Franc Zabkar wrote:
On Sun, 2 Oct 2005 15:02:42 +0100, "Graham" put
finger to keyboard and composed:


If you have a selection of capacitors you could find the approximate value
empirically.

Most generic capacitors will show their max voltage rating as a DC value,
not an AC RMS value.
A 250V RMS capacitor should be replaced with at least a 400 volt DC rating.

My guess is the value is 0.1uF (same as 100nF)

Maybe the "10" just means +/- 10% tolerance


The Xc of an 0.1uF cap at 50Hz is 32kohm, whereas for a 10uF cap it is
320 ohm. If the motor is to be driven at 70V from a 240V (?) supply,
then the latter option would draw a current of ~0.5A and dissipate 35W
in the motor. The first option requires only 5mA and a 350mW motor.

-- Franc Zabkar

Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
Frank,

very, very, thin wires were used and in use the thing did not get in the
slightest warm so IMHO it has to be the first option. All the start caps
I have seen in my online searches were obviously for powerful motors,
this thing is tiny!


Hey thanks to everyone who answered this thread. I have learnt a lot and
it should be no problem getting it working again. A normal timer that
goes in a socket would not work as this timer controls a three pin
microswitch. Socket timers here always switch the mains (230v) on or
off, otherwise I would have just bought such a timer. I could have
attached a small circuit with a 230V relay to such a timer though!

Cheers