That capacitor appears to have been 10 years old already when you bought it. It says "DATE: Jul 31, 2009" on it.
I've heard of people stocking spare capacitors and contactors, I guess that would depend on how hot it gets where you live. When I had ants get in a contactor and gum it up it did not take long for a mail ordered one to arrive.Your life time may vary. They are cheap, so keeping one is stock to save waiting for a repairman is a good strategy.
You can manually start the fan, so I wouldn't worry about it. That and the capacitor that you replaced was likely for both if it had 3 terminals on it.There must be another capacitor for fan there and I should get its specification so that I can pre-order it. The circuit diagram for the unit does not give values for the capacitors.
But it was purchased and installed in 2019. Until that time it was sitting in a box on a shelf at the store. It should NOT degrade if it is not being used.That capacitor appears to have been 10 years old already when you bought it. It says "DATE: Jul 31, 2009" on it.
But it was purchased and installed in 2019. Until that time it was sitting in a box on a shelf at the store. It should NOT degrade if it is not being used.
Also to be fair, most of them have no manufacturing date or expiry date stamped on them.
Good information! Then I guess it is mandatory to have manufacturing date stamped on it but from the devices I have purchased, it is NOT common to have the date on it.Capacitors can degrade when not being used. According to http://hvacrfundamentals.blogspot.com/2012/05/summer-is-capacitor-replacement-season.html :
"Any practicing service tech will tell you that service calls involving dead capacitors are common, especially in hot weather. The two most common causes of capacitor death are heat and over voltage. However, there is another less known cause: old age. Many capacitors have a shelf life. I have seen shelf lives listed as little as one year. The oxides on the metalized film break down when the capacitor is not in use, weakening the capacitor. They do tend to self-heal during use. That is why a capacitor which cannot sit on the shelf for longer than a couple of years can last for ten years in use."
No, you can't. The capacitors (or dual capacitor if it has 3 terminals) are run capacitors, not start capacitors. If the capacitor goes bad the motor will not run.You can manually start the fan, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Don't do that! It can cause the motor to overheat.Can I find a good link explaining why 80 mf capacitor needs to have +/- 5% accuracy? It can't be an RC tuned circuit. I bet if I throw in 100 mf there, it will work exactly like the 80 mf. But I never went to HVAC school
Save yourself some additional future grief and order a new contactor along with the capacitor. I change both every ten years on my 22 year old unit.I ordered replacement for Trane CPT01032 / CPT-1032 • 40 + 7.5 uf / Mfd GE GenTec Made In USA capacitor. It has 3 different connections marked "FAN", "C" and "HERM"; supposed to arrive day after tomorrow.
The A/C guy is coming the day after that. Hopefully, I will be able to fix it before and cancel the call.
If not, it is only $20 part. The A/C guy will probably charge me at least $200 just to show up. If it comes to that, I will ask him to install hard start kit.
If the start capacitor is bad, sure you can manually start the fan part. I have done it,No, you can't. The capacitors (or dual capacitor if it has 3 terminals) are run capacitors, not start capacitors. If the capacitor goes bad the motor will not run.
I have had bad luck with AC capacitors over the last 20 years. I get 3-5 years out of them. As they are cheap, I keep extras "in stock".
I also keep one for the blower (air handler) motor. They last longer because they don't get as hot as the outdoor capacitors.
Can I find a good link explaining why 80 mf capacitor needs to have +/- 5% accuracy? It can't be an RC tuned circuit. I bet if I throw in 100 mf there, it will work exactly like the 80 mf. But I never went to HVAC school
Looks like time to get educated on contactor. It looked more intimidating when I was browsing it for fun last time.Save yourself some additional future grief and order a new contactor along with the capacitor. I change both every ten years on my 22 year old unit.
Excellent link! I am thinking that these A/C units only have run capacitors and do not have start capacitors. The run capacitor seems to be doing the job of both. At least I did not find other replacement capacitor for the unit apart from those two run capacitors for my unit.It needs to be the correct value to create a 90 degree phase shift between the two windings. This may explain it:
PSC motor behavior when changing run capacitor value
I was browsing and read alot of articles and forums around the web and i didn't find a full explanation about the behavior of the current and the voltage in the PSC motor. Here are two situations ...electronics.stackexchange.com
Excellent link! I am thinking that these A/C units only have run capacitors and do not have start capacitors. The run capacitor seems to be doing the job of both. At least I did not find other replacement capacitor for the unit apart from those two run capacitors for my unit.