I'm sure this has been done to death but my 20 gallon horizontal, cast
iron, belt drive compressor just quit. No burnt smell. Power is getting
to it. Not a click or or a growl. Just dead. Would a dead start
capacitor do this? 115 volt single phase.
Cap says 400-480mfd 110volt. How to check cap? Dont want to buy new
motor.
Thanks

Sounds like the cap went, can you turn the motor by hand? Is it free
spinning? How bout the comp motor can you spin that as well?

If all this works then I would replace the cap. I just happened to be
looking at motors yesterday and the one for my IR is 144.00

Searcher

Don't overlook the possibility of a reset button on the motor. One I had
was painted over green. When it stopped, I assumed (there's that word)
that it was the pressure switch, so I bought one of those ($50) and
adapted it (several hours, trips to hardware store). When it still
didn't run, I found a red button under the green paint in the motor
endframe, gave it a push. That was all it needed.
- -
Rex B

Shopdog wrote:
Sounds like the cap went, can you turn the motor by hand? Is it free
spinning? How bout the comp motor can you spin that as well?

If all this works then I would replace the cap. I just happened to be
looking at motors yesterday and the one for my IR is 144.00

Searcher

Hey, I forgot about that little button. Yeah try that first, plus just for
giggles make sure you have power to the outlet. Your switch could also be
bad, I have had to replace that on mine but the symptoms were different. It
would run and pressurize the tank but when it shut off it would not release
as normal.

Searcher

I stuck another slightly smaller cap on there and still nothing. I don't
know how to test caps. The online sites that explain testing kinda stump
me.
Motor turns freely, Comp turns freely. I took belt off. Nothing. I won't
buy a new motor for this even at 75 dollar HF prices. Maybe a washing
machine motor. Another scrounge -a-thon.
Thanks

On Tue, 16 May 2006 13:12:20 -0700, daniel peterman wrote:
I stuck another slightly smaller cap on there and still nothing. I don't
know how to test caps. The online sites that explain testing kinda stump
me.
Motor turns freely, Comp turns freely. I took belt off. Nothing. I won't
buy a new motor for this even at 75 dollar HF prices. Maybe a washing
machine motor. Another scrounge -a-thon.
Thanks


If it makes no humming noises at start, if it does nothing, it is not
a capacitor issue. Just trace where electricity goes with a
multimeter.

i

On Tue, 16 May 2006 20:42:28 GMT, Ignoramus19822
wrote:

On Tue, 16 May 2006 13:12:20 -0700, daniel peterman wrote:
I stuck another slightly smaller cap on there and still nothing. I don't
know how to test caps. The online sites that explain testing kinda stump
me.
Motor turns freely, Comp turns freely. I took belt off. Nothing. I won't
buy a new motor for this even at 75 dollar HF prices. Maybe a washing
machine motor. Another scrounge -a-thon.
Thanks


If it makes no humming noises at start, if it does nothing, it is not
a capacitor issue. Just trace where electricity goes with a
multimeter.

And be careful to check what voltage you are looking at - this is
one of those times where a Wiggy or test lamp will lie to you if you
aren't asking it the right question.

If it's a 240V motor and a component goes open (like one of the
contacts in the pressure switch or motor contactor) you could see 120V
from the feed on each end, yet that one open component keeps it from
going.

Or the breaker is half-tripped and it looks fine when you check it
and get 120V to ground on both sides - because the 120V is going all
the way around the circuit and showing up on the other breaker pole.
If you check for 240V across the 2-pole breaker, you get nothing.

And if you get a breaker that is half-tripping like that, change it
out with a new one. The handle tie or internal common trip mechanism
is supposed to prevent that from happening.

A half trip breaker or a single-phase situation from switching only
one side of the motor feed power (found on swimming pool pumps a lot -
Never let your Pool Man play with the Electricity) can easily get
induhviduals killed if they start poking around inside the equipment
without properly killing the source power, and checking to make sure
it's really dead.

And you don't want a friend or loved one to be that person.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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