Capacitors! Yikes!

[mark beiser]

I have always used Mars caps since that is what my trusted supplier sells.

Just watch out for the Mars2 brand, they are made in China, and are among the worst there are.

[AC5096]

I have also seen more than I normally do that actually blow up inside the unit and go everywhere. Anyone else seen that lately?

Here's one less than a year old. Blew crap everywhere.

I've found no difference in longevity between 370 & 440 v. caps. If they're from China, or a GE more than 5 years old it's going to fail sooner than later.

[mike dixon]

gottta love the one made in taiwan illinois , or in mexico illinois

[ar_hvac_man]

It was actually worse for us last year. It was so bad supply houses were out. We were having to stack 2 and even 3 together at times. I stockpiled this winter, I wont be stacking them again! I also order nothing but 440

Im with Mark. AmRad is my first pick then Mars if I cant get AmRad. May be just in my head but the AmRad feels heavier??

[Baycienda]

A friend of mine owned his own heating and cooling company for years and then started working at a supply house. He quit that supply house and started up a different one. He has capacitors stacked up. The good high temp 440. Thank god for someone at a supply house that has actually worked in the field. I know where to find that 35-5 when nobody else has it!

[JBM1000]

Hardly any pass a under load test, most are 3 micro fared under then.

[midhvac]

Same problem here. I really think the heat is the main culprit. I'm about ready to put the capacitor inside the house and run wires outside.

I agree that the Chinese ones seem to get whipped faster. But I'm replacing plenty of the non-Chinese ones too.
But it seems kinda foolish to replace a dead non-Chinese one with a new Chinese one.

[mark beiser]

It was actually worse for us last year. It was so bad supply houses were out. We were having to stack 2 and even 3 together at times.

With the 110-115º temperatures we were having last year in my area, I started calling last summer Capacitormageddon.
I was turning over my capacitor inventory so fast, I didn't even bother restocking my bins, I just had a big box-o-capacitors on the floor of my truck.

I did a lot of parallel capacitor wiring due to supplier shortages around here.
This summer some of the suppliers bulked up their stock by a huge amount, but with the more normal 100º high temperatures we are getting this year, we are not going through nearly as many capacitors.

[jdblack]

I did a lot of parallel capacitor wiring due to supplier shortages around here.

Did you leave them parallel or go back and change them?

I've had a parallel setup fail where the 45 of the 55 failed and left me with 10mfd.

[mark beiser]

Did you leave them parallel or go back and change them?

I've had a parallel setup fail where the 45 of the 55 failed and left me with 10mfd.

I leave them, there isn't any real reason to go back and change it.
I used a lot of Turbo200 and 200x capacitors last year too, the supply houses never seemed to be out of those.

[SBKold]

I actually witnessed one go out on limit (when the top bulges out) live. It was impressive.

Upon my initial inspection. I noticed someone replaced fan mtr so it had a seperate cap.

And the compressor was on the 5 mfd side of existing run cap. So I shut unit off and put compressor start on herm terminal.

It started and ran for a couple minutes. Then top just "popped " up like popcorn.

Compressor kept running though. And would have kept going if conditions weren't extreme.

Same as when units have hard starts sometimes compressor keeps running and they may not know for awhile anything is wrong. Which cant be good for compressor.

[ICanHas]

It would be interesting to mark capacitors with several temperature crayons so you can observe how hot they get.

Same problem here. I really think the heat is the main culprit. I'm about ready to put the capacitor inside the house and run wires outside.

Not the same method, but same yield can become a reality.

Has anyone tried zip tying to the suction line to let the refrigerant pick up the heat?

Another option is to put it mod the case a bit, so the air flows over the capacitor when the fan is running.

[ar_hvac_man]

With the 110-115º temperatures we were having last year in my area, I started calling last summer Capacitormageddon.
I was turning over my capacitor inventory so fast, I didn't even bother restocking my bins, I just had a big box-o-capacitors on the floor of my truck.

I did a lot of parallel capacitor wiring due to supplier shortages around here.
This summer some of the suppliers bulked up their stock by a huge amount, but with the more normal 100º high temperatures we are getting this year, we are not going through nearly as many capacitors.

What I find interesting is that we are seeing the same extreme heat, and duration of heat. The only difference I can see this year is the drought and more significant, IMO, is almost zero storms. No power flickers. It makes me wonder if compressors trying to start against a load has a lot to do with capacitor failure? Then again, last year I saw as many heat pumps, which generally have time delays on the boards, blowing capacitors as I did straight A/C's.

The only fact I can attest to is that last year was much harder on capacitors than this year.

[mark beiser]

What I find interesting is that we are seeing the same extreme heat, and duration of heat. The only difference I can see this year is the drought and more significant, IMO, is almost zero storms. No power flickers. It makes me wonder if compressors trying to start against a load has a lot to do with capacitor failure? Then again, last year I saw as many heat pumps, which generally have time delays on the boards, blowing capacitors as I did straight A/C's.

The only fact I can attest to is that last year was much harder on capacitors than this year.

Well, as with us, a much higher percentage of your regular customer base may have new run capacitors this year than last year too.

[Glennhvac]

It would be interesting to mark capacitors with several temperature crayons so you can observe how hot they get.


Not the same method, but same yield can become a reality.

Has anyone tried zip tying to the suction line to let the refrigerant pick up the heat?

Another option is to put it mod the case a bit, so the air flows over the capacitor when the fan is running.

I don't think it's the heat on the capacitor. I think it's voltage being dropped to keep up with load.

Um do you really want to have electrical devices tied onto your refrig lines? I spose a short would cool it off in a big hurry with liquid refrigerant bathing the thing.

[hvacmike85]

I'm saying the heat, power loss?? nooo when that dude is under a load at the hottest part of the day 100+ outside it says yep I've had enough ( POP ) I bet that cap would burn you if you touched it

[Glennhvac]

I'm saying the heat, power loss?? nooo when that dude is under a load at the hottest part of the day 100+ outside it says yep I've had enough ( POP ) I bet that cap would burn you if you touched it

Yeah and it's gonna heat up a whole lot faster when the voltage drops. Probably have compounding problems.

[Home&Marine]

I see the Caps lasting about 5 or 6 years. I normally keep about 50 on the truck. This week I haven't replaced a single one. I've had air-flow problems at almost every call this week. I guess caps next.

Here's a blown one from last week.

[oil lp man]

I read somewhere that if you gang up caps if you don't have the right size to get the correct capacitance then you are actually better off because of more surface area to dissipate the heat.
But there never seems to be enough room in the smaller condensers.

[hvacmike85]

Yeah and it's gonna heat up a whole lot faster when the voltage drops. Probably have compounding problems.

Good point though, is like to be there with a meter when one blew, we would all prob learn somethin