JD, So many questions so I'm just gonna have to run through the basics, then maybe you can go from there:
For a typical 120/240 volt single phase three wire home/shop set up, the colors are as follows:
Red and Black are the 240 volt line L1 to line L2 colors. Its 240 volts L1 to L2 (Red to Black) used for 240 volt loads like motors mostly or household ranges or household hot water heaters IE 240 VOLT APPLIANCES. HOWEVER its only 120 volts from EITHER (Red or Black) to Neutral.
White is the Neutral, a GrounDED conductor.
Green/Bare is the safety GroundING conductor.
At the Main Service Entrance Panelboard the Neutral Buss (where the White wires go) and the Equipment Ground Buss (where Green or Bare wires go) ARE BONDED TOGETHER or else some panels just have one buss used for BOTH (white Neutrals and Green grounds)
From Main Panels to smaller sub or shop or garage type panels, you run 4 wires, 2 Hots (Red n Black) 1 Neutral (White) 1 Green/Bare Safety equipment Ground BUT AT SUB PANELS THE NEUTRAL (where whites wire) AND GROUND (where green or bares wire) BUSSES ARE KEPT SEPERATE AND ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER...
Now to your questions:
"""So after all the instructions and warnings on wiring 220v to a 4 wire system I am so confused.I got that red is 120 ,black is 12o white goes to ground at breaker box and bare copper is nuetral right?""""
NOOOOOOOOO White (a GrounDED conductor) goes to the panels Neutral Buss where all the small white Neutral wires go
Bare copper is the safety equipment Green/Bare ground, a groundING conductor
"""This is what I have done according to reading what codes I have found online.The box is grounded by the utillity compny who brounght the service into the shop.I have ran a seperate groung to a grounding rod inserted 8 ft into ground,and this hooks to nuetral."""
The utilitys incoming Neutral is bonded to a "Grounding Electrode Conductor" (like a big bare No 4 copper wire) which leads outside to a "Grounding Electrode" such as copper rods driven into mother earth or metal water pipes or structural foundation steel etc. The Neutral grounding to mother earth may be at either (different jurisdictions and utilities do it different) the weatherhead riser orrrrrrrrr inside the meter base orrrrrrrrr inside the main service panel. Ive seen it done all 3 ways/locations
"""NNow to my problem I have 3 wire with a ground to all 220 volt receptacles.What do I hook the nuetral to and when I hooked up the air compressor It blew circut breaker.The power cord from air compressor to plug in has three wires one green and the other two are copperinsulated.""""
If you have a straight 240 volt load or appliance (i.e. no 120 used) the Red and Black L1 and L2 go to the load/motor/compressor while the bare/green safety equipment ground wires to the case/frame of the appliance. If its a 2 pole 3 wire 240 volt grounding type plug and receptacle, red n black are the hots and the green/bare is the grounding terminal. You dont run white Neutrals to pure straight 240 volt ONLY appliances.
"""""I have used the ohm meter to insure that one copper wire goes to black and one copper goes to red.I have the black wire going to line terminal on air compressor and red wire to line also.and the green wire going to motor.I have tried hooking this several different ways and continue to blow the breaker what am I doing wrong?besides not knowing what I am doing"""""
I cant say but guess its wired wrong such that when the compressor switch or contactor closes youre dead shorting red to black SOMETHINGS JUST NOT WIRED RIGHT
SUMMARY Dont feel bad if you cant get this right, I just cant teach here in a paragraph what took me years to learn so you need to learn the basics and/or hire an electrician
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