Garage electrical question

67Dart440GT said

Hey guys, I have a compressor that I am going to wire up. I just moved to a new garage and the original wiring I have is too short to hook up the compressor. I am running a 20amp breaker in a sub panel. I had #12 wire running it before and was wondering if #10 wire is ok on a 20amp breaker? Reason being I have a long enough section of #10 wire but it's suggested to use a 30 amp breaker with the #10 wire. Thanks!

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12 gauge is for 20 amp, 10 gauge is for 30 amp

Unless you have to run a very long run 12 is OK.

If you already have 10 gauge and don't think you need it for something that needs 30 amp, use it. OK to go over on wire size, just don't go smaller than recommended.

The new compressor I installed showed it needed a 30 amp circuit. The olf compressor only needed 20 amp, I thought I would try using it. It has been several years and has never tripped the breaker. i do not leave it on when I'm not needing it