IR Type30 Upright Compressor won't rotate

[steviec_lj]

Morning ladies and gents,

Bit of a quandary on this one, as I've replaced what I thought was a dodgy capacitor on the motor but it hasn't made a difference.

It's a 3hp single phase motor, not sure of the motors age but the compressor itself is a good 40 years old. The motor moves about a 16th of a turn before being overcome by the resistance of the flywheel, which, to me indicates either a very poorly motor that no amount of homebrew tlc will sort, or, the voltage drop over the 60mtr of unknown size cable run to the workshop/garage bears a great issue.

I suppose thinking about it, I should nip out and see if there is a significant drop, which once done I'll report back with.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated, I've probably missed off some vital information somewhere though..

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Spark plug]

Try taking the belt off and see if the motor runs by its self under no load or with a kick start by hand.

 

[steviec_lj]

Grrr..why didn't I think of that?! Excellent idea, many many thanks.

The compressor will run, with belts on, if you give it a quick shove, but when it comes to refill time unless I'm passing at the right time, it ends up tripping the entire property out.

Which then means a lot of walking, and then ear bending by SWMBO as its usually in the middle of baking or something silly like that.

 

[octo0072000]

you problem sounds like your long cable to compressor that's the problem

mine used to do the same i now use a 16amp caravan extension hook up with blue plugs work ok ever since

 

[Rig Pig]

Has it worked on this setup before and developed a fault or is this a new install?

 

[Sidewinder]

Could be a failed start capacitor too.

 

[simplysimon]

The compressor will run, with belts on, if you give it a quick shove, but when it comes to refill time unless I'm passing at the right time, it ends up tripping the entire property out.

this is indicative of a start capacitor fail

 

[steviec_lj]

Right, after one thing or another I've finally got around to having a further look at this.

1: The motor starts perfectly without belts attached, which makes me look at the pump. But, I could be wrong.

2: There is only one capacitor on the motor. No makers name on the plate, but Italian on the underside of the connection cover indicates its quite possibly an original, receiver is dated 1971.

3: The install to me is new, the owner beforehand commented that it would often need a push to start it.

Garage is heavy duty wiring, 16a supply to the compressor itself, photos can be supplied if needed. It has also had, albeit Chinese, a new capacitor today which hasn't solved it.

 

[Sidewinder]

Was the cap the correct value & rating?

 

[steviec_lj]

80uF at 450v is what was both removed and replaced. It could have been wrong in the first place however.

I wonder what the harm would be in hooking both capacitors up at once...

 

[Sidewinder]

Don't do it!
Is it a single cap motor?

 

[Rig Pig]

Has the motor got anything on its data plate?

 

[the snooper]

does the pump turn freely and also there are some threads on here regarding compressors that fail to start in cold weather, but if you heat the pump with a hot air gun then away they go

 

[steviec_lj]

The pump is a little stiff and takes a bit of pressure to get moving.

Motor plate is as follows:

MOTOR. | PHASE.
TYPE 100LB/4. | No. 766740.
KW 2.2 | HP 3.
VOLT 240. | A 12.4
r.p.m 1420 | Hz 50. | Ins F

Can't see anything else at the moment, but as far as I can see/tell/discover, the motor is fine, but the pump isn't.

 

[the snooper]

the pump should turn freely I would look into it also make sure that the pressure unloading valve connected to the delivery pipe is working

 

[steviec_lj]

Unfortunately, as I'm inspecting it at the moment, it seems there's a "sticky" spot when rotating the flywheel.

 

[the snooper]

you may have found your problem, but hard to say as none of us know just how easy / stiff it is to turn

 

[brightspark]

undo the delivery pipe to the tank from pump then turn it over there shouldnt be any stiff spots apart from a bit of friction all round

 

[the snooper]

undo the delivery pipe to the tank from pump then turn it over there shouldnt be any stiff spots apart from a bit of friction all round

good call non return valve could be dodgy as could be the reed valves in the head, does it start when tank is completely empty ?

 

[steviec_lj]

Thanks for the heads up.

Even with the delivery pipe to tank removed, the sticky spot still exists.

With the "heads" removed, the sticky spot still exists.

It takes two hands to get the flywheel moving again, think of it as opening a jar of coffee for the first time, there's quite a bit of friction so some effort is required to get the flywheel moving again.

Fear mot, I know a man or rather a company that take these machines in weekly, so I'll get a gasket kit so it can be rebuilt once I've stripped it down. Something definitely isn't right...