I’ve been through two starter capacitors on a 3 hp motor in the last three months. It’s the motor on my cyclone dust collection unit. The original one burnt out in about three years use, so I purchased a new one only to have it burn up within 2 months. Grizzly sent me a new one under warranty and it went out within just a few weeks. I’m not turning this unit on and off very many times during the day. In fact, both times it burnt out happened when I turned the unit on the first time in the day. I say burnt out because the oil inside the capacitor leaks out and you can smell it. It smells like dead rats. I immediately put my hand on the capacitor cover to feel if it was hot and it was only warm. So I guess my question is, am I getting bad capacitors from Grizzly((There made in the USA) or is something else going on with the motor to cause this. My electrician friend says there my be a short somewhere that’s causing it to draw excessive amperage. What think Ye? I have spoken with a Grizzly technician and he was very helpful and suggested some things to look at in the motor that may be causing the problem, and are sending me, at no cost ,another starter capacitor. This once again confrims the reason I have been buying Grizzly tools. Their customer service is second to none.
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Replies
Probably the Starter Switch
Given that the original capacitor failed, which isn't that common, and then the two replacements also gave out would suggest that something else is putting an excessive load on them.
The most likely culprit is that the centrifugal starter switch, which is inside of the motor, is failing to properly disconnect the start capacitor as the motor comes up to speed. The capacitor should be disconnect when the motor gets up to about 75% of its running speed, which should happen in a fraction of a second. If the switch fails to disconnect or is too slow to disconnect the capacitor will quickly overheat.
Another possible cause is that some mechanical problem is causing an excessive starting load on the motor and it is coming up to speed too slowly, but there isn't much in a simple direct drive DC that could cause this to happen.
A short circuit isn't that likely a cause of capacitor failure.
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