tigercreek
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2017
- Messages
- 41
I decided to write this to help others who may find themselves in a similar situation.
NEVER take for granted that exchanged and swapped parts on that used piece of equipment are correct.
I picked up an old used compressor about a year and a half ago. It was cheap, the right size and worked. That was all that mattered at the time.
After a short time of usage I burned up a start capacitor in the motor first - then went through a couple of pressure switches. The solution was to add a magnetic start switch. No more problems there.
The compressor never ran “right”. It would surge, lag, run smoothly, etc. Oil changes and checking for pressure leaks did no good. I continued to use it with the intent of eventually figuring it out. I was thinking it was a pump problem and I was anticipating repairing or replacing the pump. Wrong.
I could tell that the motor that came with the compressor was a replacement. Right motor size. Right motor duty. Tag on the motor even said the frame size (56HZ) was correct. Wrong. Don’t know what frame this is but it is not a 56. This should have been a huge clue but I was overlooking it.
The motor would not mount correctly to the compressor top plate - a little extra drilling and mounting techniques were already employed and I accepted this as well. Another overlooked clue.
Last week I was in fix/repair for good mode getting all of my equipment in shape and decided to finally tackle the “not quite right” compressor. My attempts to create a mounting plate adapter were not going as well as I had hoped so I decided to punt. I replaced the motor with a “correct” replacement. Right frame, right duty, right size.
Getting the old pulley off the existing motor was a chore - but successful. I started to mount it on the new motor and something told me to stop and check sizes, RPM, etc. The old motor used a 6” pulley that I “assumed” came off the original motor. Not so. I learned after a little digging that the original motor would have used a 4” pulley. After doing the math I also learned that the replacement motor setup was pushing the pump at well over 1400 RPM. The pump should have been running at 950. Another assumption bites me in the ****.
I got the correct 4” pulley, put it on my new motor - wired, aligned and mounted it correctly. Then fired the compressor up. Not one surge. Not one lag. Just a smooth run until it reached cutoff psi. And it is quieter, too.
So my whole point in taking the time to write this is to encourage those who get a “good deal” on a piece of used equipment to take the time to figure out what they have, how it works and what it needs. Many fixes are done in a moment of expediency, not considering the consequences of something not being done correctly. I could have made all of corrections to this compressor on day one - but I was too busy assuming and being pleased with the good deal I got.
NEVER take for granted that exchanged and swapped parts on that used piece of equipment are correct.
I picked up an old used compressor about a year and a half ago. It was cheap, the right size and worked. That was all that mattered at the time.
After a short time of usage I burned up a start capacitor in the motor first - then went through a couple of pressure switches. The solution was to add a magnetic start switch. No more problems there.
The compressor never ran “right”. It would surge, lag, run smoothly, etc. Oil changes and checking for pressure leaks did no good. I continued to use it with the intent of eventually figuring it out. I was thinking it was a pump problem and I was anticipating repairing or replacing the pump. Wrong.
I could tell that the motor that came with the compressor was a replacement. Right motor size. Right motor duty. Tag on the motor even said the frame size (56HZ) was correct. Wrong. Don’t know what frame this is but it is not a 56. This should have been a huge clue but I was overlooking it.
The motor would not mount correctly to the compressor top plate - a little extra drilling and mounting techniques were already employed and I accepted this as well. Another overlooked clue.
Last week I was in fix/repair for good mode getting all of my equipment in shape and decided to finally tackle the “not quite right” compressor. My attempts to create a mounting plate adapter were not going as well as I had hoped so I decided to punt. I replaced the motor with a “correct” replacement. Right frame, right duty, right size.
Getting the old pulley off the existing motor was a chore - but successful. I started to mount it on the new motor and something told me to stop and check sizes, RPM, etc. The old motor used a 6” pulley that I “assumed” came off the original motor. Not so. I learned after a little digging that the original motor would have used a 4” pulley. After doing the math I also learned that the replacement motor setup was pushing the pump at well over 1400 RPM. The pump should have been running at 950. Another assumption bites me in the ****.
I got the correct 4” pulley, put it on my new motor - wired, aligned and mounted it correctly. Then fired the compressor up. Not one surge. Not one lag. Just a smooth run until it reached cutoff psi. And it is quieter, too.
So my whole point in taking the time to write this is to encourage those who get a “good deal” on a piece of used equipment to take the time to figure out what they have, how it works and what it needs. Many fixes are done in a moment of expediency, not considering the consequences of something not being done correctly. I could have made all of corrections to this compressor on day one - but I was too busy assuming and being pleased with the good deal I got.
