circuit breaker

Originally posted by lwrider20



ok heres what i found. my pressure switch is mounted after the tank. there are two wire, one is ground and the other runs to a round thing by the compressors. my power wire also mounts to this round this and all 3 of my compressors are wired up to a separate terminal on it. any clue what this thing is. if it will help ill try to get pics of it. i got kinda worried today too cause i turned my compressors on and popped my hood and there was smoke coming from the breaker.....so needless to say i wont be driving my truck till i get this fixed. i am glad i looked under my truck too cause i think its time to take the bed off and fix somethings(the a crossmember that is rubbing the driveshaft and not letting the truck sit all the way down). thanks for all the help.

sounds like hes running a solenoid and pressure switch instead of a relay and pressure switch. this is a fine setup as long as your solenoid is 100% duty cycle. FORD SOLENOIDS ARE NOT AND WILL BURN UP QUICK. The cheaper 100% solenoids are like $20 and can handle like 80amps, which is plenty for 3 thomas compressors (only draw 20 amps).

as far as your breaker goes, id run a smaller one (like 90-100 amps) and look at all the wiring to make sure theres no chafing or shorting. thats the only thing that would cayse such a big breaker to click on such a small draw.

ok i got some pics. today i messed with the breaker will the compressors were running and it started sparking and stuff. could it just be a bad breaker? anyways here is a link to the pics.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/324950/3

That is a selenoid. It is like a large relay in a way. I would try replacing the circuit breaker first. If the selenoid went bad, it should just stop working.

your circuit breaker is too high the thomas 337 heavy duty comps only pull 20 amps each thats 60 amps continuous at most 80 amps under hard load(reaching any psi over 150. the breaker is getting hot then blowing. u wanna take the 4 gauge wire going to the comps and hook it to a 100 amp contiuous duty relay they look like a starter solenoid but they ARE NOT THE SAME. trucking supply store carry them. about 20 bucks. hook the comps power wire up to the other side of the relay. ground one of the small terminals with 4 gauge wire to the frame and then hook yor presure switch wires on to ignition on the other to the last terminal and your done

ok guys where do you get your breakers from? ive looked all around and i cant seem to find anybody who carries them.

truck supply places

well ive check with streetbeat and they told me to go to frys electronic...or course they dont have them, ive checked lowes, and audio xpress only has a 140.

does anybody have a pic of there breaker or what brand they are running?