50 Litre Air compressor problem

[eil]

Does the motor run OK from an empty tank up to pressure, say 100psi ?

 

[dalejg]

When you say the red knob? are you referring to the regulator of the red knob on the top.

If it is the knob on the top it stops when pressed.

From empty the compressor will stop at any pressure. It does not seem to make a difference with the pressure. Some times it makes it to 80 psi then cuts and starts pulsing or it can happen at 20 psi.

 

[rtbcomp]

I meant the knob on top of the pressure switch.

I wonder if the erratic operation could be due to a broken toggle spring in the pressure switch?

 

[dalejg]

I have a spare pressure switch off another compressor so ill swap it over and see if that makes any difference.

 

[dalejg]

Well i swapped the pressure switch and it made no difference.

Atleast it rules out that one.

I think the piston gets hot and sticks in the bore causing the motor to stop due to the friction. Only one way to find out is to strip it down.

 

[eil]

I take it that it has oil in it and its not as thick as treacle in this weather, I would have the capacitors checked out before striping the comp down.

 

[rtbcomp]

When you say it siezes, is it jammed really solid or does it feel springy, as if the pump has stalled due to air being trapped in the cyclinder?

 

[dalejg]

It never goes solid. Its still springy but harder to turn over, if your doing it by hand by turning the fan.

I have not checked the oil inside to see what its like. Ill drain it out and have a look at it.

Ill get the capacitors checked out as well.

 

[rtbcomp]

Doesn't sound like the piston has siezed, could be the exhaust valve in the head or the non-retrun valve connecting the delivery pipe to the tank jamming shut.

 

[Justme]

Is the gauge reading right?

Could be well over pressure which would also explain the safety going off.

 

[dalejg]

Its not over pressure as i have charged it up from 0. It happens from 20 psi up.

 

[terratology]

Hi, my airmaster compressor is doing exactly the same thing, if you take the pipe out that goes into the tank (19mil nut) does the motor keep going and doesnt stop?
Also when the motor stops is it drawing extra current(measure with multi meter)?

 

[Justme]

Is the air inlet filter clogged up?

 

[terratology]

Sorry for hijacking this thread but no it aint blocked, ran it without the filter on to make sure.................

 

[eil]

I'm a bit confused here terratology yours wont run even without the air filter and you have disconnected the discharge pipe is that it.

 

[terratology]

It runs without the air filter and i disconnected the discharge pipe to see if the motor would stop for no reason when there was no load on it, and it ran without cutting out. it only cuts out when the pressure builds upto between 20 and 100psi with the discharge pipe connected. Sorry i'm rubbish at putting things in writing.

 

[dalejg]

I have found the fault. I have a faulty reset button. It was sparking inside the reset button.

When i bought the compressor, it was not working due to a small bit of plastic had melted between the contacts on in the reset button.
( The reset button is a push button on a spring, if to much current is drawn it pops in between the contacts)
I cleaned off the plastic and had to solder the piece of metal contact back on as it had broken off, well now the contact seems to be abit iffy!! as it works but stops as discussed before. As soon as i tried it without the reset button it ran perfectly.

Where can i buy a new reset button? I will post a pic if needed.
Thanks for everyones help on this.

 

[rtbcomp]

Thanks for letting us know, that was a bit obscure!

A pic may help, but it's unlikely you'll get the exact item, you could short it out and run the motor through an MCB.

 

[dalejg]

Here is a pic of the reset button.

 

[eil]

You will or should have a rating on it, you could try cpc.co.uk
http://cpc.farnell.com/tyco-electro...ircuit-breaker-10a/dp/FF0164618?Ntt=ff0164618
http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/level5/module.jsp?moduleId=cpc/460359.xml