My garage compressor has a problem

December 21st, 2009

The other day, I apparently left it on(I usually turn it off when I leave the garage), and it ended up tripping the breaker for some reason. I didn't think too much of it at the time though. It's been known to trip the breaker if something else with a fairly good load comes on, on that same circuit.

I went to use it today, and it didn't sound healthy. When I turned it on, it sounded like it was running very slowly, and was strained somehow. It is a Craftsman 33 gallon, 120V 6HP compressor. I turned it back off right away, but how do I go about seeing what the problem is? It's not that old, and I've had it over a year now, but I got it used from some lady in Conifer that was moving out of state.

**Hypoid** · December 21st, 2009

Was it cold in the shop?

Have a link to any specs for the compressor?

December 21st, 2009

I don't have a link to the specs. I checked the Sears site, and they must have discontinued the model this year, as it was on their site last year. And it was around 50 today, though it's not a heated garage, so it drops to 30s.

**Fordguy77** · December 21st, 2009

i had a similar problem with my husky compressor. i emptied the tank, opened up the cover and reset the internal breaker on the compressor, and waited about 20 min and fired it back up and started just fine.

December 22nd, 2009

Try plugging it into another outlet on another breaker and see if it sounds better. You may have toasted the breaker to the point where it won't allow full current flow anymore. The problem may not be the compressor, but may be the breaker. I have run into similar stuff using a welder. It is like the breaker gets frozen somewhere between open and closed and works fine for normal, low draw use, but cuts the juice down for high draw stuff.

**Hypoid** · December 22nd, 2009

Too much load at start up:

Dry/worn/stiff bearings?
Head pressure on the pump at startup?

Then there is the motor it's-self:

Inductive start or capacitive start?

If you google the model number, you'll probably find an owner's manual you can download.

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