The 5-gallon Twin-Stack Ridgid compressor in the shop has been pushing nails and powering tools for the last three-and-change years without so much as a second thought. Though it took a little longer to fill the tank in the last few weeks it’s been as solid as can be — until yesterday.
Because it’s cold out, I had the door closed. This meant that all the dust I was making cutting miters right above the compressor started settling around and on the compressor. This normally isn’t an issue since I get a brush and broom and sweep it all outside or into the collection bin. Did I mention it was cold? So I just kept going without sweeping and knocking the dust off.
As it turns out, three years of ignoring it and one day of heavy dust buildup choked the air filter. The compressor would just kick on and hum for a few seconds; then what sounded like a breaker would kick in and stop it. To its credit, all it took to fix the issue was removing the motor cover and beating the dust off the air filter and replacing it. I plugged it back in, switched it on and was back in business.
You don’t really realize how trouble-free something is until there’s an issue with it. Lucky for me the Ridgid is a solid piece of gear.
5-Gallon Twin-Stack Compressor [Ridgid]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
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The breaker sound is the internal thermal overload in the motor. Most big motors have them, cheap ones only work a few times before they either don’t reset or the temperature at which they trip drops below the working temperature of the motor. I hate the noise compressors make and because I don’t need a super high volume of air, I use CO2 to drive my tools. As a bonus, I can use air tools in locations where running a motor would require a hot work permit.