32 replies to this topic

[Chris M]

Hi all. My Clarke 100 litre air compressor blows its 13amp fuses after a few seconds on start up.
It’s only about 18 months old.
Any ideas anyone? I urgently need to fix it to speed up the repair on my mini.

[phillrulz]

Hi all. My Clarke 100 litre air compressor blows its 13amp fuses after a few seconds on start up.
It’s only about 18 months old.
Any ideas anyone? I urgently need to fix it to speed up the repair on my mini.

 

 

Hmm,  can you turn the pully by hand? assuming its a motor / pully compressor. 

[sonikk4]

You will need a 32Amp type C MCB and a 16 Amp plug to cure that problem.

 

Been there, done that and that will cure your problem. If you can you need a stand alone circuit for the compressor. On initial start its a high load which blows the 13 Amp fuses.

 

When i bought my first 100ltr 3 HP compressor from Clarke i had a row with the Manager at the Peterborough Branch of Machinemart after their Tech assist guys on the phone said that was the problem. i argued back and said their instruction manual said a standard 13Amp 3 pin plug was fine. They went on to say the manual was incorrect.

 

I then said this to the manager and he said No they were wrong. Will guess what, i took their tech guys advice and have never had an issue since.

[sonikk4]

Oh and as a heads up, check the oil quantity on a regular basis on the pump. I seized my last one after a dodgy reading on the dipstick. My fault really but i did get 8 years out of the blighter.

[imack]

3hp I presume? Is it only blowing on start up? Are you draining the tank before start up?
3hp is right on the limit of a 13amp fuse. My 3hp compressor will blow the fuse from start up (especially in cold weather) if the reservoir already has some air in it. Its ok from cold start if tank is drained, I did find in the instructions to only start compressor with tank empty otherwise the unloader valve doesn't work and the fuse may blow.

[Chris M]

Strange this is it’s been ok for the last 18 months then just all of a sudden had the issue.
It’s got the standard 3 pin 13 amp plug that they come with.

[cal844]

My 250 litre compressor blows 13 amp fuses in the winter, it self drains of air(leaky resevoir dump valve) and always does it in winter. We have a 32 amp breaker on a mains board for the garage and shed (both fed as individual breakers).

[Cooperman]

Warm the cylinder(s) with a hot air gun before starting the compressor for a few minutes and ensure that the drain valve is open.

[sonikk4]

Strange this is it’s been ok for the last 18 months then just all of a sudden had the issue.
It’s got the standard 3 pin 13 amp plug that they come with.

 

When mine was brand new and came with a 13 Amp 3 pin plug it worked fine for the first couple of weeks. However it developed a fault which required it to go back to Machinemart for repair. (Unrelated to blowing fuses)

 

When it came back it then started to pop the fuse on initial start up, with either a full reservoir or empty reservoir. That's when i contacted their Tech help desk to query what was going on. And to add to this, weather was warm so no cold soak.

 

And as i said i was then told to go for a 16 Amp plug and uprate my power supply. I also did this for my spot welder which is a Clarke unit.

 

So now my garage at home has a standalone circuit for my Compressor and Spot welder as does my workshop. 

[nicklouse]

reading this with interest. my compressor has a "soft" start where it blows to atmosphere at start up until it is pumping a certain volume of air then a valve closes and it fills/tops up that tank. Not a Clark one though.

[sc-em]

3hp I presume? Is it only blowing on start up? Are you draining the tank before start up?
3hp is right on the limit of a 13amp fuse. My 3hp compressor will blow the fuse from start up (especially in cold weather) if the reservoir already has some air in it. Its ok from cold start if tank is drained, I did find in the instructions to only start compressor with tank empty otherwise the unloader valve doesn't work and the fuse may blow.

As this says.

[superchiwawa]

To put some numbers to this, 3hp is 2237 watts. For 220V, that's about 10 amps. However 3hp is likely continuous power when, as stated everything is in motion.

At startup the motor has to overcome the inertia of the whole system (mechanical mass, friction, and cylinder back pressure). Likely this is peaks at far more than 2240 watts or 10 amps (you could measure it with one of those plug power meter thingys if you don't have an ampmeter ) and is very close to 13A or a bit above.
Also I expect the fuses to have a design tolerance so wouldn't be surprised if it blows a little under.

Also check your wiring is up to scratch for the whole circuit. A thinner wire cross section = bigger resistance, = more amps needed (ohms law). It's also a fire risk!

I have a 20 amp fuse on dedicated circuit for my 3hp compressor - that's the Max allowable current for 2.5mm2 wire cross section in my country (4400W Max). I could go to a bit lower fuse, but it works :)

Edited by superchiwawa, 28 May 2019 - 01:51 PM.

[Homersimpson]

You will need a 32Amp type C MCB and a 16 Amp plug to cure that problem.

 

Been there, done that and that will cure your problem. If you can you need a stand alone circuit for the compressor. On initial start its a high load which blows the 13 Amp fuses.

 

When i bought my first 100ltr 3 HP compressor from Clarke i had a row with the Manager at the Peterborough Branch of Machinemart after their Tech assist guys on the phone said that was the problem. i argued back and said their instruction manual said a standard 13Amp 3 pin plug was fine. They went on to say the manual was incorrect.

 

I then said this to the manager and he said No they were wrong. Will guess what, i took their tech guys advice and have never had an issue since.

You need to be careful as a 16A commando socket has no fusing in it and therefore if its fed from a 32A MCB it could start to melt before the circuit breaker trips.

 

What you need is a 16A MCB with either a type C or D curve (rather than the domestic type B curve).  These circuit breakers allow a higher inrush current but will still provide protection of the correct size.

 

To go further into this what you should actually do is measure the value of Zs at the end of the cable with an earth loop impedance tester and use that to work out the prospective fault current, this then allows you to check whether the circuit breaker complies with the IET Wiring Regulations, of course if you have an RCD in the circuit then it almost certainly will.

[phil hill]

reading this with interest. my compressor has a "soft" start where it blows to atmosphere at start up until it is pumping a certain volume of air then a valve closes and it fills/tops up that tank. Not a Clark one though.

Mine does the same Nick, I think it's a ball and spring in the pipe between compressor and tank.  Mine is a 3hp 50ltr Atlas Copco branded machine but I've seen it branded ABAC and others. Works of a 13Amp plug fine (so far !!)

 

Phil.

[sonikk4]

 

You will need a 32Amp type C MCB and a 16 Amp plug to cure that problem.

 

Been there, done that and that will cure your problem. If you can you need a stand alone circuit for the compressor. On initial start its a high load which blows the 13 Amp fuses.

 

When i bought my first 100ltr 3 HP compressor from Clarke i had a row with the Manager at the Peterborough Branch of Machinemart after their Tech assist guys on the phone said that was the problem. i argued back and said their instruction manual said a standard 13Amp 3 pin plug was fine. They went on to say the manual was incorrect.

 

I then said this to the manager and he said No they were wrong. Will guess what, i took their tech guys advice and have never had an issue since.

You need to be careful as a 16A commando socket has no fusing in it and therefore if its fed from a 32A MCB it could start to melt before the circuit breaker trips.

 

What you need is a 16A MCB with either a type C or D curve (rather than the domestic type B curve).  These circuit breakers allow a higher inrush current but will still provide protection of the correct size.

 

To go further into this what you should actually do is measure the value of Zs at the end of the cable with an earth loop impedance tester and use that to work out the prospective fault current, this then allows you to check whether the circuit breaker complies with the IET Wiring Regulations, of course if you have an RCD in the circuit then it almost certainly will.

 

 

As i mentioned mine is a 32 Amp Type C and yes there is also a RCD in my consumer unit at home for the garage ring main, another RCD for the household electrics and also at the workshop.