In the middle of body work and........

[Boyd]

...my air compressor won't shut off!!!! I was using my die grinder to knock down some spot welds. I was doing my usual work a few minutes, wait a few minutes (the die grinder is a cfm killer) and noticed that the compressor was running longer than it usually does. I stopped the grinder and waited a few minutes...compressor is still running and the psi guage isn't moving. The pump was extremely hot, so I manually shut it off, but now I'm stuck with a half body worked car until I figure out the air comp. How do I know if the cylinder is bad? Could it be a bad psi guage causing the auto shut off to not work correctly? The air in the shop is hot and humid, will that affect "pump up"? The compressor is a 7hp 60 gallon Kobalt model from Lowe's. I've only ran it about 10 hrs total. Anyone have any ideas?

[MrQuick]

Sounds like the pressure cut off. Contacts might be burnt together.



Did you call Lowes for warranty?

[jasonsnova]

if its not building pressure and the air isnt leaking = bad compressor. if its a home use one(small) using air tools like spray guns and grinders beats them up bad. here in the body shop we have to rebuild ours every 3-5 years or so, and they are big ones with big lines, they dont last for ever...

[HILROD]

The compressor heads get hot in the airless compressors. There are usually reed valve that break in them. The sears ones sell rebuild kits. Lowes I don't know about.

[Boyd]

I went out to the garage this morning and turned the compressor on to see what it would do. It pumped up v e r y s l o w l y to 80psi and then kind of leveled off. I'm thinking HILROD is right, it's a bad valve. I called Lowe's (actually a warranty clearing house for Lowe's) and they took down my information and said they would find someone in my area to come and look at it. I asked the lady if she knew how long it would take and she said she had no clue. Great! I took yesterday and today off from work to finish the body work and get it painted before Monday. Now I'm at the mercy of some repair company that Lowe's contracted with for probably half of what a normal service charge is, so they have no desire to come out any time soon. And since I don't know who Lowe's will contact, I can't call them to expedite the service call! Sometimes you just can't help but laugh.....

[rohrt]

Hilrod hit it on the nose. I had to take mine apart and then searched the internet and ordered the read valve parts I need. These compressors are getting cheaper and cheaper why? Because they are junk.

[Boyd]

You are not kidding about them getting cheaper. I paid $469 for mine a year ago and it was on sale. Went to Lowe's the other day and my same compressor (with junk parts no doubt) had a regular price of $399!

[hotrdblder]

buy another one, return the old one, screw lowes

[aonghus]

buy another one, return the old one, screw lowes

I second that motion....

Ultimately, the compressor goes back to the manufacturer. Lowes will just have to incurr shipping costs.