Why does my air compressor overheat?

by Cap'n SARS
(Redding, CA)

I have a 5 gallon master power compressor. The motor reset button keeps popping. I can't even fill the tank entirely when I turn it on. The same happens even with the intake filter off.

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Bill says...

A running electric motor generates quite a lot of heat. That's why some of them have integral fans to help cooling, as the heat is a by product of the normal electric motor operation.

When the electric motor needs maintenance, to make this whole thing simple, it needs to work harder to produce the rotation. Or, if whatever the motor is attached to is increasing in load, this makes the motor work harder.

The harder the electric motor works, the more heat it generates. The motor builders often put a thermal overload on a motor so that will trip and stop the motor before the increasing heat can damage the motor.

I think your motor load is increasing due to a) too many other electric drawing devices in the same circuit as your compressor, under powering the motor and making it work harder b) the motor is failing c) something in the compressor pump is creating an increasing load on the motor.

Bill