Took the cover off my Crosley air conditioner to find out why the compressor
motor was tripping its thermal overload a few seconds after kicking on.

The dual section running capacitor had a strange, twisty, grayish glob
coming out of its side. The stuff looked like one of those "snakes" that
the kids light on July 4th, but is was very hard and stuck tightly to the
capacitor body. Pried it off. Looked like a small hole where it came out.

I assumed that the capacitor had bought the farm and ordered a new one.
Ouch! Best price on the Internet was about $70. Is what I described
typically what's found when one of these capacitors fails?

Silver Surfer wrote:
Took the cover off my Crosley air conditioner to find out why the
compressor motor was tripping its thermal overload a few seconds after
kicking on.

The dual section running capacitor had a strange, twisty, grayish glob
coming out of its side. The stuff looked like one of those "snakes"
that the kids light on July 4th, but is was very hard and stuck tightly
to the capacitor body. Pried it off. Looked like a small hole where it
came out.

I assumed that the capacitor had bought the farm and ordered a new one.
Ouch! Best price on the Internet was about $70. Is what I described
typically what's found when one of these capacitors fails?


Usually they just open or short, but leaking is possible.

Jeez, $70 is a lot, last time I needed one I picked it up for something
like $6 from http://www.usamfg.net/, their inventory changes constantly
though so you need some luck.

"Silver Surfer" wrote in message
. ..
Took the cover off my Crosley air conditioner to find out why the compressor
motor was tripping its thermal overload a few seconds after kicking on.

The dual section running capacitor had a strange, twisty, grayish glob coming
out of its side. The stuff looked like one of those "snakes" that the kids
light on July 4th, but is was very hard and stuck tightly to the capacitor
body. Pried it off. Looked like a small hole where it came out.

I assumed that the capacitor had bought the farm and ordered a new one. Ouch!
Best price on the Internet was about $70. Is what I described typically
what's found when one of these capacitors fails?


What's the value of the capacitor?
Where do you live (City/State/Country)?

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

Experience: What you get when you don't get what you want

Meat Plow writes:

On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:37:46 -0400, Silver Surfer wrote:

Took the cover off my Crosley air conditioner to find out why the compressor
motor was tripping its thermal overload a few seconds after kicking on.

The dual section running capacitor had a strange, twisty, grayish glob
coming out of its side. The stuff looked like one of those "snakes" that
the kids light on July 4th, but is was very hard and stuck tightly to the
capacitor body. Pried it off. Looked like a small hole where it came out.

I assumed that the capacitor had bought the farm and ordered a new one.
Ouch! Best price on the Internet was about $70. Is what I described
typically what's found when one of these capacitors fails?

Typically they just fail. I thought they were filled with oil though,

AAAACCCCKKKKK!! Invasion of the capacitor worms.

Yes, normally they just open or (more likely) short. Did you try
testing it?

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Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
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subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

Mr. Goldwasser,

No, I did not test the capacitor. Just ASSumed it was bad.

Your worm analogy was excellent. That's exactly what this "creature" looks
like.

Mr. DaveM,

Capacitor is 25 + 7.5 microfarads at 370V.

My humble abode is in Moundsville, West Virginia, US of A.

New capacitor is on the way from Appliance Parts Pro's warehouse in
Kentucky.

My Master Card is taking a few days off to recover.


"DaveM" wrote in message
...
"Silver Surfer" wrote in message
. ..
Took the cover off my Crosley air conditioner to find out why the
compressor motor was tripping its thermal overload a few seconds after
kicking on.

The dual section running capacitor had a strange, twisty, grayish glob
coming out of its side. The stuff looked like one of those "snakes" that
the kids light on July 4th, but is was very hard and stuck tightly to the
capacitor body. Pried it off. Looked like a small hole where it came
out.

I assumed that the capacitor had bought the farm and ordered a new one.
Ouch! Best price on the Internet was about $70. Is what I described
typically what's found when one of these capacitors fails?


What's the value of the capacitor?
Where do you live (City/State/Country)?

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters
in the address)

Experience: What you get when you don't get what you want

"Silver Surfer" wrote in message
. ..
Mr. Goldwasser,

No, I did not test the capacitor. Just ASSumed it was bad.

Your worm analogy was excellent. That's exactly what this "creature" looks
like.

Mr. DaveM,

Capacitor is 25 + 7.5 microfarads at 370V.

My humble abode is in Moundsville, West Virginia, US of A.

New capacitor is on the way from Appliance Parts Pro's warehouse in Kentucky.

My Master Card is taking a few days off to recover.


"DaveM" wrote in message
...
"Silver Surfer" wrote in message
. ..
Took the cover off my Crosley air conditioner to find out why the compressor
motor was tripping its thermal overload a few seconds after kicking on.

The dual section running capacitor had a strange, twisty, grayish glob
coming out of its side. The stuff looked like one of those "snakes" that
the kids light on July 4th, but is was very hard and stuck tightly to the
capacitor body. Pried it off. Looked like a small hole where it came out.

I assumed that the capacitor had bought the farm and ordered a new one.
Ouch! Best price on the Internet was about $70. Is what I described
typically what's found when one of these capacitors fails?


What's the value of the capacitor?
Where do you live (City/State/Country)?

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in
the address)

Experience: What you get when you don't get what you want




Thanks for replying,
I wasn't prying... I was just going to try to help find a source for the
capacitor close to your location, but not so pricey. But, since you've already
ordered, I won't go to that trouble.

Those multi-section caps can carry a hefty price tag, but in many cases, they
can be replaced by two (significantly cheaper) single-section caps. Mounting
style and space permitting, of course.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

Experience: What you get when you don't get what you want

My new capacitor arrived on the front porch late today. Pretty quick
delivery. That Kentucky place must be somewhere nearby.

The AC is humming again.

It was gratifying to see that the new capacitor was an Aerovox and made
right here in the USA.

"DaveM" wrote in message
. ..

"Silver Surfer" wrote in message
. ..
Mr. Goldwasser,

No, I did not test the capacitor. Just ASSumed it was bad.

Your worm analogy was excellent. That's exactly what this "creature"
looks like.

Mr. DaveM,

Capacitor is 25 + 7.5 microfarads at 370V.

My humble abode is in Moundsville, West Virginia, US of A.

New capacitor is on the way from Appliance Parts Pro's warehouse in
Kentucky.

My Master Card is taking a few days off to recover.


"DaveM" wrote in message
...
"Silver Surfer" wrote in message
. ..
Took the cover off my Crosley air conditioner to find out why the
compressor motor was tripping its thermal overload a few seconds after
kicking on.

The dual section running capacitor had a strange, twisty, grayish glob
coming out of its side. The stuff looked like one of those "snakes"
that the kids light on July 4th, but is was very hard and stuck tightly
to the capacitor body. Pried it off. Looked like a small hole where
it came out.

I assumed that the capacitor had bought the farm and ordered a new one.
Ouch! Best price on the Internet was about $70. Is what I described
typically what's found when one of these capacitors fails?


What's the value of the capacitor?
Where do you live (City/State/Country)?

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate
characters in the address)

Experience: What you get when you don't get what you want




Thanks for replying,
I wasn't prying... I was just going to try to help find a source for the
capacitor close to your location, but not so pricey. But, since you've
already ordered, I won't go to that trouble.

Those multi-section caps can carry a hefty price tag, but in many cases,
they can be replaced by two (significantly cheaper) single-section caps.
Mounting style and space permitting, of course.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters
in the address)

Experience: What you get when you don't get what you want