Compressor cutting out mid cycle

[angellonewolf]

do easy stuff first oil water in the drain then do the hard stuff after cheak the current by putting your clamp meter over the brown wire only on its own (assuming its a single phase)

im sure i seen on here before run it up untill it stops cheak the temp of the motor then remove the belt have to do this quite quick and see if you can try try to turn both belt wheels see if its stiff to turn (see if the bearings are stiffing up)

and post a pic of the plate on the compresser so people on here can give more informed ideas

there are better people on here than me but do the easy stuff and get that out the way first you dont want to go buying this and that swaping stuff and find in the end it was somthing simple

 

[Turbo]

Your pressure switch is set too high. The higher the pressure goes he harder the motor and pump have to work to fill the tank.

On most compressors the switches are set at 115 to 120 psi or 8 bar. Having it set higher is no advantage as most air tools are designed to run at maximum 90 psi.
I have mine set to just over 100 psi to give the motor an easier life.

Adjust the pressure switch down and it might sort your problems.
Will do no harm to change the oil too, it should be done regularly.

 

[Jim mcgrath]

I checked the oil today and it was very thick and discoloured. (see photo, old compared to new) I changed the oil and ran the compressor. It finished the cycle and expelled the air from the pipe - didn’t pop the overload this time so I think the old oil was the problem. I don’t want to exaggerate but it resembled treacle.
I assume the thick oil puts more drag on the piston and other moving parts? Since the compressor started popping the overload a few days ago I kept meaning to check the oil, but it wasn’t until angellonewolf said it yesterday that It finally put it to the front of my mind.
Thanks to everyone who chipped in. Anyway the lesson is to change the oil regularly in your compressor.

 

[Jim mcgrath]

 

[Jim mcgrath]

I didn’t see yesterday’s last two posts until just now. Yes absolutely do the easy stuff first, but it’s so easy to jump to the conclusion that it must be something complicated and then spend time and money you didn’t to. It’s a mistake I make again and again.

 

[angellonewolf]

I checked the oil today and it was very thick and discoloured. (see photo, old compared to new) I changed the oil and ran the compressor. It finished the cycle and expelled the air from the pipe - didn’t pop the overload this time so I think the old oil was the problem. I don’t want to exaggerate but it resembled treacle.
I assume the thick oil puts more drag on the piston and other moving parts? Since the compressor started popping the overload a few days ago I kept meaning to check the oil, but it wasn’t until angellonewolf said it yesterday that It finally put it to the front of my mind.
Thanks to everyone who chipped in. Anyway the lesson is to change the oil regularly in your compressor. View attachment 520698

to be fair it was not me that said first about the oil some one else said about it first so dont give me credit for it @Turbo was the one that said about it

i just said do the simple stuff first

 

[Turbo]

I would still drop the pressure cutout down to 8 bar. You are wasting a lot of electricity making it pump up to 10 bar.

 

[Jim mcgrath]

I had a look back through the posts and I see turbo was the first to mention it. Thanks to turbo for that.

 

[Jim mcgrath]

The pressure switch came set to that pressure so I assumed that was correct. It stops pumping air when the needle hits the red line. Could you explain why it is wasteful to keep it pumping above 8 bar. Thanks.

 

[Turbo]

The pressure switch came set to that pressure so I assumed that was correct. It stops pumping air when the needle hits the red line. Could you explain why it is wasteful to keep it pumping above 8 bar. Thanks.

Read post no 22

 

[Jackimus]

@Turbo - wouldn't there be the downside of reducing the tank's capacity and so the compressor still has to run more? I.e. 100L tank at 8 bar = 800L of air, 100L tank at 10 bar = 1,000L of air?

 

[finyuk2005]

I have that very same compressor, if you set the cut out lower, like 115psi, the cut in pressure ends up far too low i find, down to 50-60 ish psi, which is too low for a lot of jobs,
my new compressor i bought to replace the Clarke has both the cut in and cut out adjustable which is handy

 

[Turbo]

@Turbo - wouldn't there be the downside of reducing the tank's capacity and so the compressor still has to run more? I.e. 100L tank at 8 bar = 800L of air, 100L tank at 10 bar = 1,000L of air?

I have found that the compressor has to work very hard to pump that last 2 bar into the tank and everything gets quite hot.
If you put your clamp meter on a live or neutral wire and watch it as the tank fills you will see the amps climb quite a lot when it gets nearly full.

Dropping the cutout to 8 bar means everything runs cooler and it will help extend the life of your motor and pump.
The most pressure needed by any air tool I have is 90psi. Never noticed any problem with capacity. Air hungry tools are affected by how much air your pump produces, not the tank capacity.
Set at 10 bar it will run the tool longer before the pump kicks in but it also has to pump longer to fill the tank back to 10 bar.