A rare but critical situation is to have a 220v appliance in a 110v outlet. And it happens most of the time after shifting to a new place. After buying any electrical device that supports only 220v, the whole wire works are 110v.
Whatever it is, you should change your wire works or convert the system for your specific device to get rid of this situation. If you have a 220v air compressor in your 110v outlet, you should convert it or rewire it as soon as you can. Or it will always run slowly, and it could affect your air compressor’s lifetime.
Now, how to wire a 220 air compressor to 110? Well, we will share the solutions about wiring 220 air compressors to 110 in this guide. Don’t get the wrong idea. You can use this method to wire any 220v motor to 110v. Let’s see the methods in detail!
How To Wire a 220 Air Compressor To 110?- Full Guideline
There are two ways, or you can say three ways, to convert your 220 air compressor wiring to 110. The first one is to use an adapter that can convert 220v to 110v. And the second way is to rewire or install a new receptacle and connect it with your 220v wiring. To go the second way, you will need a new circuit breaker for 110v. The reason is your 220v circuit breaker can carry more current than a 110v circuit.
Use An Adapter Which Can Convert 220v to 110v
Using an adapter will be a simple way to convert your 220 air compressor to 110. And this kind of adapter will cost you around $30. It has NEMA 5-15P, which is rated for 15 amps with three-pin grounded.
The internal fuse within it will trip when your current surpasses 15amps. For this reason, you won’t need any circuit breaker to use any adapter. However, do not use this in GFCI required locations. Except that it is an easy and simple way you can convert 220v to 110v.
Rewire The Receptacle
Remember, you are working with electrical wires, hence for your safety, turn off the circuit. But turning off the main panel breaker would be better after you find the alternate light source. Although the panel bus bars will still have energy. This work involves changing a breaker; therefore, if you don’t feel comfortable, call an electrician instead.
The best way to start the work is by making a replacement at the receptacle. Unscrew the receptacle from its box to disconnect the wires. The 220 air compressor wire contains a black and red hot conductor, a green ground, and a white neutral.
Just one hot wire is required for the brand new receptacle, so with the help of a screwdriver, screw a wire cap over the red wire and shove it in the box. If you can manage 10-gauge wires, you can get the new 110volt 15 or 20 amp by connecting them.
The next step is to attach between the black color wire and one of the brass terminal screws, the green color wire to the ground screw, and the white color wire to the corresponding chrome screw.
Sometimes the wires seem heavy, and connecting them becomes a problem. In such a case, use a two-conductor type cable that should be 12-gauge. Tie each of the wires and connect them using a wire cap. Now put them into the new receptacle and new box.
Install A New Circuit Breaker
Now that you have done installing the new receptacle get back to the main panel. Find the double-gang breaker and pull it out because it controls the circuit. Now with a cutter, cut the wires to disconnect them. Cap the red wire and put it inside the panel safely. Join white color wire with the neutral bus and ground wire with the ground bus.
The final thing to do is join the black wire with a 15 or 20 amps solo pole breaker but depending upon the receptacle’s rate. Then, push it into the double pole breaker slots removed before and place a cover plate on the vacant slot. Now the receptacle is ready for being used and the breakers to turn on.
Why Should You Know If Your Air Compressor Is 110 or 220?
Before wiring an air compressor or other motors, you must know if those can run in 110 or 220. It is essential information to know if you don’t want to mess things up. Probably you are thinking, why is it so essential? Well, sometimes we see the electrical plug get fired. Why does this happen? It happens when you try to plug a different volt electrical device into a different volt socket.
You can understand it better with the Ohm’s law we learned at the school. P=I*V, or P=V*V/R. Since the R = resistance is not changed, you get power four times greater from the same device than multiplying the voltage with 2. It can get so much worse than it can set on fire. Therefore you must know the exact volt of your air compressor and wire it properly.
How to Tell If Your Air Compressor Is 110 or 220?
There are few ways to know if your air compressor is 110 or 220. If you follow these ways, you will get the information.
Try To Use It on 110v Outlet
The easiest way to know if your air compressor is 110 or 220 is to set it on 110 outlets. If your air compressor supports 110v, it will run gratefully. Or if it supports 220v, it will just run slowly. But there will be no harm to use a 220v air compressor on 110v outlets.
Check The Wire
There is a difference between 110v and 220v air compressor’s wire size. A 220v air compressor has at least ten gauge wires or larger. At the same time, a 110v air compressor has a 12 gauge wire size which is maximum. Also, the 110v air compressor plug always has a black wire in its hot terminal.
Check The Producers Website
There should be an official website of your air compressor producer. You can always check every piece of information in there about your air compressor.
Check The Label
You will find a label on the body of your air compressor. You can check the information there to know which outlet it will support.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you can now wire your 220 air compressor to 110 without any hassle. Also, now you know how you can identify your air compressor if it is 110v or 220v. Don’t mess up things, or you will burn your air compressor.
Before we conclude, here’s a tip for you; If you are new to this, try to hire a skilled and licensed electrician to complete your job. It will be better for your safety. I hope now you know how to wire a 220 air compressor to 110.
FAQs
1.What Is The Difference Between 220 volts and 110 volts?
Ans: All the 110-volt circuit is connected to a solo bus bar and contains single hot wire, hence just one circuit breaker will do the work. On the other side, a 220-volt circuit is connected to both the bus bars; hence two breakers will do the job.
2.Can I Wire A 220v Heater To 110v?
Ans: Yes, it will be of no problem, but you need to keep in mind not changing the heater elements. Just make the amps double, and the same appliance will run easily.
3.Can You Pull 110v Off 220v?
Ans: It’s possible to convert a 220-volt receptacle to 110 volts. There two ways you can follow any of them; at first, use your 220 to 110 adapter. The second way is installing a brand new circuit breaker.
4.Is It Okay To Wire 220v to 110v?
Ans: Converting your 220 air compressor to 110 is fine. It will not harm either the receptacle or any electrical device. Rather it will save you from unwanted dangers like electric shocks. Because a 110v device will create double energy in your 220v, which will cause an accident, you don’t want to witness.
