my compressor, this one

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/se16c150-air-compressor/path/professionalindustrial-air-compressors-elect

started tripping its circuit breaker (the one on the machine rather than the fuse box) whenever it got up to a cerain pressure, about 7 bar i think it was, the circuit breaker would trip and i'd have to reset it, then it would go up to full pressure and work properly.

now it keeps tripping and won't get to full pressure

anyone know if these circuit breakers can be fixed if i take the cover off today? or do i need a new one? its only just out of warranty too it hasn't had that much use either

do you mean the circuit breaker as in electrickery or do you mean the pressure relief valve thingy?

On mine it started blowing off before full pressure was attained, i just took it apart, twiddled a threaded rod increase the pressure and tried it again (got it wrong the first time so re-set it then twiddled in the other direction a couple of times till it worked properly).

If its the electrickery bit - is there something similar that detects pressure?

nooo, electric. the one with a little reset button that pops out.
if you look in the picture, the pressure sensor thingy is the black box on the right, and the CB sits on top of the motor.

it runs, then the motor just stops, and after about 30secs the pressure releif valve opens

our clarke one did that for ages, especially when it was cold. once it'd charged a few times and warmed up, it'd stop and start itself happily.

it could be the capacitor on the motor that's on it's way out, so allowing the motor to stall. in the end, i replaced the circuit breaker on ours with a core of solid copper from twin and earth.
it meant you had to sit with it and nurse it to get it started, turning it off when it stalled, but it got us by until my dad let the smoke out. silly boy!

we got a 150litre belt drive one to replace it, so all was well.

so in summary, i don't think it's the circuit breaker that's at fault, merely reporting other issues.

tom

hope its not the motor! it's only had about 24hours use, if that.
i'll go out and try it today, not its warmish outside.

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Originally posted by indykid

we got a 150litre belt drive one to replace it, so all was well.

tom

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Take it back to machine mart - 1 year warranty means nothing. The sale of goods act requires goods to be of 'merchantable quality' and you should expect it to last a reasonable amount of time. Their site says:

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The Clarke SE16 'Blue Line' industrial duty air compressor is designed to offer long term reliability...

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I agree with Tom - it's more likely that something is causing the motor to start slowly, which means that the current demand is too high for too long, making the trip pop out.

Try taking the belt off, then try turning stuff to make sure it hasn't gone stiff (ooer!). The motor pulley should be really easy to spin over, and if you try it under power at this stage it should start very quickly and the trip shouldn't pop out, as there's almost zero load.

The compressor end should be really easy for part of the rotation, then it'll get tougher and tougher as you get close to maximum compression. When it's at the bottom of the stroke it should be easy to move with just finger pressure.

If there are no apparent mechanical problems then I'd check the starter circuit - the capacitor may be going home, or perhaps the speed-dependant switch could be dirty and not connecting the starter coils when stationary (assuming that the motor has an old-fashioned speed-dependent switch and not some fancy electronics).

Mucking around with the trip switch is the equivalent of putting a bigger fuse into a circuit because the smaller one keeps blowing!

quote:

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Originally posted by matt_claydon
Take it back to machine mart - 1 year warranty means nothing. The sale of goods act requires goods to be of 'merchantable quality' and you should expect it to last a reasonable amount of time. Their site says:

quote:

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The Clarke SE16 'Blue Line' industrial duty air compressor is designed to offer long term reliability...

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So it's up to them to honour their claim.

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quote:

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Originally posted by blakep82
my compressor, this one

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/se16c150-air-compressor/path/professionalindustrial-air-compressors-elect

started tripping its circuit breaker (the one on the machine rather than the fuse box) whenever it got up to a cerain pressure, about 7 bar i think it was, the circuit breaker would trip and i'd have to reset it, then it would go up to full pressure and work properly.

now it keeps tripping and won't get to full pressure

anyone know if these circuit breakers can be fixed if i take the cover off today? or do i need a new one? its only just out of warranty too it hasn't had that much use either

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just actually looked at your link and that's the same compressor we've bought to replace the little one.

the only problems we've had with ours so far was with it drawing too much current on start and tripping the fusebox.

i agree with david. take the belt off and check everything moves over happily. it's been pretty damp of late, so all sorts could have got a bit grubby.

tom

hmm, will do that. on the question of oil, of got it filled right to the dot on the little window. is that a minimum or maximum mark? maybe could do with a drop more? just to keep it all lubricated.

just been back out and its tripped about 5 times without getting up to full pressure, but when i pressed the reset button, getting a bit annoyed with it, tapping it quite hard at times, sometimes it popped back out, like it clicked in, i tapped it again and it popped back out, and clicked back in when i pushed it again. could it be its just a bit weak?

left the tank half charged (about 7 bar i think it was, 10bar is its auto cut off limit) went out, tried it again and its working properly, its colder outside than it was before. happy its working properly still, but needs some help getting there. once its full and cuts out automatically, it restarts and stops as it should. i still think there's something wrong with that reset button... look easy enough to replace too. i'll see how it goes

[Edited on 24/2/08 by blakep82]