Air compressor motor arcing on start-up |
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TV 2M8O
Senior Member Joined: 20-September-2006 Location: Southern Ohio Status: Offline Points: 2045 |
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Posted: 11-January-2013 at 1:00PM |
Guys,
My father-in-law gave me an air compressor he has had for many years. It came out of an old filling station a friend of his had so it's an old school heavy duty model. Over the Christmas holiday, my nephews loaded into their truck and brought it down to me. I'm just now getting a chance to try it out and on start-up it arcs for a few seconds..... When the guys loaded it into the bed of the truck, it road for about an hour laying on it's back (the side that's arcing) and I was wondering if perhaps some dirt or something may have gotten into the motor's brushes and is causing this condition. Would a good cleaning with some electrical contact cleaner and oiling her up (it has the old school oiling tubes!!) with some fresh 3-in-1 would help solve the problem? All suggestions appreciated..... THANKS
Edited by TV 2M8O - 12-January-2013 at 8:52AM |
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TV 2M8O OUT JOE 1976 Gran Torino S&H season 2-4 Clone Project Blog: http://tv2m8o.blogspot.com/ |
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TV 2M8O
Senior Member Joined: 20-September-2006 Location: Southern Ohio Status: Offline Points: 2045 |
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Had this moved into the Body Work forum hoping for some assistance... Anyone have a suggestion??
HEP ME... HEP ME!! Thanks guys!
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TV 2M8O OUT JOE 1976 Gran Torino S&H season 2-4 Clone Project Blog: http://tv2m8o.blogspot.com/ |
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wideone
Senior Member Joined: 05-August-2011 Location: Bristol,TN Status: Offline Points: 310 |
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Joe, if you use the contact cleaner, be sure to let it dry off before you turn it back on. Worst case, you may need brushes and clean the commutator. (I think that's the word) Should last a long time. |
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stanman
Senior Member Joined: 23-March-2007 Location: Nova Scotia, Ca Status: Offline Points: 1432 |
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I'm an electrician but not a motor expert by any account.....HOWEVER.....IIRC, many larger motors don't have brushes. They have 2 sets of windings, 1 for starting (high torque) and 1 for running (high speed, I guess). The start windings are controlled by a centrifugal switch that breaks contact when the motor reaches a certain RPM. This switch has a set of points, kinda like a car distributor. Over time they can become burnt and pitted, eventually getting to the point (?) where they won't make contact and the motor won't start, it'll just hum. To change this switch the end of the motor has to be pulled off. This may be easy or hard, depending on age, rust, etc. If the points are just dirty or oily it may clear up on its' own but if it's old as you say, the switch probably needs replaced. A shot of contact cleaner won't hurt anything as long as the power is turned off.
All this being said, it may have been like this for years and may continue to run for many more...but it may quit tomorrow.
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TV 2M8O
Senior Member Joined: 20-September-2006 Location: Southern Ohio Status: Offline Points: 2045 |
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Hey guys,
Was a good idea to move the post to the Body Shop forum... LOL, lots of help now!! Spoke to my father-in-law and he said it never arched in the past, so I'm pretty confident it's just dirt and contaminates kicked up by transporting it to it's new home. Gonna hit it with some contact cleaner and a couple good blasts of air to blow things out. Let ya know how she does... Didn't realize how old school this thing was until I noticed the name on the pump portion.... York Ice Machine Company! My gosh, that's like late 30's early 40's???? LOL, thing is built like a tank! I'll post some pics once I get her all cleaned up.... THANKS ALL FO THE HELP.... KEEP IT COMING
Edited by TV 2M8O - 15-January-2013 at 5:25AM |
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TV 2M8O OUT JOE 1976 Gran Torino S&H season 2-4 Clone Project Blog: http://tv2m8o.blogspot.com/ |
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