Stanley air compressor blows breaker after a couple seconds

by Brian
(Mound, MN)

Hello,
I have a small (~8 gal) 110v Stanley air compressor that is a few years old.

From the day I bought it, it's always had the same problem: when it first goes to start up after it's been sitting for a while (I'd guess more than a day but haven't timed it), it runs slowly for a couple of cycles and then blows the breaker.

After I reset the breaker it runs for a couple more cycles but runs a little faster then blows the breaker.

After going through this sequence 15 or so times the compressor finally fires up and fills the tank. I can hear the unloader switch relieving pressure once the tank reaches full pressure.

For a while I thought that it was a faulty internal breaker on the compressor, so I bypassed it. Now that I've bypassed it, it blows the breaker at the fuse box, which is 20 amps.

I've also had it happen just a couple of times where the compressor hums for a couple of seconds and trips the breaker, though that is pretty infrequent and I've always been able to resolve it by either trying a few more times, or moving the compressor around to get the oil to lubricate the internal parts and then trying again.

I live in Minnesota and these problems seem to be more frequent in the winter when it's cold in the garage (the lowest it ever gets in the garage is 30 degrees F).

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for your help!

_____________________
Bill says....

Sure Brian... 30 deg. F in the winter in MN??? :-)

Some DIY air compressors have marginal power supplies. By this I mean that the motor / capacitor is capable of starting the motor when all is good, but add a little frisson of load, and the compressor can't cope.

And colder weather, congealing the lube oil, is adding load.

Can't be sure, but it sounds to me like your air compressor has had a motor / capacitor issue from day one.

I'd get a load test on them to see what's what.

Cheers,

Bill