Compressor problems

[shepherd]

Just got a call from the wife, apparently my garage compressor cycled on and was spitting out dark smoke and a nasty smell. She shut it off, but can't really describe anything that's happened...I'm going to look when I get home, but any ideas what I should be expecting? this is a home depot Husky compressor, 60 gallons...only had it two years, it cycles once per day, at most.

 

[thebeekeeper1]

Two things--

You NEVER leave a compressor turned on when not in use. They burn houses down.

Once the magic smoke gets out there is no hope.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Two things--

You NEVER leave a compressor turned on when not in use. They burn houses down.

Once the magic smoke gets out there is no hope.

Yupp..Mine gets shut off and unpluged when not in use....

 

[shepherd]

Duly noted...but: you're sayihng the motor is most likely non-salvageable?

 

[b-body-bob]

I learned that lesson when a harbor freight regulator/dryer came apart with the compressor turned on here. I just happened to walk by my detacted garage door one day and heard the thing running. I couldn't tell how long it had been going on, but it had leaked long enough that it left what sort of looks like a burn mark on the wall from the air, water, and oil. It didn't seem to hurt the compressor so I counted that as luck and since always flip the breaker off before quitting for the day or leaving for more than a few minutes.

The smoke could've come from the motor or the pump so you're going to need to look at things to see what's happened.

 

[Major Ramifications]

We don't know what the problem is with no info, we just know that we turn ours off when not in use.

 

[Davefr]

Two things--

You NEVER leave a compressor turned on when not in use. They burn houses down.

Once the magic smoke gets out there is no hope.

^^^ +1!!

If a valve fails it'll unpressurize the unit, kick on the motor and never stop until it either self destructs, burns up or maybe you'll get lucky and have the the thermal overload shut the motor off.

I'm not trusting my home with a cheap thermal overload switch.

 

[shepherd]

All good points. The switch is right beside the compressor, will either wire in an idiot light or a timer (ie: most i can leave it on is a couple of hours)...

Now it's just whether I'm going to wire it to a new compressor or not.... a little googling has yielded non-favourable cost/benefit for repairing these Husky machines....I'm just a weekend warrior, and got it at half off a couple of years ago. I guess we'll see.

 

[shepherd]

Sorry, I know I've no info yet, but am I wrong in thinking that cycling once a day should not be damaging to a compressor? and when I say cycling, it's not from dead empty...

 

[Davefr]

but am I wrong in thinking that cycling once a day should not be damaging to a compressor?

Cycling once a day should be no issue. However these homeowner grade compressors aren't the most robust.

Is it an oiless/direct drive unit?

If it's a std. motor/belt/pump unit just remove the belt and see if the motor is OK. If it is then turn over the compressor by hand and/or pull the head off the pump and take a look inside.

HF sells affordable replacement pumps/motors. They're not the greatest but anything more then that and you're "putting lipstick on a pig".

 

[TAMPAGT07]

HF sells affordable replacement pumps/motors. They're not the greatest but anything more then that and you're "putting lipstick on a pig".

I actually have an HF pump and a true 5hp motor from northern tool, and they work pretty good..I did have to rebuild the HF pump a few years ago, but the parts were cheap....(Northern has 2 5hp motors, I went with the better one...)

 

[Gary S]

Two things--

You NEVER leave a compressor turned on when not in use. They burn houses down.

Once the magic smoke gets out there is no hope.

Excellent advice.

My neighbor left his on last Summer. I heard it running on and off for a week. After that, it got quiet. A month later he tossed it out into the trash and there was an empty box beside it from a new one.
SHUT OFF THE POWER when you aren't using it.

 

[shepherd]

Ok checked it out, looks like the belt was slipping and melting, hence the smoke...shavings every where, and had to dig melted rubber off the pump wheel.

Question: how "easy" should the pump flywheel be to turn? Drained the oil for fun, looked like it was due for a change, but the level was never blow spec from the manual...worried I have damaged the pump. I can hear the diaphragm inside doing its thing when I turn it by hand...but I'm surprised there's there's that much compression still, even after disconnecting the pump from the tank's main feed line...

 

[Davefr]

Question: how "easy" should the pump flywheel be to turn? Drained the oil for fun, looked like it was due for a change, but the level was never blow spec from the manual...worried I have damaged the pump. I can hear the diaphragm inside doing its thing when I turn it by hand...but I'm surprised there's there's that much compression still, even after disconnecting the pump from the tank's main feed line...

With the belt removed, the flywheel should be pretty easy to turn but you should feel resistance at the top of the compression stroke.

A fried V belt suggests a pump that's gone bad.

Pull the cylinder head and look inside.

 

[Zeke]

I guess I'll go turn mine off. It's been on for 10 years.

 

[shepherd]

That's what it feels like, piston compression, with a little " fwoomp!" noise each turn...going to grab a new belt from princess auto tomorrow and see how it runs. If a new belt is still slipping, I'll take apart the pump.

 

[Outlawmws]

You may have gotten lucky and as the belt wore, it got loose enough to slip under load. good luck with your test.

 

[Davefr]

You may have gotten lucky and as the belt wore, it got loose enough to slip under load. good luck with your test.

Outlaw makes a good point.

Your problem could be as simple as a stuck or inoperative unloader valve. This valve relieves head pressure upon startup for an easier start. If it's not functioning correctly the belt could be slipping bad as the motor tries to start a pump under high head pressure.

The slippage could be destroying the grip of the belt.

 

[shepherd]

New belt, new oil, all good! Seems the wheel and pulley were a bit off alignment, so I adjusted the flywheel on the pump shaft to straighten it out. And yes, I switched it off when I was done.... Thanks, guys.