Thoughts???

[Goose]

I have a 60 gallon upright air compressor in a storage building. I bought it on a consignment auction maybe 10 years ago.

It doesn't get used a lot, just whenever I need to air up a tire or blow some dust off of something. It always worked OK until recently. Now when pumping up, when the pressure gets to about 80 pounds it trips the circuit breaker.

Would this be the motor or the pump? Opinions?

 

[wh]

Will it restart when you reset breaker and finish pumping? Is motor hot to touch when it trips breaker? Is it possible the tank one way valve is failing and allowing tank pressure to get to pump and overload it?

 

[used red MN]

Will it restart when you reset breaker and finish pumping? Is motor hot to touch when it trips breaker? Is it possible the tank one way valve is failing and allowing tank pressure to get to pump and overload it?

The tank one way valve is for the purpose of unloading the compressor discharge when the compressor shuts off. The one way/check valve holds the compressed air in the tank and a bleed off valve triggered by the electric pressure switch or mechanically triggered by a centrifugal weight system releases pressure against the discharge of the compressor. Correctly working discharge reed valves for the individual cylinders would hold any compressed air from re-entering the compressor as you are suggesting. Normally failure of a cylinder reed valve causes that cylinder to not pump.
My question to Goose would be what was or is the normal cut out pressure that it turned off at? Meaning that at 80 psi it has probably not shut off and tried to restart? Have you checked the compressor oil level?

 

[SPMN]

Is it a single or two stage compressor? How long does take to build up to 80 lbs?

 

[TheBartman47]

Is it the local circuit breaker on the pump, or the house circuit breaker? In either case, it could be a weak breaker. As others have asked, will it continue to pump up more after resetting the breaker? Maybe let it cool down a bit first then reset and continue pumping?

 

[miangus]

What is the cutout pressure? I would change the breaker. Well first I would check the current draw. But those compressors often run close to the breaker limit so in time a breaker will fail. Check the combination shutoff and unloader switch for loose connections.

 

[Ray,IN]

Check the pressure switch for dirt inside, spiders like small unused spaces to build a nest. OTOH, it can be a wire connection has vibrated loose enough to create high resistance.

 

[Stephen Newell]

I have a 60 gallon upright air compressor in a storage building. I bought it on a consignment auction maybe 10 years ago.

It doesn't get used a lot, just whenever I need to air up a tire or blow some dust off of something. It always worked OK until recently. Now when pumping up, when the pressure gets to about 80 pounds it trips the circuit breaker.

Would this be the motor or the pump? Opinions?

Sounds more like inadequate power or a worn breaker.

 

[farmersamm]

Not sure, but cutout switches on the compressor shouldn't have anything to do with the circuit breaker.

If you have a multimeter that will measure inrush current, see what the motor is drawing at startup.............and see what it's drawing when running.

 

[Texasmark]

Is it the local circuit breaker on the pump, or the house circuit breaker? In either case, it could be a weak breaker. As others have asked, will it continue to pump up more after resetting the breaker? Maybe let it cool down a bit first then reset and continue pumping?

Breakers pop on heat rise. Heat rise can be higher than the design called for if contacts are corroded or as others said internal problems in the breaker. First thing I'd would be to flip the breaker off-on a dozen times and see if that helps. If not a new breaker.

I don't think a problem with the unloader valve would be the problem. If it failed in its function, the pump would have starting problems, not running problems once its on line.

 

[Hemmjo]

I have been called to many homes for breaker tripping problems. MANY times, the Lug screw holding the wire on the breaker is loose. Loose connections make heat. Heat will trip a breaker also.

Just check before you get a new breaker

 

[Texasmark]

I have been called to many homes for breaker tripping problems. MANY times, the Lug screw holding the wire on the breaker is loose. Loose connections make heat. Heat will trip a breaker also.

Just check before you get a new breaker

Especially if the building is wired with aluminum wire. We had some subdivisions built when that idea first came out.....developers trying to beat the cost of copper wiring. Had numerous fires. So somebody came up with a paste to prevent corrosion and a copper stub adapter with a spring activated wire nut that was used to attach a short length of copper to connect to the breaker and the goo and spring tension to keep the copper stub in constant contact with the aluminum wire.....seemed to work pretty well...didn't have that problem since I wired my house with copper but it must have worked because the quantity of fires went down significantly.