My compressor draws 23 amps on start up and I run it on a 10-2 with ground. The run is about 55' or so, no problems at all. In fact this is the wire size recommended by the dealer I got the motor from. I used a 30 amp blade plug, recepticle and 10-3 SO (very flexable) cable from Lowes. My compressor was one I put together from parts so I used a 30 amp Square D switch mounted to the frame to turn it off and on as needed.