was a real PITA when the Tivo was taping and I popped the breaker turning on the table saw :-)

cheers,
Tom

-- Tom - Canadian in N. Texas

You shouls be fine. I do not think that will pull more then 7 amps(real world) The biggest thing is as stated above, how many items share the circuit?