Capacitor question - settle an argument

[Carbonite]

Hey Gang!

Help me settle an argument... (a friendly one, lol) Anyway. When you're looking at the start/run caps in a condenser in general- if you check them and they're 1. in good physical condition/connections ok/etc and 2. read pretty much spot on at the uF rating, or even slightly better, is it pretty much safe to assume they're ok?

I had a condenser the other day with a bad blower motor- long story short- I replaced the motor and all is well- but it looks like in the recent past, another tech put a hard-start in to correct what was apparently not an issue. This is a newer unit which had a combo-cap (you know, both the start and run cap in one) but both read pretty much right on as far as uF ratings.

I removed the hard start, mainly because it was in my mind at least redundant, and also to get one back into stock since we don't have much in stock anyway, and being an apartment complex, they never want to buy much to keep around (lol)... A fellow tech said that it was a dumb move, and it will probably fail again. Well we're in a heat wave now, and so far the unit is running like a champ but back to the fundamental question: Is it safe to assume a cap is ok if it physically looks good, tests out at proper ratings, and of course, the unit is working with it?

[Cowpoke]

YES! Of course!

[basshound71]

yup

[Carbonite]

So far you make me feel competent. I have a fairly competent background in electronics (amateur radio operator, etc) but all of my knowledge is pretty much self-taught, so I'm always a little wary of what I think I know... but still ya ask yourself "whats the point of checking caps for the proper uF if there's always the chance that some other unseen option could make them bad!?? LOL

[tbirdtbird]

not sure why anyone would remove a hard-start that was there already; it was already bought and paid for; search this site and lots of techs like them esp 5-2-1

[ac in fl]

Start cap will just help compressor start easier. if the voltage going into the unit is strong around 230 to 240 and the amp draw is good on start up then you'll be fine no worries. worst comes to worst if trouble down the road you can put it back in

[tbirdtbird]

its been really hot this summer and a lot of areas are rationing electricity. I haven't seen 240V on my meter in years, lucky to see 215-220. 240 would be sweet...

[ac in fl]

always see around 241 running and 242 off only on big buildings do i see lower. guess it might have to do with nuclear power plant being 2 miles away. that sucks having lowvoltage where your at guess lots of hardstarts for you spp6's perhaps lol least you dont have to worry about power plant in your backyard i guess lol