On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:08:57 GMT, wrote:


On 14-Feb-2007, "Sonny" wrote:

Snip

(1)A new 20 amp breaker costs ONLY $3.97, regardless of the Brand...
(2) It is common Practice to use an old breaker If the electrician Has
one available in thier Truck
(3) Granted , Breakers sometimes Do get weak, and if this one is
giving You problems, then Yes the Electrician Should replace it with a
new one , this is not going to make or break the bank

Which makes me wonder why an electrician wouldn't have scads of such
breakers already on his truck -- especially since they're so cheap
and used so often.

I once repaired lawn sprinklers for a living. And from time to time I had
cause to use whatever was available -- but only in an *emergency* to get a
system up and running -- and never as part of a new installation.

Granted, I realize that wear and tear on electrical parts may not be
comparable with plumbing valves and sprinklers. But old and used is
still old and used, is it not?

Yep.

The fact that it's only 4 dollars might mean that he is only
over=charging by 3.50 plus whatever markup he took on the switch, or
if he didnt' itemize and quoted a flat price, maybe he didn't
"overcharge" at all.

But it also means that it would have only cost the electrician 4
dollars to put in a brand new switch.

People who read my posts here know that I am almost always on the side
of repair and reusing, but it is different when one is a contractor.
People expect new, and new (of the same quality) is better than old.
In fact when one removes an old breaker, it's because it was suspected
of being bad, or it was a remodel when it's quality is probably not
known at all.

Use it up, fix it up, make it do, or do without. I believe in that
most of the time. But new work or parts replacement, not by the
homeowner himself but by a contractor, is an exception.

(I might have the saying wrong, but not so far wrong that I can't find
it in Google. And yet I can't find it. .... found two hits when I
put single quotes around 'fix it up', but not when I just put a + in
front of 'it'. I thought the phrase was more common.)


(4) To convert the power source to 240 volt is as simple as pulling
the white wire off the neutral bar and installing a new 2 pole 20 amp
breaker in the panel, then putting both the black and white wires on
to the new breaker
(5) Subsequently, you will need a new 240 volt receptacle and plug to
the compressor
(6) 220 volts will give quite a shock if handled inappropriately,
Turn the breaker OFF , Do Not work on it live!!!
(7) Finally, WIRING IS NOT A HOBBY, HIRE A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN

And that's why I did not attempt to do the job myself.

Update: After doing some further research online, it appears the problem
may not be with the wiring at all but rather with a pressure relief valve on
the air-compressor. Apparently it's a fairly common issue with
Craftsman compressors, and further, it's a situation that is NOT improved
by switching over to 240v... Or so I've been told. I've got a Sears service call
lined up for tomorrow and I'll know more then.