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Air Compressor Recommendation
Bought a 20 gallon. 3.5 hp Craftsman air compressor off of Craigslist a couple of years ago. More than I needed...but kind of got used to it. Motor just gave up the ghost.
Any recommendations for a replacement? Would need to be 120v. If I'm honest with myself, I mainly use it for tire inflation. But after getting used to a decent compressor, there's no going back to those inflators that take forever. Thanks.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife |
#2
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What makes you think it is the motor? Burning smell? My experience is the starting capacitor if the motor fails to start. Check the cap, normally it is 100uF 120V or higher.
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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed. W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html 1 X 2006 CDI 1 x 87 300SDL 1 x 87 300D 1 x 87 300TDT wagon 1 x 83 300D 1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry. |
#3
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Circuit breaker tripped, smoke coming from motor. Also was running weakly for a few moments very briefly when I plugged back in, then died altogether.
I also think I did something dumb...it was connected to a power strip so I'm wondering if the current draw was too high.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife |
#4
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Motor probably is done for. I would still take a look at the motor winding. You cannot mistaken for a burn motor, some winding will be blackened. Check the cap for bulging. Good luck.
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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed. W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html 1 X 2006 CDI 1 x 87 300SDL 1 x 87 300D 1 x 87 300TDT wagon 1 x 83 300D 1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry. |
#5
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Weird...working again. I guess it had some sort of internal protection circuit.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife |
#6
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The cap is starting to fail. Replace the cap before it fries the motor...
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The OM 642/722.9 powered family Still going strong 2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD) 2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD) both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023 2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles) 2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles) 1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh 1987 300TD sold to vstech |
#7
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x3 on the cap being bad. Continuing to operate as is will cause excessive current draw and eventual motor failure. Correct the problem now and you'll likely save it.
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Current stable: 1995 E320 149K (Nancy) 1983 500SL 120K (SLoL) Black Sheep: 1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) Gone but not forgotten: 1986 300SDL (RIP) 1991 350SD 1991 560SEL 1990 560SEL 1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!) |
#8
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Pretty much ignore HP ratings unless the compressor is from the mid 80's or older. There was a 2004 law suit against consumer air compressor makers for overstating HP and output.
The short story is you aren't going to get more than 2 HP from a 120V 15 A wall outlet. Don't shy away from a 220 V compressor, adding an 220 outlet isn't voodo. It uses the same type of wire as 110 V and you install a 2 pole breaker rather than a 1 pole. A real 2 or 3 HP 220 compressor on a 20 ish gas tank that you can roll around would be fine. Have a look here for more info. Evaluating True Horsepower and CFM Ratings of Air Compressors |
#9
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For the electrical novice....how do I locate the cap?
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife |
#10
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The cap will usually be under a cover on the side of the motor. It will be very obvious as it mounds up out of the side case where it would normally be round.
Some motors have 2 caps. If yours does, you'll usually see 2 cap covers on the side of the motor. Some have the "run" cap tucked in the end bell of the motor. There will usually be a couple of screws that hold the end plate on. If the cap is hidden in there, it'll be the round variety.
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Current stable: 1995 E320 149K (Nancy) 1983 500SL 120K (SLoL) Black Sheep: 1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™) Gone but not forgotten: 1986 300SDL (RIP) 1991 350SD 1991 560SEL 1990 560SEL 1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!) |
#11
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If you have or can borrow a meter with a capacitor checking function. Quite common these days. You can check them before buying new ones. Also if you re capacitor say a cruise control you can check them as you remove them. Even check the new ones before installation. Usually a waste though as new are usually good in the vast amount of cases.
As for compressors. Just staying with the cheapies that are pretty much designed to fail for simple applications. Only piston pump types really go the distance usually anyways. I was present when they selling of and rating of compressors became pretty much total lies. A neighbor that knew I know a little about electrical called me then. He asked what size wire to apply to a seven and a half horsepower compressor motor. I told him you really should have a magnetic starter as well. Anyways I did the calculations for his unit and length of cable run. A few months later I was visiting him and saw the compressor. Stated 7.5hp but looked and ran like a three horsepower unit. A craftsman product. I did not take my clamp on amp meter over to check. I did feel bad about the cost of the wire he was stuck with though. I did check and heard it was a new way to rate electrical motors. A scam to me as there was nothing wrong with the old motor rating standards. On the other hand today anybody can own a small compressor. As long as they are aware that for any real work they need a good piston pump design. Other than say for driving shingle nails as a maximum use limit a small diaphragm type pump seems to work. Many companies that at one time built only decent compressors went and joined the junk league for much of their product lines. Still a little portable 110 volt compressor is very portable and convienient. As long as you treat them like the toys they are. Last edited by barry12345; 04-04-2017 at 12:56 PM. |
#12
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Quote:
For a consumer that uses it to fill tires or other small tasks every other month, the low end stuff works well enough. An even better compressor is a rotary screw though it is more suited for a full time repair shop. Prices have fallen in recent years, Atlas Copco for one sells a true 5 HP GX4 unit with tank for $ 4,500. Super quiet no bang bang of a piston compressor, just a pleasant whir. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
[/QUOTE] |
#13
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Do you all think it's likely that plugging it into a power strip resulted in a current draw that was too high? I know extension cord can do that...not sure about power strip.
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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles 06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU 91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion 19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi Fourteen other MB's owned and sold 1961 Very Tolerant Wife |
#14
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Depends on how cheap the power strip is, its probably not helping things....
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2004 F150 4.6L -My Daily 2007 Volvo XC70 -Wife's Daily 1998 Ford F150 -Rear ended 1989 J-spec 420SEL -passed onto its new keeper 1982 BMW 733i -fixed and traded for the 420SEL 2003 Volvo V70 5 Speed -scrapped 1997 E290 Turbo Diesel Wagon -traded for above 1992 BMW 525i -traded in 1990 Silver 300TE -hated the M103 1985 Grey 380SE Diesel Conversion, 2.47 rear end, ABS -Sold, really should have kept this one 1979 Silver 300D "The Silver Slug" -Sold |
#15
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What is the power strip rated at? What is the gauge of wire of the cord? I've seen 15 Amp power strips and very light duty ones for a computer and a few power blocks.
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