Air Compressor safety without a properly grounded outlet?

[rugi000]

Hello,

 

I just purchased a Senco PC 1010 nailer and compressor. I just started reading the manual and it states, "Serious injury or death could occur if compressor is not properly grounded... Make sure the air compressor is plugged into a properly grounded outlet which provides correct voltage and adequate fuse protection."

 

My dilemma... I live in a 120 year-old home without ground wires. Is there a work-around for this? Some sort of surge protector or something that can eliminate this danger?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Mike

[EEtwidget]

You can install your own ground. First go buy a new outlet with a ground prong, GFIC is even better. The GFIC is a protection circuit that trips a breaker when the outlet detects an impedance imbalance between Hot & Natural. The circuit is based on the principal of differential pairs but really all you need to know, it can detect a very small imbalance and react very quickly. So, if you are standing on your front lawn and you hold one of the power wires, your body creates a path for the electricity to travel to ground. Normally this would kill you, but with a GFIC, the circuit detects the imbalance between the two power wires and trips off. GFIC will only protect you from a ground fault so don't trust the circuit 100%

Anyway, you can run your own ground to any outlet. The two most common ways is to either attach a wire to a copper water pipe that is buried under ground. You can buy a ground clamp at HD. Just make sure you have good contact between the clamp and pipe. Clean it and remove any paint. The clamp has a spot to attach a wire. Use solid core ground wire, you can run the ground directly to the outlet but it's a better idea to run it to your circuit box. You would need to add a ground bus in the box, from that bus you can pull a ground wire to each outlet.

The other method is to go buy a solid core copper ground rod and hammer that sucker into the ground. I use this often on remote jobs that don't have water pipes. Same rules apply, clamp and run a ground wire to the box or outlet.

As always check your local code to see which method is legal. Also, never work on a live AC circuit, turn the power off from the breaker or main. If you don't feel comfortable working with mains power.... Don't do it! You can be killed.

That being said, a quick solution would be to shut off the main breaker, run a ground wire directly to the air compressor outlet by way of ground rod or water pipe.

Still... 120 year old house, I am willing to bet your wires/circuit in your house may not be able to support the load of the compressor. In fact it is very possible your wires can catch fire, even without the compressor. The wires in older homes were never designed to handle modern loads. Sometimes the wires are even aluminum instead of copper, bad news!

If I were you I would hire an electrician to run a ground to your main panel and install a sub panel in your workshop. It's not worth messing around.

[mustang347]

If I were you I would hire an electrician to run a ground to your main panel and install a sub panel in your workshop. It's not worth messing around.

Very good advice. There's a lot to consider with this type of job and on the bad end could cause death or the loss of your home.......

[Highdesert Splintermaker]

Great advice twidget.

 

Rugi: If your wiring hasn't been updated since the house was built its probably way out of date and totally inadequate for todays typical household demands. And, operating today's power tools is clearly a whole 'nother notch above today's normal household demands. Get an electrician to at least evaluate your complete electrical supply and distribution. Then, if you're the least bit squeamish about the recommended update suggestions, have an electrician do it. Much safer and probably a whole lot cheaper.