I have a model #919.167200 5hp, 20gal. air compressor. It has been working great for years, but when I went to turn it on today it blew the breaker. I pulled cover and cleaned contacts on pressure switch, same thing, blew breaker. Spun pump fan and all pump assy. moved fine. I let all air out of system and tried again, same thing tripped breaker. Is it the pressure switch or the electric motor?

The compressor is probably done

The capacitor is probably not adequate or was hooked up wrong. I have three AC units and another capacitor went out this year and I found a kit with detailed instructions with pictures and phone support at hvacrepairkits.com.

No

This is not a business

It is a social web site,
we are at home

Use the Cambell Web site
You can buy directly from them

You had a refrigerant release. Probably two lines rubbing together in the outside unit. I have
repaired several of these with this problem. It involves repairing the lines by silver soldering
then pulling a vacuum/ purging with nitrogen and installing a filter dryer and recharging
system. Several hours work, and you must have a licensed tech do this as refrigerants are
involved. Luckily you were able to shut it down quickly (this helps).

I had this same problem. I disconnected the thermostat wire out side at the condenser and reconnected it and it started working. A couple days later it blew the breaker again this time I found the bus where the L1, L2. GR wire connect at the condenser had melted. I wire nutted all 3 wires instead of the using the bus everything is working right again. Hope this helps.
Tim

i just switched out my compressor today after over a year of my air doing this until it finally went out....(it only blew hot air). Replacing the compressor seemed to work. it is pricey though. dealership charges and arm and a leg. (i think the quoted the compressor at like 1000 not including labor.) my knobs are also messing up, but the one that switched from regular air to defrost. they only sell the knobs in a pack of 3 and are charging 300 for that....but i say good luck!!! its pricey...they shoulda recalled the cars. this is a very common problem i have been seeing. all they wanna do is make money off of it.
anyways the new compressor seems to be working.

two different problems here! first when it trips the breaker and you try to reset the breaker and not turn off the compressor on its pressure switch it does not unload the air off the head of the pump when you try to start it again,,, ( when it shuts off normally you hear the air drain near the switch,, this unloads the pump to restart)

The most likely reason it is tripping the breaker is that the second stage (smaller cylinder) is not doing the work it needs to do and the first stage (bigger cylinder) is pumping more now!,,,, higher pressure on this side makes the motor work harder.

I would advise rebuilding both sides to get the pump back up to correct running levels it had new.

hi remove compressor unit try motor if ok strip comp hope this helps merlin v12

http://www.fixya.com/support/clarke_power_products

More than likely what happen was the internal overload in the compressor was tripped and didnt reset for 5 hrs and when it did it popped the breaker. The compressor was probably already shot. Sorry