Red Hot Compressor

[Waspie]

Limited budget. £100.
Is anything any good for that

I was actually given mine. (Recently). I was looking sub £100. Quite a few about. The one I was given was a Timbertech model, that was under £100. No complaints as yet but I haven't really used it that much. About a couple of hours on and off total!
Have a search on here using the 'search' function. Some useful info but may take a bit of teasing out.

[Andy T]

I was spraying for 2 hrs ?

That could well be the problem. They are only light duty machines, not for continuous use really.

See if you can break your painting sessions down to give the compressor a rest now and again. There could be nothing wrong with it, you've just worked it a bit hard maybe.

[Jad]

From outward appearances I would guess it is a Diaphram type.....meaning it is a dry system. If it is running constantly and not building pressure to the cut off point I can understand why it would over heat. Two things you can check is your pressure cut off switch and the actual diapharam that is in the motor, if it has a defect or tear in it it will not build sufficient pressure to activate the pressure switch causing constant running that could lead to overheating.

The compressor fills the tank and cuts off as it’s supposed to do and in use does the same. I was spraying for 2hrs and all of a sudden no compression and was red hot. I e used it again to clean the airbrush and it got warm but not hot ???

[Jad]

That could well be the problem. They are only light duty machines, not for continuous use really.

See if you can break your painting sessions down to give the compressor a rest now and again. There could be nothing wrong with it, you've just worked it a bit hard maybe.

That’s what the Mrs is always telling me lol

[Mini Me]

That is good to hear .....about the compressor I mean :tears-of-joy: If it cuts off as required with ample pressure in the tank. It should not however take too long to charge the tank once it has initially filled and you are spraying. Another suggestion might be to not have it in a confined area so there is ample airflow around it during operation. You could even place a small fan nearby to move air around it , if you think your session will be longer than the norm.

[Andy T]

You could even place a small fan nearby to move air around it , if you think your session will be longer than the norm.

I did similar when I was using a '186 in the shed in summertime. Helped keep me cool too!

[KarlW]

I was spraying for 2 hrs ?

Was it shutting down periodically?

[Jad]

Was it shutting down periodically?

Nope, I was spraying merrily than nothing and red hot

[KarlW]

Faulty pressure switch, the black thing opposite the red blow off valve It should shut down when the tank reaches 40psi and start again at 30psi. So a new compressor of the same type should be fine provided it operates as it should.
A replacement switch would be about £11.

[Mini Me]

Surely you could afford that even if it didn't solve the problem......worth a try just to find out.

[Tim Marlow]

Bit late to this, but I seem to remember my 186 having instructions that said limit spray time to twenty minutes maximum, then let it cool for a while. Are we sure this wasn’t just due to overwork?

[JR]

John Hi
I agree with the over use suggestion. If the cut out has worked , as it did then things must be ok.

Have you ever drained the moisture out of the bottom including the screw underneath ? Always a good idea to keep the inside of the tank free of moisture anyway.

[Jad]

Bit late to this, but I seem to remember my 186 having instructions that said limit spray time to twenty minutes maximum, then let it cool for a while. Are we sure this wasn’t just due to overwork?

This is in the manual but can’t find anything about 20 mins ?
Runs very hot ?
And had an email from support at Fengda saying the same.

[Jad]

John Hi
I agree with the over use suggestion. If the cut out has worked , as it did then things must be ok.

Have you ever drained the moisture out of the bottom including the screw underneath ? Always a good idea to keep the inside of the tank free of moisture anyway.

I always use the drain plug underneath after nearly every use.
The only thing I remember that I did wrong was very early after I had it I left the drain plug unscrewed (forgot about it) and it run and run and got very hot because it wasn’t filling the tank. I never realised, mind elsewhere as it always is.

[KarlW]

If the pressure switch is working on a tanked compressor it can run on, it'll turn on and off rather than run constantly.
So I don't know where this "20minutes" has come from, and I would suggest that limit would make the compressor unfit for purpose.

As the pressure builds the pump works harder and will overheat, hence a pressure switch to regulate the pressure in the tank.

I'll have to check if there's a thermal cut out, I didn't think there was on these and it could be the pump just physically couldn't push more air into the tank causing it to stop. Or worse just seized due to component expansion. This wouldn't happen if the pressure switch was working.