Compressor Shutting Down

[Rich Konopka]

While hanging some Pegboard today in the shed my Dewalt Air Compressor kept shutting off and the motor's thermal overload tripped each time. The strange thing was that the motor would only run 2 minutes and trip. After a couple of times I drained all of the air out and a big chunk of ice came out of the valve. It seemed to run fine after that and I was able to shoot a couple hundred staples without incident.

My only guess to the tripping is that the extension cord was not the correct gauge for the compressor??:confused: But the ice really got me stumped?? :confused::confused:

Any ideas?? Until today it has performed flawlessly.

Thanks

[Ken Garlock]

Rich, I think you are correct regarding the size of the extension cord. :)

The ice is just a by-product of the air leaving the compressor tank. When the air expands it cools, and in your case it cooled enough to form ice either from water in the tank or the surrounding air, no big deal. :cool:

[Jim Becker]

Yup. Extension cord. Been there, done that! If you really need to use one, get the biggest, baddest one you can find. 10 guage is about the best idea! Compressors, even small ones, really draw the amps.

[Rich Konopka]

Ken/Jim,

Thanks for confirming what I thought to be the problem. I picked up a 10 gauge 50' extension cord today --- Gulp $50 :eek::eek: