Why does my compressor keep popping breakers?

by Cameron

What would cause my compressor to keep setting off the breaker its on.

Once the breaker is reset it works fine.

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Hi Cameron:

The breaker pops because you've got an electrical fault (to ground?)in your circuit.

Instead of having a huge increase of amperage heating up the wires to the point of combustion (like the heating element on an electrical stove) when an electrical circuit draws too much amperage, the breaker pops, cutting of electricity flow, and preventing a fire / shock etc.

When you reset your breaker without identifying and correcting your circuit fault, you are flirting with disaster!

If the compressor is the only thing on the circuit that has the repeated breaker popping, then somewhere in your compressor electrical circuit you have a serious problem.

It is often caused by a faulty pressure switch, but if it's an older compressor, somewhere else in the circuit you may have power-to-return contact.

Don't use the compressor until you find and repair this fault.

Cheers,

Bill