How to fix a Clarke air compressor - in the Old Classic Car garage

I've owned this Clarke air compressor for 20 years, but lately it's been reluctant to start up. The motor would turn over slowly then flip the trip out, or blow the fuse in the plug. Clearly there was a problem with this Clarke Airmaster but not being an electrician, I wasn't sure how to fix it. As I regularly tinker with one or more classic car in the garage here at home, being without a working air compressor is a real nuisance, even if only for quickly and easily checking tyre pressures etc.
I was ready to junk it, but having done some research I decided to check the start capacitor as they can fail, leading to problems with the compressor's 240v electric motor spinning up after being switched on.
After disconnecting the mains power feed (essential), I removed the side cover and spotted immediately that the capacitor was in a bad way, as shown in this video.
A replacement 40 microfarad capacitor was relatively inexpensive so I ordered one and it arrived a few days later. I wasn't sure whether it would fix the problem, but it had to be worth a try.
Videos posted by others warn of the dangers of working on any electrical item such as this, and in particular with regard to old capacitors which may still have a store of energy in them. For this reason I don't recommend anyone try to repair their own air compressor unless suitably qualified, this video is for information only, as a guide to what might be the issue with a non-functioning mains-electric compressor, Clarke or otherwise.
I hope this was of some interest, and will help a few others like me have their compressor repaired without having to go to the expense of buying a new one. Like I say, I'm no electrician and this is posted for advice & interest only, it's not a tutorial in any way and I don't necessarily recommend any of the advice given here as being the best way of tackling the problems mentioned. It's really just to show that sometimes a failed compressor can be fixed by an electrician for a modest outlay, rather than having to be thrown away and replaced with a new piece of equipment costing £££/$$$.
Thanks for watching, please like and subscribe if garage- and classic car-related vids are of interest.
#diy #classiccar #classiccars

[@oldclassiccarUK]

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[@chrisneedham5803]

Brilliant job 👍🏼

[@andicog]

I've had exactly the same compressor since around 1995, never missed a beat, today after using it all day it failed to start, exactly the same fault as this, all the black goo has leaked from the capacitor! Thanks for the video.

[@oldclassiccarUK]

Glad it helped!

[@alinutzalin6346]

Done the same with my cooker fan motor. Just changed that capacitor.

[@oldclassiccarUK]

Great when there's a nice simple (cheap) fix for these things eh!!

[@mroldschool609]

Great video…….just subscribed

[@oldclassiccarUK]

Thanks for the sub!