When HN users recommended it
1 HN user recommended this in 2023, in one comment.
20072026
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
1 HN user recommended this in 2023, in one comment.
Each tall tick is one HN user's first recommendation. A short tick is the same user again. Click a tick to jump to the comment.
Friday evening I came home from a concert and was greeted by a very warm upstairs. The A/C wasn't working. After a bit of diagnosis, I tracked it down to the blower motor starting but spinning very slowly. Internet research indicated the run capacitor[1] as a potential culprit. (For single phase induction motors, the run capacitor provides an out-of-phase voltage to the secondary winding to allow for a rotating magnetic field.)
By this point, it's 1:25 AM. I ordered a new capacitor from Amazon[2] and had it delivered less than 12 hours later. Replaced the capacitor and the motor was back to full speed. Total cost: $12.17. (A new motor would have been several hundred dollars.)
The original capacitor[3] lasted 20 years inside my air handler that's in my attic, so probably dealing with 100+°F temps for most summers. Not too bad.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_capacitor#Run_capacitors
2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076RT8B61
3. https://imgur.com/a/2SCBETE