🔍 Key Concepts

• How unloading an air compressor reduces starting load on the motor • Different methods of preventing compression during startup (bypassing air, holding valves open, or cutting out cylinders) • What the phrase "all of the above" implies about the other options

💭 Think About

• Think about what it physically means to unload a compressor cylinder during starting. What has to happen to the air in that cylinder so the motor doesn’t work as hard? • For each option, ask: Would this method prevent the cylinder from building pressure during startup? If yes, that method is a form of unloading. • Consider whether these listed methods are mutually exclusive, or if more than one can be valid ways to achieve unloading on different compressor designs.

✅ Before You Answer

• For each choice, verify if it would reduce or eliminate pressure build‑up in the cylinder during starting. • Check your knowledge of common automatic compressor unloading systems used on marine air compressors. • Before choosing "all of the above", be sure that every single method listed truly unloads the cylinders in some way.