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home made air compressor

R

rd 2N in mo

Member
I have a 50 year old refrigeration compressor that dad turned into an air compressor. Lately the starting curcuit has stopped working and I dont know what to do to remove the capicitor. How do I test it or can I?
 
Usually the capacitor is wired in with electrical quick connects. Pop them off with a small flat blade screwdriver and test the capacitor with a capacitance meter. Just make sure the meter's rated high enough or it'll show OL.
 
Usually the capacitor have either spade connections, solder or terminal connections. They are fairly straight forward connections. "The Surplus Center",motor shops, electrical supply houses or even box stores have replacements. Just this last spring I had to rebuild mine which I built 50 years ago from used parts.
 
The first thing to do after you take off the cover of the capacitor is to short a screwdriver shank across the terminals to discharge it. That will make it safe from giving you shock when you handle it. If there is no spark when you short it out, that may/may not prove that it is faulty. If you can plug it in and recharge it, then short across the terminals - - if there is no spark, the capacitor is faulty.

Read all the numbers on the capacitor and then search for those numbers online. The mfd numbers do not have to be exact; a little higher number in the same size case will give an extra starting boost to the motor.
 
thats what i was concerned about. I knew about the charge but didnt want to land on my butt.
i have always heard the unit kick in when it started but now it doesnt do that but only hums.
 
There may also be a start relay mounted to the compressor where the leads connect.

It has a set of contacts that can fail.

If you take it off and try to check the continuity, best I recall the magnetic plunger is gravity return, so it needs to remain upright for normal operation.
 
Hi, Some time ago I thought the capacitor was shot on a tablesaw motor. It wouldn't start. I took the cover off the end of the motor and saw a spring operated switch, I just flipped it over with a screw driver and put the thing back together. It has worked good since.Ed Will Oliver BC
 
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