I have a 33gal craftman compressor mod.# 919.167340, it trips the breaker on startup, even under no load conditions. The motor turns freely. I'm not sure how to check the motor start capacitor to see if it is good. I have heard on a slightly older model a problem with the centifugal switch, but this one seems ok (looks like a newer design). The capacitor itself doesnt look or smell burnt, I know they are cheap but I can't find a replacement. Also the capacitor has a resistor soldered between the 2 posts of the capacitor. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
It sounds like either the check valve or the switch that lets the air pressure off of the pressure switch is broke. After the compressor pumps to shut off pressure, when it shuts off, it should let a short burst of air from the switch. If it does this, that parts good. Give it a little time, then manually push that plunger on the switch.( you're trying to see if the check valve, which is a one way valve, is leaking air back into the cylinder) If air is release from that plunger, the check valve is leaking and will not let the compressor start, because air has leaked back into the cylinder.
It sounds like you have a shorted motor. Through your motor leads you can ohm it out to check for open winding or you can take the motor to an electric motor shop to have it checked. The capacitor can be checked by an ohm meter, by touching the two poles you will see the meter spike and then fall back to 0. Each time you test it you will need to switch the leads to opposite poles. Again a motor shop can check this for you usually for free.
SOURCE: craftsman compressor motor/capacitor problem?
I had the same tripped breaker problem with a similar Sears model 919.195060 (25 gal) and luckily I had access to another, almost identical sears compressor to swap parts to diagnosis it. It turned out to be the run capacitor, but from what I was finding in my on-line research, it could have been a bad winding on the motor or the start capacitor just as easily. If your resistor is outside of the capacitor, just cut the wire right at the capacitor and add flag termnals Mine had 3 wires coming out of the capacitor (not the normal terminal cap style), and two of them were basically just tied together (same color). I didn't have an external resistor. I bought a GE 97F9614 run capacitor (40 mf, 370vac) and other than having to cut out a bit of the plastic on the mounting bracket and buying "flag" style 1/4" terinals from radioshack, it fit and worked perfectly. It seems if GE is the only one that has the right dimensions (1.75dia x 3.88 long, not including the terminals. That capacitor cost $27.50 with tax at a local electric motor shop. Sears doesn't even have any info on the motor parts, like capacitor - they want to sell you a new motor for almost as much as a new whole compressor. I ended up looking at parts forr the motor on a Devilbliss (that's what the 919 means on the model number, that it's made by Devilbliss), but it was not an easy way to go and really didn't help that much). The easier/normal way of matching capacitors is to measure the case dimensions carefully and match up the voltage and uf (or mf) specs,
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I have a craftsman Compressor Model #919.165120 that was not pressurizing. The compression ring was blown. I replaced the cylinder sleeve, connecting rod, cap, compression ring, and "o" rings. Now, when there is more than 40psi in the system, the motor tries to start, make a few revolutions, then just hums until the breaker blows. I checked the check valve and it operates freely. Do I have a motor / capacitor problem?
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