I am a home owner and I repair my own A/C when it takes a shit. Of course I have a very strong electrical and electronics background. Not trying to hurt the HVAC guys business but I save a ton of money each time it goes out which in itself is not that common... Capacitors are a short term energy storage device used for several applications. I shall explain Run capacitor is used to energize the second-phase winding to create a rotating magnetic field while the motor is running. This type is designed for continuous duty. Start capacitors momentarily increase motor starting torque to allow the motor to be cycled on and off rapidly. A start capacitor stays in the circuit long enough to rapidly bring the motor up to about 3/4 max speed, and is then isolated from the circuit, and the motor works off a run cap. Filter capacitors are mainly used in electronics and filter oscillations from AC hum in a power supply. These are usually the largest caps on a circuit board and usually run in pairs.. Audio capacitors are well just what they are called, in circuits pertaining to audio such as a speaker systems cross over. These caps server to again filter out an unwanted signal usually the low end or bass and is why most tweeters in a speaker cabinet have a capacitor on them, It is important to note that audio caps are bi-polar or non-polarized meaning they can be connected either way in and you will not harm it where normal caps you must mind the polarity markings.. Capacitor failure is 90% cause by the chemical inside drying out, leaking out or boiling off and venting from power surges. This also is 90% of the reason LCD TV's and Monitors fail, bad caps and if people knew this and took time to learn how to solder then they can fix their own $600 TV instead of paying a repair shop your first born son... The problem with AC and motor caps is none of them are built worth a pigs shit anymore but in saying that neither are electronic grade caps unless you buy the better ones you can expect your $1500 television to crap out after a couple of years of use. Same goes for your AC unit... .. We live in a Chinese built throw away world now..
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So basically I cut off the power at the circuit breaker,...and then I have to use the needle nose pliers as you showed to discharge the capacitor? And you obviously do this first while the wires are still connected to it. I understand you were just doing it (using pliers) with no wires attached to the capacitor for demonstration purposes....but wanted to clarify this for those not as experienced with electronics that will undoubtedly try this despite your disclaimer and warning at the beginning of your clip.
Keep in mind that a capacitor normally operates under voltages of 300 to 400plus. Your meter uses a 9V battery to operate the cap checker. You can still have a bad cap even though your reading within range on your meter. Follow this link to learn most accurate way to test run caps ows.rectorseal.com/product-data/ks1-96506/TrueRunCapTest.jpg
it's generally understood that if you promote and/or sell a particular brand name of product then there's some benefits in it for you and/or your company and if you, as a manufacturer, have the right connections, as GE, then throughout the industry your products will be more prominent, some regions more so than others.....trust me Eddie, I'm all about the conspiracy...
Hey Eddie, Yea me too, stopped buying made in china crap replaced one call back 24 hours later and replaced again checked amp draw was ok, call back 30 days later and replaced with us made and I have not been back since... I think it pays to buy us if you can.
You don't need a pro grade meter like he uses to check a cap. Search multimeter on Amazon and you will find some cheap ones. Any meter with a MFD setting can be used for this test.
The best way for you to check a cap is to turn on the system and lick both your index finger and middle finger then use those fingers to touch the HERM and Common terminals of the cap while it is still connected to the equipment. Let me know how that works out for you.
haha...swollened....I always get asked why do this caps go bad...I always tell them Heat and vibration...the age of the unit is also a factor...as the unit ages the amp draw will increase due to friction and winding degradation...you like that word?...lol...that's the slowest meter I've seen...haha...we like to use the USA made caps...all the cheap Gemaire or Goodman caps are crap...China makes crummy caps...
“Touching the contacts wont feel too good”. Me: ya death never feels all that good to the touch or any other of the seven senses humans have. Same thing w electrical shock, heart failure and fry or discharge of electrical charges of the humans natural circuit.
Call a professional? Are you kidding. Our furnace went down and we called a "professional" from the company that sold us the unit. He replaced the motor capacitor and wired it incorrectly when he replaced it. As a result the blower motor turned too slow. That caused excessive heat build up in the heat exchanger. That, in turn, caused the furnace to catch on fire. It could have burned our house down. It took me several days of troubleshooting to find his mistake and correct it. I will NEVER hire another "professional". david
Best way to check a run capacitor is while running. That gives you true capacitance. Take amps of fan side and herm side. Then take voltage from common to fan and common to herm. Amps x 2652 then divide the #s into the voltage readings. It’s the recommended way!!
I've had capacitors that read the proper mfd and still be bad or weak. Capacitors are best tested under a load. I do not suggest anyone try this unless you are experienced - it can be dangerous. While the system is running, read the actual voltage across the capacitor, then read the actual amp draw on the "Herm" side of the capacitor going to the compressor, then calculate as follows- 2652 x amps divided by the actual voltage across the capacitor= the MFD. If the MFD does not match within 5%- replace the cap. Another quick way is to read the amps of the common and run wires together at the compressor- that reading should match the amps read at the start wire to the compressor.
hi, thanks for the video, very helpful. quick quesiton. capacitor need + and - to charge, in this case, common from capacitor and (start wire from compressor and FAN) both are in the same leg.. the common of compressor and fan is going to other leg of 240.. but for capacitor to charge we need both leg right. so how is capacitor charging.. to make it simple if i have capacitor which is NOT dual KEEP it single.. i wire start wire of herm in capacitor to start wire of compressor, common in the capacitor i will connect to T1, i will connect RUN of compressotr to T1 and common to T2. being said that capacitor doesnt have both the leg to charge.. can u please explain.. no one have done this befofre..
have you noticed any connection between failure rates and country of origin? I have noticed that most capacitors are made in china or mexico. I avoid stuff from china any time I can for many reason, quality being one if the big reasons.
Great vid Eddie! Phase shift is what capacitors provide to the start winding. I have some sites that go through caps every year and others that are still on original ones from the factory after 10+ years, suspect poor supply voltage quality from the electricity suppliers is a big cause in failures here (we don't get the high temps you do). Coming from a refrigeration background PSC compressors are a poor second choice compared to CSR, can only think its cost cutting by the manufactureres...
Hey Eddie! Great video on caps... Have been replacing a bunch myself lately. I know a lot of people like to bleed down caps with screw driver or what ever. But the way I was trained years ago, and have always done it, is simply to take my meter on VAC. and double check to see that the power is actually off. Then I place my probes across each combination of terminals on the cap. The volt meter bleeds the cap just like a resistor with no arc or spike to injure or cause damage...
quick question..the one you checked that didnt have a blown cap..it said 35 micro ferets or whatever..and when you checked it, it was 34..that one didnt have a allowance of 6% on it like the other one...so that means if it says 35, it has to be right there at 35 basically..if its 34 its bad like in the video???
As long as the cap stays in the circuit with whatever motor it's connected to when power is cut, you never need to worry about having to discharge it because it will discharge into the motor. Caps resist voltage drop, so when power is cut, it will try to "resist" the drop by discharging into motor. If you pull a wire off the cap while it is powered, that's when you will find a charge in the cap.thats also why when you put needle nose pliers across the terminals, nothing happened.
If a tolerance isn't stated on the data plate, use 5%. With caps, the ones with a smaller % tolerance are SOMETIMES better quality and will last longer.
Very Nice video Eddie!! I remember those huge GE cap's of old. Wow those deversatech's hold up very well under dieing conditions . Now I'll get outa here and let important stuff take place!!! Lol :)
Can a bad fan motor damage a new capacitor? My fan stopped spinning in my outside ac unit. I put in a 40/5/440 capacitor (made by different company than what was in unit...both are 40/5/440). The fan ran for about 45 min then stopped and would not turn on again. Both capacitors are rated -6% +6%...whatever that means.
It means if you take a measurement of capacitance with your meter in microFarads and it shows within 6% of the first two numbers you mentioned, then its still good to use and within spec.
sounds like your fan motor is over amping and shutting off at the internal thermal overload . your coil can be clogged and not allowing air to pass through it or your motor windings may be going bad from long term over amping. check your condensor coil for debris like lint from a dryer vent nearby or dirt caked on to the coil. Also if the motor is not the original then the fan speed may be too fast for the fan blade design. that will deffinetely overheat a motor and shut it down.
I noticed that most of the caps you listed are 370 volt. perhaps you need to check the voltage between the common and herm whike the machine is running to find the needed voltage
Great info Eddie just like the run cap on our unit the fan side was fine but the herm was off, I'm with you the heat and the dirty condenser can blow the caps. The old cap in our unit was a plastic one have you ever seen any like that?
Hi Eddie, this may be a silly question, but why would you wire capacitors in series rather than in parallel? Since you get more power from them in parallel, if I understand it correctly?
Sometimes you need a weird size and the only way to get it is to use 2 larger capacitors and wire them in series to bring the numbers down. For example if you needed a 3mfd and all you had was 5 and higher, you can't add anything together to make it 3. But 5 and 7.5 in series gets you to 3mfd. 5 and 7.5 in parallel makes 12.5mfd. No good.