air compressor (for suspension) keeps blowing fuses

SteveLevin · 07-19-2010, 10:39 AM

Years ago the previous owner installed airbags on my 1991 Rockwood to improve the ride and handling. I do love being able to adjust them on the fly, for better handling in mountains or in high winds, but softer ride on good roads.

Over the weekend the compressor stopped working. No response from the switch. I found the fuse (a 30 amp) and it was blown, so I replaced it, hoping (ever the optimist) that it was just an old fuse that had probably seen a lot of near-max load in its life. The compressor did work in my quick test, so I fired up and went to head off... and the fuse was blown again.

I'm not entirely sure what the next troubleshooting step is. All the wiring I can see appears good and isn't chafed and shorting/grounding to anything that I can see.

Any suggestions would be appreciated...

Steve

**Gary RVRoamer** · 07-20-2010, 04:40 PM

Could be the compressor motor is failing and drawing too much power, but could also be a wiring problem (short circuit) between the fuse and the compressor. You will just have to trace it out.

One technique is to run a temporary wire from the fuse to the compressor and see if the problem goes away. If it does, you have a bad wire somewhere. If it does not, you likely have a bad compressor. Make sure the temp wire is at least 10 gauge for a 30A circuit.