I am going to put this out there because I think fellow hot rodders need to be aware when looking to buy for their shop...and also because I'm pissed! I bought a new I-R SS5L5 compressor coming up on two years ago. It was a compromise between money, space, and quality. I figured I'd go with a better brand and buy a little less compressor for my $1000 budget. I didn't need a massive compressor since I'm a one-man show. It was easy to look at Ingersoll-Rand as a good buy. With a name for industrial quality tools, I felt they were the way to go. The compressor worked great...until last week! I had no air in the line so I went over to the compressor and checked things out. There was no air in the tank. The switch at the unit was still on and the thermal breaker on the motor was not tripped. I looked in the breaker box and found the breaker was tripped. I turned off the switch at the compressor and re-set the breaker. I flipped the compressor back on and ZAP! Sparks shoot out of the back of the compressor motor and the breaker trips in the box. So, I pulled the motor out and took it down to the local electric motor repair place and they say, "Yup, those things are really bad. We've replaced dozens of them on Ingersoll compressors." They checked it out for free and told me the windings are burnt up. New replacement will be $430 plus shipping. So I took my burnt up motor home to do some research. Turns out these motors are real crap and there's lots of posts on the internet about how they are even catching on fire. So I called I-R's customer service. They put me through to the compressor section. I go through all this with him. He tries to put it on the install. I say "No, it was installed by a master electrition". I brought up the whole thing about all the problems others are having with the same motor. He flatly denies it. Then he reminds me that the compressor is ten months out of warranty and says if I'd like to buy a new motor from I-R he can transfer me to the appropriate department. I explained to him that I have a defective motor and that warranty or not I would think a responsible company would make good on its product. He goes into this party line about how these are made in America and they are a great company producing high quality tools and blah, blah, blah. Then he asks if I want to order a motor or not? So, Here's where I'm at. I will find a new motor that will work with my compressor. The original motor is made by Emerson and is part #54421193. I will look for a Baldor or something of higher quality. I will also NEVER buy another Ingersoll-Rand product. This compressor is not the only I-R tool that has let me down way too early in its life. I have a cheap, Taiwan 90 degree die grinder that has lasted me 22 years. I believe I paid $11 for it at a swap meet. My I-R 90 degree die grinder cost me $130 a year ago and is now in the trash after the shaft bent while free revving. Anyway, I just want others to know that there is no piece of mind in buying with Ingersoll-Rand.
Sad that even the quality names from yesteryear are selling out for the all mighty dollar. Sad that it only gets engineered to make it through the warranty period. The charge full price for a bunch of chinese junk. Thanks for the warning! I've had good luck with SpeedAire for Grainger. Kinda pricey but at least it works.
Have the same compressor with the 80 gal tank and 2 weeks ago I am working in the shop and air pressure starts dropping so I look over at the regulator and see the pressure is dropping. Go outside and look at the motor everthings looks okay so I go the breaker panel and I have a tripped breaker. Reset the breaker and 10 seconds later trips again. Go out and remove the belt reset the breaker and 10 second later trips again. Brought a clamp on amp meter home from work and low and behold I have 70 amps going through each leg to the motor. Bought a new one from Northern Tool for $335.00 with shipping and had to weld it to some flat stock to make it bolt down in the same place as the old motor, and also had to go to graingers and buy a new hub for the pulley because the shaft size was different. Got it all going now finally. Compressor should have lasted alot longer with no trouble I think but I also read the motors are junk but the pump and tank are good. I hope thats true. Tractor Supply has a replacement for $100.00 less but I think it is an off brand, the one from Northern Tool is a LEESON. Only been back working for a week but no problems so far.
I have had I R equipment in my shop and never had a problem, just for the record, if that unit is a single phase unit and the voltage is low at your shop you will burn them up. if you buy a industrial compressor you need to at least have 3 phase power. single phase is basically for your home garage. not making excuses, just my experiance. Good luck...
when i have an product performance issue, and DO NOT get a fair 'hearing', i ask to speak with the manager. generally the manager is in a position to make an accomodation. i acknowledge any time limits and tell them, WE, the manager and i have one thing in common.......we're both consumers! our collective expectations are....we expect our purchases to perform well past any warranty time-limit. a compressor is a tool that is expected to perform for many years, with limited upkeep. regardless who made the electrical connections, IF the connection were not correct the compressor would have failed, soon after it was put in service! make another call...ask for the manager... politely make your case, suggest returning the motor for inspection by their quality control department, at your expense. keep in mind that a 100% replacement may not be an alternative. any participation by INGERSOL RAND is a plus from you position. AS A LAST RESORT, mention you've posted a complaint of INGERSOL RAND products on H.A.M.B., THEN ask if they're aware of the 'RULE OF TEN?' [ you have problem and tell 10 people--AND they tell 10 people..........how long will it take for 100 people are aware of problems with INGERSOL RAND products?] AT SOME POINT WE ARE ALL CONSUMERS! BUT IN ALL FAIRNESS, IF/ WHEN THIS SITUATION IS RESOLVED IN YOUR FAVOR, RE-POST AN UPDATE! [i recently had an issue w/ KELLY SPRINGFIELD tires, posted on H.A.M.B. for collective input....e-mailed K S my complaint...surprisingly K S stepped-up did the right thing. MAILED A NOTE OF APPRECIATION, and RE-POSTED MY EXPERIENCE on the H.A.M.B.] just my 2 cents! red ryder
IRs consumer grade compressors are overpriced crap. you can get american made compressors that work much better and cheaper. at the shop i have an Eaton compressor, it's built to last forever. at home i have an Eagle compressor, competitive in price to the overseas made ones at the home improvement stores, etc. it is made in canada, which is part of "america". both companies have excellent reputations and sell their products at a reasonable price.
this^^^ and keep in mind that a typed, signed personal to business letter snail-mailed to the president of the company usually yields great results. I'm about 5 for 5 using presidential complaints and I still do business with all of them.
yeah I agree. Generaly if you inform them that you bought their product because of their pre-existing reputation and the product failed,this puts pressure on them to stand behind the products' reputation.Inform them you are not a casual tool purchaser and that there are other quality brands that you passed over to buy theirs. With todays economy a smart business is going to start concentrating on the business/customers they have today to keep them afloat. Be firm with your expectations .....as this sometimes is a barter situation were they need to accomadate you to keep a good reputation. And yes repost as well as inform them of your intention to repost with the outcome of the service given
wire gauge from breaker to the motor has to be the proper size also or it taxes the motor and can pop the breaker occasionally.
I bought some POS from tractor supply about 17 years ago and payed less than 500 bucks and every time it comes on i swear the pump is gonna take a dump but it keeps on running? 60 gallon tank and 6hp motor too.. shit i couldnt afford to pay attention then let alone spend a grand on a compressor Id check grainger for a new motor. we buy a lot for the company from them and they seem to work fine.. Leeson is a good name along with Baldor but your paying extra just for the name.. Dave
I have found that MOST of the compressors at Home Improvement stores are made by Eagle and just rebadged. Mine is an Iron Horse but everything but the tankdecal is Eagle.
To small of wire was not an issue for me but My compressor is sitting outside the shop under my lean to so it doesn't get rained on but is out in the elements. I didn't want to listen to it run in the shop so that might make a difference to how long the new motor lasts to I guess I will see. Grainger stopped carrying the motor I needed to replace my bad one for some reason and they did have a replacement but it turned the wrong direction and could not be wired to run the other way thats why I got it from northern tool. Not sure if it's true or not but I was told Ingersoll rand was american made!!
The wire is rated for a certain amperage as is the motor... The motor will draw x number of amps and if the wire is too small it will heat up causing more of a voltage drop. If the wire size and breaker size is too small the breaker will surely blow from the over voltage... So if the breaker is the right size and also the wire is rated for enuff current and the motor took a shit then that just = bad motor.. If the breaker was the right size and the wire was too small and the motor died then that usually = death from under voltage. Small breaker and small wire and keep resetting breaker = dumb shit Class dismissed Dave
I had to replace my motor twice a year ,for 2 years end buying another company compressors problem solve...
Certain size wire has a certain amount of resistance to it. When voltage is applied to a motor it draws a certain amount of current. If the wire is the wrong size then the voltage drop across the circuit changes which then changes the current being drawn. They all effect each other if one is wrong the others will be wrong motors don't like that. Ohm's law. I am not an electrician but I stayed at a holiday inn express last night.
I would look at replacement motors from Grainger. I've had really good luck with their Dayton motors in machines at work that run 24 hours a day for four or five years continuously. The belts and the rubber bushings in the saddle mounts wear out sooner than the actual motors do. I think motors used in air compressors have a special rating called "compressor duty", or they might say "rated for compressor duty". They have the extra amount of power to be able to kick on against a heavy load and built in thermal protection.
I was just going to recommend Grainger. They have a great variety, and will probably be cheaper than going through IR, as they are just buying basically the same motor and marking it up. I am a bit worried now. I have a SS3L3 (3 hp) 60 gal IR that i JUST bought in December. This compressor got rave reviews from consumers, and that is generally what i read when i'm researching products. I wired mine myself, but went oversize by one wire size and have a 20 ft run to the breaker panel. So far the compressor has been wonderful. No complaints. 2 year warranty......so i guess i'll rehash this thread then!
Wire size was not an issue. As stated previously, mine was installed by a master electrician. Being a piece of crap hiding behind a previously respected name is the issue. Piss poor customer service is the issue. The degredation of the meaning of "made in the USA" is the issue. I once bought a Summit brand winch. Came with a one year warranty. In actuallity it was a rebadged T-Max winch. It even had T-Max cast into the side plates. About a year and a half after purchasing the thing I used it to try pulling out two vehicles at once and broke some internal components. I called T-Max, not Summit, told them it was a rebadged Summit winch and they still overnighted the parts I needed for free. That is a company that cares about customer satisfaction. If a company cares about taking care of its customers, you know that as soon as you talk to someone. They make it part of their mission statement. That was clearly not the case here. It was much more of a "Don't ever concede that there may be a problem with our stuff" attitude. That comes from higher management.
Thanks for the heads up. i will be buying a new compressor as soon as new diggs come my way. I/R was on my list of considerations, too. Too bad for them the customer service guy didn't feel he was there to keep the reputation going.
I was singing this things praises as well. I had made many a recommendation on the forums I frequent. I think that gets to me as well. It's like vouching for a friend and then they let you down and embarrass you. I will say that in my research, it seems to be the specific 5hp motor I have on the 5L5 that is a problem. Hopefully, you'll have better luck. Bob
And where does the voltage drop come from ???? From the heat.. well actually if your over taxing the wire it creates the heat which in turn drops the voltage.. Just like a resistor.. Not bad for staying at a holiday inn express... To the original thread starter i was just trying to clear up the miss information people have on wiring, motors and electricity Im sure yours is set up correctly and im with you on customer service... I hate to say it but im afraid were all fucked with the economy as it is but they could have told you to go screw yourself politely ... At this point me being me id have already told the guy you spoke with he is an asshole and moved on to the grainger catalog... Dave
My son is an certified IR repairman . Year before last I needed a new compressor and I was going to buy a five horse ,eighty gallon tank T-30. He told me that they replace those five horse motors all the time, that I should by the seven and a half horse instead because they seldom go bad. So that's what I bought. I can get a break on parts and service which also influenced my decision, But so far it's been a great compressor. Bill
I worked on IR compressors as an Apprentice and bought my shop unit in 1987. Not once in all those years have I even given it a thought. I have worn out several air driers and belts but it still goes,sometimes pumping for hours at a time when painting etc. Unlike th new name brand unit made locally which burnt a new motor out while still under warrenty. Thats still waiting for the new motor to arrive months after I made my claim. Just because a motor built by an outside company burns out is no reason to say IR compressors are no good. You could open yourself up to litigation. Why not just buy as new motor? 3 ph are a lot cheaper than 1ph and there are millions of second hand units out there. Swapping in a new motor aint' rocket science. Why not contact the motor manufacturer direct and tell them the story?
Current causes the heat. A resistor drops a certain amount of voltage across it because of its ohmic value. Resistors get hot because of the current flow through them. 10 GAUGE wire 20 feet long has half the resistance that a 40 foot long wire has, the longer the run the more voltage drop you have. The wire is just like a resistor.
Other than the motor going bad I love my compressor and from the research I did before I bought ,IR pumps and tanks are supposed to be really good.
Funny to see such warning on IR compressor, I was planing on buying one, I'm gonna check what's the motor before deciding. Dirtynails I don't agree with you, if they build their compressors with somebody else's parts, they take the responsibility. That would be like buying a Chevy and calling the guys who are making the engine in Mexico to ask about warranty...
The motor is out of warrenty,So IR have no say in the matter regardless of the fact it was installed on their machine, but if it is as new as he says the manufacturer of the motor will be very interested as to why it broke down. Part of any manufacturers policy is to make money and if their products are failing they are not going to make money so they will attempt to rectify the problem. If IR are spinning him a line,he is better off going to the source. Quicker,easier and probably more productive. But,in my experience I have come across many " I only bought it last year " sorts of scenarios which were not really the case. He says an electrician installed the wiring,if that is the case then he will have nothing to fear if the manufacturer sends out a rep to inspect the installation . If he wired it himself or there is definite voltage supply problem,all bets are off.
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