nelsonhoover
Electrical
Is there such a thing as having too much capacitance on a capacitor start motor? In other words, is it possible to have too many uF worth of start capacitors?
What I have run into is a 15 HP 1ø 3450 RPM centrifugal fan. Some of the run capacitors where a bit corroded at the terminals so I replaced them. In the process, I checked the starts too. One was bad so I replaced it with an identical start (216uF 250V). Upon starting the fan, the new capacitor promptly blew its top (the other 2 where cool to the touch yet).
I double checked the wiring and installed another. Same results. Each time the fan would start, but not without blowing the newly added capacitor. In all I toasted 3, till finally I started it on the remaining 2 and left the third off. Seemed to work great, at least for now.
Any ideas what might have been doing this?
What I have run into is a 15 HP 1ø 3450 RPM centrifugal fan. Some of the run capacitors where a bit corroded at the terminals so I replaced them. In the process, I checked the starts too. One was bad so I replaced it with an identical start (216uF 250V). Upon starting the fan, the new capacitor promptly blew its top (the other 2 where cool to the touch yet).
I double checked the wiring and installed another. Same results. Each time the fan would start, but not without blowing the newly added capacitor. In all I toasted 3, till finally I started it on the remaining 2 and left the third off. Seemed to work great, at least for now.
Any ideas what might have been doing this?