Hello Gentlemen, there has been some discussion about proper sizing of the motor starter, overloads, conductors, fuses and raceway. Being that Shane and Jude are headlining the wiring and we do not want to endanger our building compliance with such a large load. I took the time to figure this out for the pickle.

I used the motor nameplate, http://i.imgur.com/NRd46.jpg
And entered it into the motor branch circuit calculator based on the current 2011 NEC http://www.electrician2.com/calculators/motor_ver_1.html
The end result is this, http://i.imgur.com/gvuFu.png

I do not have Shane's contact information so if anyone reads this and sees him please direct him here.

Thank you.

Also I took a good long look at Shane's very creative starting circuit. The man just looked at the old starter and thought for a minute and wired it up. I've not seen a latching circuit like this before mainly because I deal with new products in my line of work with the budget for a separate starting circuit with transformer to isolate it.

Please digest this, list any pros or cons you see in the design.

Except for the addition of the control pushbuttons, that actually looks a lot like how the original starter was wired.

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Latching is kind of irrelevant. It goes when the pressure switch tells it to go, and stops when the pressure switch signals that the required pressure has been attained. The only thing you can really screw up when wiring a compressor is the heaters. You have to check the chart to make sure they are right for the voltage and HP.

-Jim Hart

Jim, you are right.

For the normal operation of home compressors you are correct. This however is designed to keep running. When it reaches a predetermed (sp) psi the valves on the top of the compressor will open up. The motor will not shut off. It utilizes unloading valves so that there isn't a constant starting and stopping of the 3 phase motor. That being said. We are wiring a switch to turn the compressor on so we don't run it when we don't need to. The decision (not mine) to utilize the push button was so that we had an emergency shut off. You can use a push button as a toggle switch if you "logic latch" it. I haven't had time to look at the current design as I've have been busy with school and other projects. (as always) If you need to look up the design of the compressor it is a curtis d97.

Generally there is a manual valve to select between continuous and intermittent, If Curtis doesn't have one it would be a worthwhile addition. It's just a valve which turns the unloader on and off. The unloader is set for a lower pressure than the pressure switch, so when you close the valve and disconnect the unloader the compressor pumps up to the pressure switch setpoint and shuts off.

The rule of thumb is that if the compressor is in intermittent mode and you notice it turning on and running over 50% of the time, it's time to turn on the unloader and go to continuous mode, to save wear and tear on the motor and starter.

-Jim Hart

Isn't that what I said??

I think the end all to these questions can be located here http://us.fscurtis.com/support/faq.htm

Adam, not exactly. What you described was operation with continuous unloader without pressure switch. What I described was dual control.

-Jim Hart