Breakers do get weak -- and sometimes weak breakers trip more
easily. They aren't all that gosh awful expensive. HD has
breakers for common panels for about six bucks each. As another
poster said, they do have slow blow breakers (I know; slow blow
is a fuse term).

I hope he used 12 gage wire, which is consistent with the 20 amp
breaker.

Yes, a 20 amp breaker woulda been good. They are about two or
three bucks more.

Your electrician ought also run the compressor for awhile. See
what the actual current draw is, and see if there is enough
voltage at the compressor end of the wire. While it's running.
This is extra time, but would be good customer service.
--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

wrote in message
...
: Hello All...
: I recently bought a 2HP (running) 25gal Craftsman
air-compressor. I
: had an electrician come out last week and hook me up w/a
designated
: circuit. He installed a 20a breaker w/ one 15a dual
receptacle.
:
: Yesterday I fired the thing up -- and in the first half-hour I
tripped the breaker
: 3 times! While resetting I noticed that my *pro* had used an
old 20a breaker
: instead of the new one he charged me for. I confronted him and
he said that it
: shouldn't make any difference. I pressed him further and he
made excuses
: ("Breakers never wear out..." Blah, blah, blah."You couldn't
tell me what you
: were running so I used what I had at the shop...")
:
: Now, he's just a kid and so I'm willing to cut him some slack.
But the bottom
: line is I'm not sure he or his work can be trusted completely.
The thing is
: whether I decide to call him back or not -- I think there is
some stuff that
: I'd like to know beforehand:
:
: First, in addition to replacing the 20a breaker, should I also
switch the 15a
: receptacle w/ a 20a? I only have the one receptacle on my
circuit...
:
: Second, what's involved in swapping my existing 120v circuit to
240v? The
: compressor is currently wired for 120v but I do have the option
of
: converting it to 240v if I must. How much work will it take?
:
: And third, how at fault is this electrician? Is this something
he should have
: foreseen? How much of this is his responsibility? I don't
like that he
: passed off old as new. Or that he made excuses when he was
found out.
: But most of all I don't like the idea of giving him more money
if he's burning me,
: deliberately or not.
:
: Any help/info/input will be greatly appreciated...