The motor on my compressor has started to run slow and quickly overheats. I found that the connection to the start capacitor had broken so remade that but it hasn't made any difference. Anybody any ideas as to what is wrong. Will I need to get the motor rewound and if so how much will it cost? Or would it be cheaper to buy a new compressor.

Cheers John

is there oil in the compressor bit? could it be seizing up?

Does it smell like it's burnt out?

If it's a standard belt drive compressor then a motor is probably cheaper than a rewind.

Davie

Smoke comes out of the motor after about 10 seconds of running. It's a direct drive motor.

As it happen's my little oil less direct drive jobby went up in a puff of smoke last week

It had been spitting & farting for quite a while.
Took the cover off & found that the capacitor was burst.

Thinking the the windings would most likely be dammaged I was going to skip it !!??

Looking on ebay, I noticed that a universal capacitor was only £5 .... Same 25uf @ 450v value as the OEM one.

Arrived the next day, fitted it & hey presto, the jobs a good un

Not saying that yours has the same problem ..... If it has been struggling with a loose contact for a while, there very well may be winding dammage but a few quid for a new capacitor is got to be worth a punt.

If the windings are gone, it's going to be a throw away job is suspect

If you take the end plate off check the centrifugal switch contacts if it has one probably burnt so may need cleaning and/or as previous poster said a new capacitor may be worth a shot.
Cheers,
Bob

[Edited on 18/10/10 by splitrivet]

Mine started to do this - con rod small end bearing had siezed in the compressor due to pulling in paint dust..... strip & clean, good as new!

If the motor can't run up to speed (due to a knackered air pump, for example) then the centrifugal switch won't open and it will leave the start winding connected. This winding isn't meant to run under power for more than a second or two, and will fry if left for much longer.

If you have a belt between the motor and the pump then try running with it off - you would expect the motor to get up to top speed almost immediately, and run quietly and cool from then on. If this is the case, then the pump needs attention. If it isn't - then the motor has problems.

If the motor drives the pump directly - then you're on your own!