Electricians-20 amp breaker vs 15 amp breaker

[Curt Harms]

I was shopping for breakers some years ago. There were two that would fit my panel so of course I bought the cheaper one. Brought it home, installed it, turned the D.C. on and <click> it tripped. Returned that one, bought the other one and it's been fine since. Are some breakers rated to carry a startup load longer without tripping? Motor rated vs. not? I don't know.

[John Lankers]

Dennis, I once had a 1 1/2 hp General International DC with the same attitude.
I did install a 20 Amp breaker which made no difference, then when I rewired the circuit (and the motor) for 240 Volt and a 10 Amp breaker it ran just fine until I sold it a few years later.
My gut tells me that something caused random issues on startup, at least when I hooked up my Amp meter I got astronomically high Amp readings before the breaker tripped - on 120 Volt that is. It might be wise to have your electrician have a look at the motor too.

[Von Bickley]

If you have any GFI outlets in the garage, or even outside, typically they are run on 20 amp circuits. You might be able to "work around" this.

GFI outlets are rated for 15 amps or 20 amps.

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for all the replies, based on your input ,I have decided to call an electrician

This is a good decision.