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So I removed my compressor deck this morning in my vf-90 to do a cleanup and hit it with a coat of paint. It was all by hand, no hose, dried, lightly painted and put back in my machine. The harness was good so I didn't replace it however the plug that plugs into the little outlet was bad so I replaced it with a funtronics plug ready to go. Let it dry for a couple hours, put it back in the machine and now when I plug it in all the fans come on, they blow the right direction but the compressor doesn't start. It just clicks every ten seconds or so. It did this once before about thirty seconds after the compressor started after being plugged in for a week straight. however that time It eventually kicked on after about a min and I just wrote it off as a fluke thing.

Nothing got kinked or damaged today and I had a rig for it so nothing got hurt. It was running great this morning when I unplugged it too. Is it time for a 3 in 1? Or do you think I have a more serious issue? Could I of gotten water somewhere I shouldn't have by accident? And if so where should I check? Thanks!!

Also if I get the polarity wrong with the short little plug I in installed could it cause this issue? It was pre spliced with one wire slightly longer the the other so I just connected them to the compressor where the old ones were.

So I fixed it.....I think. Did some searching on here and it turns out I had the compressor plug polarity backwards. She's running as we speak!!! (Or it wasn't that at all and I just bumped something ha ha)

Well got up this morning and it was clicking again. Apparently it was clicking for a while because the internal temp was up to the 60s. And the compressor was almost to hot to touch which really concerns me. I hope it didn't get itself trying to start overnight. I "mechanically agitated" the compressor with the palm of my hand and Fired right up. Anyone have any thoughts?

Sorry to say your compressor is stalled, nothing to do with the polarity,( although it could be a loose connection on the start relay under the compressors side cover)  getting it wet or painting it, it happens, remember the system is over +50 years old...try installing a 1/4 HP size 3-in-1 starter/booster & if it isn't totally locked up it should help it start. If that doesn't work, well... new compressor time.  good luck.  

Thanks for the info! All seems well for now but I'm going to go ahead and put a 3 in 1 on it anyways. Is 1/4 HP the correct one for my V-90? Thanks!

Nevermind. Did a little more searching and you are right. I ordered it and I'll report back with results after it's installed!

Sorry for all the replies to my own post, i figure if i keep a "log" it will be helpful to someone else in the future with the same questions....

So i picked up a Supco RCO410 3 in 1 and it should be here in a few days. However, ever since i "punched" (Literally) my compressor to get it rolling again yesterday i've had no further issues.  And it's cycled on and off for more than 24hrs with no issues and is cooling perfectly. So should i install the 3 in 1 anyways when it gets here? Will it cause any harm if i leave it on there permanently vice using it only to unlock the compressor if it happens again? I'm not sure how much stress the 3 in 1 puts on the compressor windings vice the stock starting circuitry. I understand my compressor is old but i don’t' wanna send it to the grave any faster then i need to if the 3 in 1 is going to strain it too much every time it starts (maybe i just don’t' fully understand what the 3 in 1 does)  :help: .


Thanks!

        You give a new meaning to the term "iron fist". :biggrin:
        I have persuaded many compressors to run again with the old hammer trick.
        Keep the 3 in 1 handy, but you may never need it.

Ha ha thanks!! Would it hurt anything to go ahead and install it even if it appears to be running well now, or should i let it be? I ask because when it locked up on me the one time, it apparently had been trying to start all night and was too hot to even touch for a second. This machine is in our house and i don't want to worry about going away for a weekend and that happening again but not catching it in time.

I don't honestly know any better - but could you have the same issue again coming out of a power outage if you don't install the 3-1?

Not exactly sure what you mean?

So... if you remove power to the unit totally (like during a power outage) - will the compressor re-start when power comes back, or will it 'lock up' again?  I understand it is cycling on and off now, but there is constantly power applied to it.   Would it behave any different if power is removed totally vs. just normal cycling on and off?

Off is off & on is on, it doesn't mater from the compressors standpoint except with the 3-in-1 booster ( as the name implies ) gives a kick start to the unit to help the compressor start turning against higher than normal wear-friction & possible high head pressures upon startup when the run cycle is interrupted by a power glitch

Ahh ok. It's hard to say because it's done it three separate times under three different circumstances here's the details........


1st time...... I first brought the machine home from buying it. It had sat in the guy’s garage for approximately 2 years without running other than the 5 mins when i went to initially went to look at it to make sure it worked. Got it home, set it up, plugged it in, it fired right up and it ran great.
About three days later i was sitting on the couch next to it and the compressor fired up like normal, then about 5 mins into cooling you could hear the relay clicking. It never stopped running, and continued to cool. It clicked for about 30 seconds then the clicking stopped and it continued to cool without issue and shut off when it reached the desired temp.

2nd time......About a week later, all ran well since the first "incident". Then i pulled the guts out to clean/paint. Put everything back in and this was the first "locked" situation. It wouldn't fire up, it just clicked. I rechecked all my wiring and fiddled with it a bit and looking back now I must of bumped something (probably the compressor itself) because I tried plugging it back in after about an hour of messing around and it fired up and ran great again. It had been off for about a total of about 18 hours.

3rd time (and final time I’ve had an issue)….The following morning after the 2nd incident, i got up for the day, went downstairs to find the machine clicking again, no start, internal temps were in the upper 60s and the compressor was too hot to touch. I unplugged it for a couple hours and plugged it back in, same issue (clicking, no start). Read on the forum some where people have had luck with tapping it. So I tried pounding it with my fist a couple times, plugged it in, and it fired right up. That was 3 days ago and haven’t had an issue since then.


So the LONG answer to your question (sorry, I’m all about the more info the better, ha ha), there doesn’t’ seem to be any correlation to if it’s cold, hot, been running, been unplugged for long periods, it all seems kinda random. That’s why I was curious if it’s safe to put the 3 in 1 on there even if it’s acting like it doesn’t need it now, or if that will “overload” it and send it to the grave? Since it may decide to do this again when we are gone for the weekend? And sure I can unplug it if we are gone, but I’d rather not since that kinda defeats the purpose of having a soda machine in your house.

That makes sense. So does the 3 in 1 have a thermal/amp cut out if it still locks up for some reason and we are away? Or will it just keep trying to push against anything that stops it untill something gives? (sorry for all the newbie questions  :down:)

Yes...That's why it's called a "3-in-1" . It has the start-run relay, overload and boost capacitor in one handy dandy package.

Duh, yeah that makes sense now. HA HA! Thanks! 

I saw a YouTube video where a guy hooked a 3 in 1 to a new compressor that was locked up from the factory. It had open lines and had never been hooked up to anything before. He let it sit for about a half an hour "trying" to start with the 3 in 1 on it and smoke started pouring out of the open lines. So after seeing that is when i started getting paranoid about using the 3 in 1 for anything other than to break it free if it stalls on me again.