220 wiring

[chargerscott]

i have a unattached garage and have a 100 amp breaker box (wired from my house). i bought an 4.5hp 220 volt air compressor today and tried to wire a 220v breaker. i am not a electrician. does anyone know what to do. please help..

[Musicman]

Where to start... Wiring the circuit to the breaker is a piece of cake, but the first question is how many amps does the compressor draw on startup and what size breaker do you have. The amp rating will be listed on the compressor...
Next would be what kind of circuit are you running... Will the compressor plug into an outlet, or will it be hard wired?

[6d9 charger]

just some basic info,

if the compressor is  220 volt

use  # 10 wire if it draws 30 amps.
use #  12 wire if it draws 20 amps
you will need 2 conductors and i ground wire , a neutral is not needed
you will also need a service disconnect switch at the compressor  if the breaker is out of sight from the compressor .
just some basic info . 

[poppa]

No room in my garage for mine.Put it in the basement and piped it out to the garage. Some of the compressors have a motor on them you can wire 220 or 110.The 110,if I remember right would take more amps??Look at the tags and see if it has two different wiring diagrams.Just a thought..