[Shop-talk] Air Compressors

[Randall]

> Don't sell the Craftsman too short.  But do be consious of 
> the cost.  Their
> quality may have changed over the years.

IMO it's a mistake to regard "Craftsman" as a compressor maker at all.
Sears resells compressors made by several people, including IR and the same
folks that make Campbell-Hausfeld.  IOW the quality of a particular
"Craftsman" compressor may be substantially different than the one sitting
next to it.

> I  tore it down and
> the brushes were still OK. 

Brushes ?  What kind of motor was it ?  I've not seen a AC-powered
compressor made in the last 100 years or so that didn't use an induction
(brushless) motor.

> They found that the start contacts inside the motor had gotten 
> dirty and couldn't
> make.

Used to be a very common problem with induction motors.  I even took a
repair class once that consisted mostly of cleaning & repairing start
contacts in AC induction motors.  But I don't believe the old inertial start
switches are used much any more.

> Be careful about just looking at the HP specs. 

I agree; to the point that I fully ignore the "hp" spec.  What's important
is how much air it puts out, so that (and duty cycle) is really the only
thing to look at.

Randall