air comp motor went out

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earthmover

in the tire smoke
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man we had a bad storm here sat. after bob and i worked on the car..got up sunday and no air..motor tries to turn but dont..all the motors i see are from 250.00 to 600.00 dollars.. man what the hell i can get a new comp for that..60 gal porta cable..any place you guys know cheaper???:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
220 motor? Try flipping the breakers off and then flip them back on. One breaker could be tripped and you not realize it so the motor may be only getting half power.
 
Motor bearings froze up? Where I live there are a couple shops that specialize in motor rebuilding I never used them but figure if it was rebuildable they would be less than a new one.
 
yea 220.. lol i tried the breakers and the reset on the motor still just grown..even tried to turn the motor by hand while i had the power to it and nothing....i may take the wire a loose from the pressure switch tomm. and check voltage there.. but i think im sol..
 
Check voltage as close to the motor as you can get. "Storm" can mean something. Hell you might have a break in your main neutral. This can cause all sorts of weird problems.
 
yea 220.. lol i tried the breakers and the reset on the motor still just grown..even tried to turn the motor by hand while i had the power to it and nothing....i may take the wire a loose from the pressure switch tomm. and check voltage there.. but i think im sol..

Do you or know anyone that has a lineman's gauge? That would tell you a lot of information.
 
was a underground formen for a few yrs and never heard of a linemans gauge whats that???lol but now i did say under ground...:D
 
was a underground formen for a few yrs and never heard of a linemans gauge whats that???lol but now i did say under ground...:D

The correct name is a Clamp Meter. I was taught by a retired Navy electrician 25 years ago and Lineman's Gauge is what he called it.
 

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got that here..volt meter with the amp clamp on it..i have the very 1 you have pic looks like ..:D
 
Does the motor have a camel hump on two on the top? They are starting capacitors. It could be a blown starting capacitor. They are cheap compared to a motor.
 
The motor shot craps (shaft snapped in half) on my Porter Cable 7 hp compressor a couple yrs. back and when I researched it I found the way they rated the motor (by how many amps it pulled on startup which is not the right way to rate it) it was really only about 3 running hp. I replaced it with a true 5 hp motor and it runs better than ever, naturally. I figured I can buy a new compressor again for $375 that will have a junk over rated 3 hp motor on it or I can put a real motor on it for $225 and have a much better compressor. The compressor unit is still original and may need replaced some day but I'll do the same with it, upgrade it. In the end it may cost more but I have a much better compressor.

Kit Carson has a good suggestion if it has a starting capacitor. I have seen them go bad and they don't cost much.
 
I know you said that you flipped the breaker,but did you check for correct voltage at the breaker?Most times when a 240vac motor drops a phase it will just humm.
 
Do you have a picture of the 220 motor your using I might have something laying around. Any model numbers would be helpful.
 
Does the motor have a camel hump on two on the top? They are starting capacitors. It could be a blown starting capacitor. They are cheap compared to a motor.

I should have mentioned this. To repeat:

Check voltage as close to the motor that you can get, IE at the pressure switch, starter, etc immediately before the motor

If you have 220 or more there, and the motor hums, it's either

starting switch in the motor

starting cap in/ on the motor

bad winding in the motor.

I ASSUME you have turned it over to check free movement, and I ASSUME the unloader is working so as to relieve pressure on the compressor.


It is very possible that your power glitch could have happened in such a way that the unloader did not function, the motor tried to restart, and something "popped" on the heavy restart
 
thanks for all the sugg. and help guys i will check the cap. on the motor it has 2.. as far as the voltage goes i checked it at the panel box,at the plug and at the pressure switch all is good on the voltage...it may just be a cap. like others said.. i used it that day sat. and sunday no air after a bad storm.. anyway to check the cap??? ohm them out?? thanks guys ..also i will get a pic of the motor and the #'s off it ..mike :prayer:
 
thanks guys just did some reading on the start cap. and that just may be my problem..my motor try to turn but dont and makes a noise...acording to the tech i read thats more then likely the start cap.. will check a motor shop and see whats going on with it..thanks mike :D
 
The correct name is a Clamp Meter. I was taught by a retired Navy electrician 25 years ago and Lineman's Gauge is what he called it.

Okla been an electrician for 20 years currently work in high voltage switchyards
And that is a clamp on amp meter and is only good for max of 600 volts
A lineman would never use a tool like this other than at home lol
 
I've been an electrician for going on 40 years now, hence my username lol! From the information I get, I would definitely say you have a blown capacitor. Sometimes, and I mean SOMETIMES the governor will stick open. It would be worth a try to take a hammer and a punch or drift pin an tap the end of the motor shaft a couple of times. If that does not work , you will have to check the caps. They are usually found under the "camel hump" covers on the motor. If you have this type of cover,take the cover off and visually inspect the cap. Start capacitors are usually black plastic. Look for any obvious signs of leakage. If a capacitor "blows", internal pressure builds up and is released through the end cap. The end cap will have a round hole in it with what looks like cardboard behind it. Usually, it is pretty obvious, but sometimes, it will have a barely perceptible pin hole in it. If you see any of this, then the cap is bad. If not, you will have to check it with a capacitor testor. Many multi meters have the capability to do this. If you can't do this, take the cap(s) to a motor shop. They will gladly check them for you, and sell you a replacement.
 
Okla been an electrician for 20 years currently work in high voltage switchyards
And that is a clamp on amp meter and is only good for max of 600 volts
A lineman would never use a tool like this other than at home lol

I realize that the power grid is high voltage and low amp.

Like I said that is what the retired Navy electrician called it and he was the head electrician on a ship. He also worked as an electrician at one of the major plants in the area. Maybe it is what the old timers called it or maybe it was his name for it. He passed away about 14 years ago. He taught the City of Stillwater and their engineers that it was possible to run three phase off single phase power before phase convertors were around the area. I assume that was part of the information he aquired in the Navy.

He had one very much like this (two heads) in his vintage tool collection. You can see it was called a Tong Test Meter by the manufacturer at that time.

I found a cool picture of the 5 headed one and it does a 1000 amps on one of the heads.
 

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got my comp. motor fixed today.. it was the start switch inside the casing.. i tried the cap. and they where fine so i dropped it off and had them check it out ..62.50 is what it cost to fix.. i say thats alot cheaper then a motor..:D:D:D:Dnow i can get back to work on the old duster ..oh yea :sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::angel4::angel4::angel4::angel4:\\:D/\\:D/\\:D/\\:D/\\:D/
 
got my comp. motor fixed today.. it was the start switch inside the casing.. i tried the cap. and they where fine so i dropped it off and had them check it out ..62.50 is what it cost to fix.. i say thats alot cheaper then a motor..:D:D:D:Dnow i can get back to work on the old duster ..oh yea :sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::sunny::angel4::angel4::angel4::angel4:\\:D/\\:D/\\:D/\\:D/\\:D/

Kewl... Isn't it nice when something actually goes your way?
 
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