clarke compressor slow

[chester dylan]

sais its "Specially formulated for splash feed air compressors and suitable for most of our direct drive machines"

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-sae30-compressor-oil-1-litre/

 

[rtbcomp]

My 14 cfm Clarke uses SAE 30 as standard.

Although it may be mild during the day a cold snap at night will thicken the oil and it may not have time to thin out again when you need to use the compressor.

The only time when my Clarke compressor gave starting problems was when the belt went slack. It lives in a 'kennel' in the yard.

 

[Wallace]

Does initially sound like a tired capacitor. If the oil is not cold and old, the belt is tight and the non return valve isn't letting by my next port of call would be to check the supply for high resistance joints. Can you borrow another capacitor from somewhere to test?

 

[normspanners]

‘Air Compressors hate cold weather’
Air Compressors and cold weather
Air Compressors are designed to operate in ‘normal’ European ambient temperatures between about 5’C and 35’C. Outside these temperatures they start to have problems with either overheating or freezing. It should be remembered that the ambient temperature should be the temperature around the compressor itself, which is not necessarily the outside air temperature. The compressor ambient temperature will vary from the outside air temperature depending on whether it is in a heated compressor room, in an unheated, ventilated compressor room or outside under a rain cover.

It needs to be stressed that air compressors need to be situated in a very well ventilated place, so even if the room is heated there will still need to be plenty of ventilation for the compressor to work properly.

Problems start when the temperature falls below 5’C
As the ambient temperature starts to fall below about 5’C problems can start to occur. The low temperatures cause several issues within the compressed air system. These are primarily related to the fluids within the compressor itself and to the condensate created in the compression process. Note: when the compressor is running and is up to its normal working temperature the ambient air temperature is not too much of a problem, except if the actual compressed air is routed to a low temperature area and has not been adequately dried.

Air Compressors and cold weather – What can go wrong?
Air Compressor Oil

The air compressor coolant or oil is affected by low temperatures. Oil tends to get thicker when it is cold, if the oil is aged or of poor quality the oil may become too viscous. Either way the thicker oil may prevent the compressor from turning easily enough. This may lead to the electrical system tripping since the electrical demand is too high.

If the compressor is not serviced properly it is possible that the oil will contain a high level of water. This is not a huge problem at normal ambient temperatures but if the temperature falls too far this water can freeze in the oil, causing issues for the compressor at start up or causing damage to the compressor internals.

Air Compressor Condensate
Condensate is probably the cause of the biggest cause of problems for air compressors and cold weather. Condensate is formed when air is compressed and then cooled. Condensate is a mix of water (99%) and oil (1%).

Condensate tends to collect at low points within the compressed air system. These include, the compressor, separators, receivers, filters and dryers as well as in low points in the compressed air pipework. If temperatures fall low enough this condensate will freeze, blocking pipes or voids within the compressor, dryers, filters and pipework.

If there is frozen condensate in the compressor this can cause damage to the compressor, if it is in the filters or dryers again this can cause damage. If there if frozen condensate in the pipework this can get blown to the downstream equipment, again causing damage to the downstream equipment.

 

[daleyd]

I'm sorry Norm, it's not clear what your trying to say? Do you think it's the unloader valve perhaps?

 

[normspanners]

4 --COUGH's

 

[jackojacks]

Fixed Fixed Fixed AHEM just belt trouble im very surprised i thought it was motor related starts fine and fills in about 4 miniutes now and also restarts fine as the pressure drops phew. its having a good propper service now inc oil as it is overdue
Big Thanks to you all for taking the time to give me your input i was sure it was electrical and that is where i struggle wiv knowledge most Thanks

 

[rtbcomp]

Thanks for letting us know. When it happened to me I only found out the cause when I started looking at the cheapest fixes first!