Need help understanding a capacitor.
Steph, my girl friend for those who do not know, has a thingy mabober that helps her dry clothes and it broke. I took it apart to see if I could find a lose wire or an obvious jam or something I could fix. It’s basically just a motor hooked to two paint stirrer type things that act like fans and a capacitor. It’s not jammed and simple does nothing when plugged in and turned on.
Could it be that a dead capacitor could stop it from working at all and replacing it might fix the issue or is it unlikely the capacitor is the issue and there is a problem with the motor.
Seeing that there is only two parts and I can get a replacement capacitor on ebay for less than $10 I figured I would look into it.
I would check the on off switch, could be a shot connection there. A capacitor is pretty simple, its like a battery but it does not create any energy only stores it until something draws hard enough to drain it.
All the connections seem solid. I read a bit about what capacitors are and how they work, but it didn’t explain to me if one could get shot and keep power from coming through at all.
Capacitor is like ph buffer. It is installed parallel to electric motors to absorb voltage spikes. It will only make motor not to run if it’s shorted out. you can remove it and motor still will run. In long term capasitor will buffer motor.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:1, topic:3199”]
Need help understanding a capacitor.
Steph has a thingy mabober that helps her dry clothes and it broke. It’s basically just a motor hooked to two paint stirrer type things that act like fans and a capacitor. [/quote]
Man and I thought WE had weird stuff in the basement.
I’m really curious as to what this “contraption” looks like - pics?
Well it’s in pieces all over the floor, so pics of the one we have wouldn’t really help. Here is a shot of one I found online, links leads to more info.
Tomorrow I’m going to try to disconnect the capacitor and see if it works without it. If it does I’ll find a replacement, if not I’ll assume it’s the motor and trash it.
well, theres only one tried and true DIY method for testing Flux Capacitors. You plug it in, charge it up, disconnect the wires and then after licking both index fingers, place them firmly on the two capacitor leads.
If you wake up a half hour later with your index finger tips still smoking, Well, I guess the capacitor is still good. Capacitors store charge, and usually dump it all at once without a regulating circuit.
Different Capaciters different functions.
Some handle voltage spikes other provide additional current to start a motor or compressor. I would not bypass the capaciter and just test it.
[quote=“Rosti, post:4, topic:3199”]
Capacitor is like ph buffer. It is installed parallel to electric motors to absorb voltage spikes. It will only make motor not to run if it’s shorted out. you can remove it and motor still will run. In long term capasitor will buffer motor.[/quote]
I’m pretty sure it works the opposite (maybe only in DC) but when I installed car stereos we installed capacitors to provide extra wattage when the speaker demanded it, not absorb a spike comming in. Dosed spikes on demand if it were.
