Looking for some friendly advice and opinions...
I picked up a husky c303h 30gal oilless 175max psi air compressor from Craigslist the other day. The listing said it needed a new pressure switch, but the price was right and that part is cheap. Ran it briefly to test, and besides being louder than expected, and cutting out at 150psi (25psi early), it seemed fine. Data plate says 2017, can’t be that old I think. I decided to go for it.
Got it home and plugged it in to a 15a circuit in the garage, and here’s where buyers remorse hit. Hard. Turned the compressor on and after building 50 or 60psi, pop! there goes the lights.
Long story short and after some investigation, the motor is cooked. Commutator is dark, brushes shoot sparks, and it is overheating badly. I haven’t tested the armature but it wouldn’t surprise me to find a bad winding. The thermal protection circuit is killing the machine, not the pressure switch.
So, my choices are a) order a replacement motor assembly and fix it, or 2) eat the sunk cost and go find a new HF 30gal (or similar) or maybe the new Kobolt 26 quiet tech unit. Both options end up at about the same money out of pocket.
A few constraints: needs to be mobile, would prefer quiet(er), needs to be in the $300ish range.
Thoughts? Is there a better way or a third option I’m not thinking of?
Thanks!
M.
I picked up a husky c303h 30gal oilless 175max psi air compressor from Craigslist the other day. The listing said it needed a new pressure switch, but the price was right and that part is cheap. Ran it briefly to test, and besides being louder than expected, and cutting out at 150psi (25psi early), it seemed fine. Data plate says 2017, can’t be that old I think. I decided to go for it.
Got it home and plugged it in to a 15a circuit in the garage, and here’s where buyers remorse hit. Hard. Turned the compressor on and after building 50 or 60psi, pop! there goes the lights.
Long story short and after some investigation, the motor is cooked. Commutator is dark, brushes shoot sparks, and it is overheating badly. I haven’t tested the armature but it wouldn’t surprise me to find a bad winding. The thermal protection circuit is killing the machine, not the pressure switch.
So, my choices are a) order a replacement motor assembly and fix it, or 2) eat the sunk cost and go find a new HF 30gal (or similar) or maybe the new Kobolt 26 quiet tech unit. Both options end up at about the same money out of pocket.
A few constraints: needs to be mobile, would prefer quiet(er), needs to be in the $300ish range.
Thoughts? Is there a better way or a third option I’m not thinking of?
Thanks!
M.