On Wednesday, July 12, 2017 at 11:09:30 AM UTC-4, Dave, I can't do that wrote:

Using a watt-meter thingy, on Low it draws about 5.1-A and on High 6.3-A. I say "about" as it fluctuates up/down by 0.1-A or so.

During the start, it very briefly shows 16-A or 17-A but there could be a little over-swing in that too. It comes and goes in the blink of an eye, sometimes I don't even see it at all.

So what do I actually need to do with the caps? I have some oil-filled start caps around the place somewhere.


The motor is a 1/3 hp motor. One hp is 746 watts so 1/3 hp is 249 watts.. and 249 divided by 120 volts is just over 2 amps. So of the 5 amps on low speed 2 amps is the real power drawn and about 4.6 is the imaginary amps..

Putting caps in parallel with the motor will reduce the imaginary current. It is pointless to get rid of all the imaginary current. But try putting a cap across in parallel with the motor and see what the current is. Add more caps until the current is down to about 2.5 amps instead of 5. And see if that helps to reduce the light dimming. It will help , but may not be a noticeable change.

Dan