Ceiling Fan Capacitor???

[Volphin]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to find a 5-wire CBB61 4.6uF/5.5uF/6uF capacitor for a ceiling fan.

I've consulted the Googles, but can't seem to locate one with those specs.

Any ideas where I could purchase one?

Thanks!

 

[gm280]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to find a 5-wire CBB61 4.6uF/5.5uF/6uF capacitor for a ceiling fan.

I've consulted the Googles, but can't seem to locate one with those specs.

Any ideas where I could purchase one?

Thanks!

I never heard of a ceiling fan needing capacitor before. Well at least not the typical home ceiling type fans. If you can't find a cap with those exact specs, you can take three individual caps of the proper size and make your own. Just make sure the caps you select have the proper voltage requirements and connect them up. If will work perfectly. Observe the polarity if there is such polarities with the old cap. If not then buy non-polarized caps in the same values.

It seems odd the close values of the individual caps because usually ganged caps like that are usually +/- 20% tolerance valued caps. Meaning you could use three 5uf caps and they would work without issue.

Lots of people refurbishing older tube amps do those things because the multi-section caps are very hard to find. JMHO

 

[bigdee]

Match one up as close as possible to those values. The value of each capacitor is what determines fan speed for each of the 3 selections. A slightly different value will not hurt anything....it will just change the speed. Plenty of CB61 selections on Amazon and ebay.

 

[Volphin]

Thanks guys. The motor just hums and doesn't turn. When I removed the light kit for inspection, I found that the DPDT direction selector switch had overheated and came out in very small crumbly pieces. I picked up a new one, wired it in, but still no motor movement. The motor turns freely, so I thought changing the cap would be the next obvious step. The cap itself is not deformed or bubbled.

 

[dingbat]

A free moving electric motor tells you nothing except the bearing are still good.

A defective cap is not going to burn the directional switch. It's simply switching the polarity.

I would first check the selector switch to make sure you didn't have burnt contacts etc. If nothing there, on to the motor windings.
Guessing you have a problem in the winding

 

[bigdee]

A free moving electric motor tells you nothing except the bearing are still good.

A defective cap is not going to burn the directional switch. It's simply switching the polarity.

I would first check the selector switch to make sure you didn't have burnt contacts etc. If nothing there, on to the motor windings.
Guessing you have a problem in the winding

A failed (open) capacitor will not allow motor to run at all OR cause it to hum and draw excessive current which possibly could overheat the switch. For around $6 a new cap is a cheap crap shoot.

 

[cobalt1999]

Amazon

 

[gm280]

Do you own a meter? And if so does it have a capacitor setting on it? Some do and you can check the actual value of the cap(s). Easy to check for open or shorted with an ohm meter. Give it a check. JMHO

 

[Volphin]

Well for 6 bucks I ordered a cap. We'll see if that fixes the puppy. I didn't bother with my meter. If I solder everything together and nada, so be it. LOL. I am continuously amazed at the cheap wiring in these units. I just tossed out a fan I had mounted in my apartment in college. Mind you, that was a LOOOONNNG time ago. It had be cheerfully turning on my screened in porch for decades. A hail storm took out our screening, roof and gutters, so I decided to upgrade her. I should have just transplanted the guts to another unit! HAHA

 

[gm280]

Well for 6 bucks I ordered a cap. We'll see if that fixes the puppy. I didn't bother with my meter. If I solder everything together and nada, so be it. LOL. I am continuously amazed at the cheap wiring in these units. I just tossed out a fan I had mounted in my apartment in college. Mind you, that was a LOOOONNNG time ago. It had be cheerfully turning on my screened in porch for decades. A hail storm took out our screening, roof and gutters, so I decided to upgrade her. I should have just transplanted the guts to another unit! HAHA

Actually we did transfer a fan setup like that. But in reverse. Out bedroom fan went out and we liked the design. However, we couldn't find another as a replacement. So I gutted the old motor and installed a new fan motor in it from a cheap new one. They are all basically the same inside, so it wasn't much of an effort.

We also refurbished two screen in porch fans that the blades were drooping I guess because the blades were made out of some pressed cardboard like material. Yea an outside fan with cardboard pressed blades. Go figure! I bought some 1/4" luan plywood and with a router, made a pattern and cut out all the new blades. Sand blasted the frames and primed and repainted everything. They look and run like new. Again, we couldn't find fans we liked to replace them. So just refurbish works all day long. JMHO