huge air compressor...

rightwinged

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May 7, 2010
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new bern
I need help with an air compressor i picked up for free. Ive entered model numbers online, nothing. wondering if anyone on here knows enough about them. It is made by Wayne, model #376-sv. The tank is made by steel tanks incorp. was made in 1946, i believe its either 80 or 120. no model number with tank. it stands almost 7 feet tall, and weighs as much as a buick. Ive attached a few pictures of it, Any help would be appreciated, im tryin to get this thing up and running.
http://s697.photobucket.com/albums/vv338/kkern216/ac/
 
probably runs off 220... probably have a better chance looking up the motor wiring by the tag on the motor.. something that old is likely not to be found online, except maybe the motor.... that little grey box is the pressure cut-off switch.. if you feed the thing power and it doesn't run, try hotwiring the motor.. if that works you need a new pressure switch
 
that is pretty much identical to mine. although on the motor, it says 115v...but i cant see anyway this could safely run on 110. it draws 47amps at full duty. its a single phase, but i still couldnt see it running off 110. if anybody knows alot about compressors and would like to give me a hand, there are incentives involved...
 
Normally, there's a wiring plate on the motor that explains which wires go where for 115v or 230v operation. You can wire them either way.

You could run it on 115... it's just going to take some #6 and a 50A single pole breaker.
 
If you've already got the breaker and wiring, its worth trying, see how quick it pumps up, make sure its not worn out. I've got a 120gal with a 10hp motor, and it will take the tank from 0 to 150psi in a hair over 4 minutes.
 
Im not completely positive on 1. how to wire the regulator to the motor, and 2. it is missing some parts on the regulator, there is nothing coming out of it except wire.
 
Get some more pictures of the wiring, Close up of the box and so on.

Can't make it out in these, I need mainly the top of the boxes with the wire in them, Seems they had it wired to a switch to turn it on and off, The Romex hanging looks small for 220v

ai697.photobucket.com_albums_vv338_kkern216_ac_SDC12579.jpg_0f1b3c8ce355b8ca703b2cc9ffdcd500.jpg


Could just be the picture, Is it 10 gauge wire or so?
 
can't read the numbers on the tag for the motor on the close up.. slightly out of focus.. looks like the right side shows wiring/terminal information
 
If the romex is 10ga, that's enough for the motor at 220v. Figure about 25A or so...

The pressure switch should be pretty straightforward. Two connections for the incoming hot, two outgoing connections to the motor. Maybe a ground screw. One pressure line going to the switch itself, probably with a screw adjuster to dial in the cutoff pressure. Then when it flips off, the contact should come down onto a relief valve connected to another piece of tubing that's between the compressor head and the check valve. That relieves the head pressure on the compressor so that it starts easier next time it cycles.

If that romex is coming out of the junction box on the motor, it should have two hots and a ground.
 
That makes sense Shawn,

Looks like it was wired 220v to the motor 25 amp Breaker to the romex with two blacks both hot with out a ground.

Then the pressure switch is tied to the other side of the motor? Can't tell in the pics. It was most likely wired to a juction on the wall and thats why there are two lines coming out, One gives the motor constant power the other runs through the pressure switch triggering the motor on and off. They just used a breaker to kill it when it wasn't needed.

I just guessing from the pictures, without looking at it closer it would hard to say for certain.

Where does the MC cable coming from the pressure switch run to, does it connect to the other side of the motor?

ai697.photobucket.com_albums_vv338_kkern216_ac_SDC12582.jpg
 
I just looked at the rest of the photos. That's the pressure switch hanging off the right side of the compressor... the grey box. You can see the four contacts on top for the two line hots and two switched hots to the motor. I don't see a ground connection, but there's probably one that just grounds the chassis.

I can't read the nameplate on the motor, but those little drawings on the right side look like the wiring diagrams for the motor. The wires coming out of the motor into the junction box should have numbers or letters or something on them. The diagram on the motor will say which of those numbered wires are connected for 110v vs 220v. IE... it might say 1, 4 and 6 go to a hot and 2, 3, and 5 go to a hot for 220v, but 2,3,4 and 6 go to hot and 1 and 5 go to neutral for 110v, etc. You can double check those diagrams against the wiring in the junction box on the motor to ensure what voltage the motor is currently wired for.

Where does the second piece of BX go? There's armored flex conduit coming out of the pressure switch and running over to the compressor. Is it connected to anything?
 
Lee mentioned earlier that it might have a starter....
 
nope, the other bx cable goes to a low oil sentinal, a shut off, for you guessed it, low oil. other then the 2 wires, the motor has nothing coming out of it. your right, there is no ground. im not sure if you can see it in pics, but on the right side of regulator, there is a L valve. tapered ribs on the top and a regular fitting on side. im thinking the tapered part doesnt go anywhere, it looks like an older style of manual drain, like how newer ones have the little pull pin. but im not sure about the other fitting.
 
where would be a good ground? one of the motor mounts to the plug? also, there is about an inch of rust on the bottom after i pulled out the drain valve...best way to clean this out? letting it build up pressure and then opening valve will just clog it.
 
This has no value to you, but I thought your thread was ironic because of the title.

Why? I was at a turkey plant yesterday that was running a 400 amp service of 480 vac/ 3 phase to a single air compressor. I didn't get to see the compressor, but that must be one big mutha!!
 
rightwinged said:
where would be a good ground? one of the motor mounts to the plug? also, there is about an inch of rust on the bottom after i pulled out the drain valve...best way to clean this out? letting it build up pressure and then opening valve will just clog it.
Click to expand...

It had to be grounded somewhere before on the main chassis or the motor. You should be able to locate where it was.

Not sure on the rust.
 
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