Thread: capacitors on 3hp motors?

Originally Posted by jacoboomar

Technically the microfarads is in regards to flavor of water, per say, 45 microfarads could be considered a cherry flavor and the volts is not relevant like the container you keep the water in (size [volts] or shape [AC/DC]), you still only have cherry flavor (XX microfarads).

Omar I think you are getting your fruit confused. Its not cherries, its currents

Doug

Originally Posted by jacoboomar

My motor had two of these, although I am trying to figure out if these are the correct ones that "should" be in this motor.

Vanguard
BC-378
378-454 MFD
125 VAC 60 Hz 6329612
For Motor Starting Made in U.S.A.

That is what is printed on both capcitors.

My question is this:

Should both be the same. Gerhard, gave a great explanation of theory. But, I need object data in regards to numbers...

Should both capacitors be exactly the same or one (being a start) be the one above and the second (being the 'run'/constantly on when the motor is running) be different (if so then what am I looking for - word for word as printed on the label of a proposed capcitor[s])?

As I have noted on my AC unit the VAC on the capacitors state upto 600 VAC or so, for the pump. Although, technically this is a 220 volt system. So, the VAC is irrelevant. The microfarads is what matters...

I have always been told to think of electricity like water. Technically the microfarads is in regards to flavor of water, per say, 45 microfarads could be considered a cherry flavor and the volts is not relevant like the container you keep the water in (size [volts] or shape [AC/DC]), you still only have cherry flavor (XX microfarads). Minus the wear of the capacitor, which life is about 3-5 years for accuracy of capacitance. Which is why you should check them in that span of time, 5 or so years. Test them as noted above, in previous posts.

But, like my AC unit, one capacitor is a start for the pump (35-55 microfarads), and the second is for the fan (5-7.5 microfarads). The first is on and off as noted by Gerhard, at 3/4 motor speed, while the second is constantly on for the fan motor.

Thanks,
Omar J.

I am a registered nurse by trade and tinker with this stuff because I LOVE IT!

This is an Australian site and regulations dealing with electrical work are little different and stricter here than in the USA.

BobL's advice to you is very sound. Maybe your question would be better answered by someone on a US forum.

Originally Posted by jacoboomar

Ahh, that was really useless information. Surely everyone on this site has been shocked more than once with 12 to 220volts. I'm sure 100% of everyone could attest to 0% of the time being paralyzed anywhere by the minor zap/jolt (or else I'd have more weekend warrior/prefessional 'electricians' in the ER). A more educated experienced critisim would have been stated in terms of watts. You really have to be trying to get paralyzed to get paralyzed by electricity. Like touching a transformer or live power line each with you as a direct ground. Volts IS irrelevant if your current is minimal. Like a 10,000 ton freight train that moves at 1/100 meter per second. Plenty of time to move or adjust for the very slow and painless ride.

Your comment is ignorant and instills unnecessary fear in people and is why, like mechanics and AC repair thiefs, Electronic component repair costs are so SUPER inflated.

As a nurse, I easily translate seemly overwhelming concepts in to scenarios/terms so people like you can understand.

Please, if you have something productive to say, say it. That is the purpose of asking these questions on forums like this. Share your knowledge. I don't mind positive criticism, please correct me if my statements are incorrect. I fear not learning over not knowing.

I send you a hug BobL seems like you could use one. You are loved!

We all send you a hug jacoboomar seems like you could use one even more than BobL. You are loved!

Cheers - Neil

Originally Posted by doug3030

Omar I think you are getting your fruit confused. Its not cherries, its currents

Doug

Doug, Thank you for correcting me! No wonder RobL was sooo disappointed my inexperience on this topic. I know better, currants.

Thanks again!

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Dear nurse bj,

I have been told I have condition X that I would like to have a crack at treating myself for. My neighbour, who sells various medications on the side suggested I buy Y. I can get it at a very good price direct from him but I am not sure if I should take it by mouth, back passage or injection. Can anybody help me out with this

BTW I am a registered electrician by trade and tinker with this stuff because I LOVE IT!

Hugs all round.

Gold!

Electrickery = white fella magic - best left alone!

Don't tell me about boats, I know all about boats.

I provide mates with plenty of advice about electrickery, (whether they need it or not!) but we all know the score. It's just advice and it's on them to decide what they do with it terms of legality. But I can't in all good conscience do this on a public forum.

Just a reminder
Top 5 DIY tools/events resulting visiting an emergency care facility are
Grinders, lawnmowers, ladders, motor vehicle maintenance and welders.

Top 5 DIY injuries for hospital admissions
Ladders, lawnmowers, power saws, circular saws and motor vehicle maintenance

Top 5 DIY events causing death
Electrical Maintenance, Ladders, Tractors, backhoes and Trees

Originally Posted by BobL

Just a reminder
Top 5 DIY tools/events resulting visiting an emergency care facility are
Grinders, lawnmowers, ladders, motor vehicle maintenance and welders.

Top 5 DIY injuries for hospital admissions
Ladders, lawnmowers, power saws, circular saws and motor vehicle maintenance

Top 5 DIY events causing death
Electrical Maintenance, Ladders, Tractors, backhoes and Trees

Wow, I'd hate to see the odds for someone such as myself who could check every one of those activities off a list at least once a month!

A good sense of self-preservation is a wonderful thing...

Originally Posted by Mike B

Wow, I'd hate to see the odds for someone such as myself who could check every one of those activities off a list at least once a month!

A good sense of self-preservation is a wonderful thing...

Just Found a 32" LCD TV On The Side of the road, thanks to my neighbors who decided to quit before they started... Despiste the yellow journalism above. The TV issues were googled and I now have a fully functional $8.34 (Capacitors from Radio Shack) 32"LCD TV.

Continuing to be smart and take things one-step-at-a-time.

Off to go watch some TV in my new Man Cave LCD Flat Screen!

Originally Posted by BobL

Top 5 DIY tools/events resulting visiting an emergency care facility are
Grinders, lawnmowers, ladders, motor vehicle maintenance and welders.

Top 5 DIY injuries for hospital admissions
Ladders, lawnmowers, power saws, circular saws and motor vehicle maintenance

Top 5 DIY events causing death
Electrical Maintenance, Ladders, Tractors, backhoes and Trees

I often take these types of comments with a grain of salt, so I wondered if there was any truth to BobL's statement. Turns out he has perfectly quoted research done at Monash Uni (Routley and Ozanne-Smith). Well remembered BobL and I'll add that the research showed about 10% (more in the country, less in the metro) of total visits to the hospital were by DIYers.

Folks, in a plea that probably wont be needed by the readers here , think carefully before DIYing (then go ahead carefully). It'll save you pain and embarrassment* and will significantly free up the hospitals for people who need those services through no fault of their own.

Regards
SWK

*Yes, I've been there. Needed stitches in the leg where I cut myself with a knife. The Monash research shows knives seventh on the list which surprised me a little (I thought they would be higher up)

Originally Posted by swk

I often take these types of comments with a grain of salt, so I wondered if there was any truth to BobL's statement. . . . .

Good to see the salt shaker out.
The first thing I used to say to my students was to find their crap meter and set the thing on high.
I always thought that one reason that some didn't make it was they didn't find it.

Sorry I should have provided a reference for the list but I posted that info about 5 years back and several times thereafter with references.
The scarier thing in some ways than the DIY rankings was the finding that only 10% of people attending hospitals for DIY injuries were wearing any PPE.

That Monash research was done some time ago and I would like to think the use of PPE has improved.
It would be useful to get an update on what the latest injuries etc are as the number of powertools and machinery going out the door at hardware and machinery stores maybe changing the mix of DIY injuries,

Originally Posted by jacoboomar

Ahh, that was really useless information. Surely everyone on this site has been shocked more than once with 12 to 220volts. I'm sure 100% of everyone could attest to 0% of the time being paralyzed anywhere by the minor zap/jolt (or else I'd have more weekend warrior/prefessional 'electricians' in the ER).

I know an electrician (Brett) got a 220v boot. If I recall it was between his head and some other part of his body. He said it was the most unpleasant thing he ever felt. Paralysed him so he couldn't physically get out of it, but luckily he fell out of contact with the source after a few seconds. Clenched his teeth together so tight his fillings stuck together and he had to break them to open his mouth (or the current may have welded them, he wasn't sure). About 5 years later someone else was killed (electrocuted) working at the same place.
Knew a copper (Ken) DIY working up in his roof on some telephone wiring. Came in contact with mains and was found unconscious by his missus after she heard some thumping in the roof. Ambulance guys had to cut the ceiling away to get him down to go to hospital. He recovered though.
I think about one person a year dies due to electrocution in South Aust every year, about half of them doing electrical work. Of course they usually don't get to emergency wards, because they are dead on the spot.

Originally Posted by jacoboomar

Volts IS irrelevant if your current is minimal...

Your comment is ignorant

While it is true that it is the effect of current which kills people, voltage is actually what drives the current, which a better understanding of electrickery would lead you to understand. Dunning-Kruger.

SWK

I've had more than my fair share of boots and and here are some memorable ones.

As a kid I put a fully metal cased power drill in a vice with a grinding wheel in the chuck, and tightened up the vice and got 240V down my right arm and leg. That one made me jump.

When we moved into our 90 year old house the wiring was shocking (har har) - old style fuses and a mix of every sort of wiring used in the last 90 years, including some original cloth and rubber coated wires some of which was crumbling, circuits running everywhere, some live circuits were doubly wired and some running nowhere. Every time I went up into the roof space I would come down with more wire than I went up with. One time I foolishly believed what was written against one of the fuses (aircon) and as there was only one aircon in the house I pulled that fuse as I wanted to move the socket for the aircon. However, I didn't stop and check it and the aircon turned out to be wired on another circuit and I got a nice tickle out of it. After that we had the house rewired.

At work where I worked with up to 20 kV, about 30 years ago I got 6kV down my left ring finger. The gear we were using at the time was fairly old (1960s vintage) and some of the rubber insulation was breaking down and there were occasional little discharges going on inside, so we turned off the room lights and opened up the unit and bypassed the HT interlock so we could see where it was discharging. I stupidly leaned into the unit to take a look and my finger brushed an exposed piece of wiring. Fortunately my left hand was grounded against the metal casing and so most of the current went down my finger - the jolt still threw me 6 ft across the room. The skin on my finger turned a blue green colour and it eventually peeled off. That finger is the same one a small jointer took the top 5 mm off a few years before that. After that incident that gear was scrapped as we could not risk it any further.

A lot of the gear we used was interlocked 10kV but we had to sometimes work on it with the interlocks overridden. Fortunately it also had microamp trips on it but that would still give you a surprise if you were not careful. One time I was doing some work on the gear standing up and a micro second later I was laying on the floor. These days the interlocks cannot be overridden without following a SOP that has to be checked by a second person.

One problem with working with high voltages is 240V seems lame but it is more than enough to kill so I have to keep reminding myself of this. These days I test everything several times and which ways before turning on and (I know it sounds obvious) always remove the plug from the socket before working on something. I also get most things megger tested when I can.

Wow you are serious about electrical COMMERCIAL equipement. "kV", no not me. That calls for some professionals. I worked with a fellow operating room nurse who believed himself to be a wood worker and perhaps alcohol had something to do with it, but he also shaved off most of the bottom side of his hand... I have been fortunate that although fixing home AC's and swaping car engines, I have not YET experienced anything as detremental as your horrific experiences.

Please be safe and although the above story may not have been written to provide humor, despite your very first line... I did smile, alright chuckled, at your recollection of experiences. I am reminded that I do need to pay someone else to take those extreme risks with serious commercial ratings.

I hope to share stories, not as horrific as yours, as our time passes. For now I am back to playing registered nurse here in the Intensive Care Unit in Ft. Worth, Texas, USA.

Please take care,
Omar J.
RN, DIY'er