RogersJetboat454
Commander
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2010
- Messages
- 2,964
I have a couple of questions for the electrical guru's out there, but first I will start off with my story.
We dashed up to Maine today for me to set up the water in the camp. Mom wants to be able to use the cottage Memorial day weekend with out having to bucket flush the toilet (I am working as a favor for my co-worker that weekend's Saturday, so the soonest I would have been up there is that Saturday night). Anyway, got up there. Pulled the cement cover off the well. Got the lines filled with water and connected, yada yada yada. Got every thing together and fired up the pump. Pump runs for 30-45 seconds then POOOFFF smoke comes out of the switch box on the side of the motor.
The pump mean while doesn't break stride, keeps running normally, but I shut it down anyway. I figured I may have burnt up the contacts in the rocker switch built into the side of the pump. Not so!! Turns out I let the smoke out of what I assume to be the starting capacitor View attachment 93929.
If you look to the right, you can see a crack in the plastic casing, and a spot at the bottom where the plastic got hot and melted into a little bogger.
I assume my failure is most likely due to the fact that the capacitor was the cheapest one money can buy. My pump is a Harbor Freight special (3/4hp cast iron shallow well) that I bought 7 years ago, and surprisingly it has served us well for the limited amount we use it. I know some of you may say replace the whole thing, especially considering the same pump is currently on sale for $99, but that ain't me. I want to get every last bit of goodness out of this thing that I can, and I don't consider my self a member of the throw-away society. So after all that here are my questions;
I can get a starting capacitor from Granger and several other sources. How close does the MFD rating have to be to what was present (Capacitor was a 65?F +/- 5% rated at 250VAC)?
Secondly, If I find an acceptable candidate for replacement, is it acceptable to solder and shrink it into place? In my haste to get it out of there to take a look at it, I chopped the wires too short to effectively wire nut it back in. I should have enough wire present to do a good solder job on the stranded wire HF used.
Thanks.
We dashed up to Maine today for me to set up the water in the camp. Mom wants to be able to use the cottage Memorial day weekend with out having to bucket flush the toilet (I am working as a favor for my co-worker that weekend's Saturday, so the soonest I would have been up there is that Saturday night). Anyway, got up there. Pulled the cement cover off the well. Got the lines filled with water and connected, yada yada yada. Got every thing together and fired up the pump. Pump runs for 30-45 seconds then POOOFFF smoke comes out of the switch box on the side of the motor.
The pump mean while doesn't break stride, keeps running normally, but I shut it down anyway. I figured I may have burnt up the contacts in the rocker switch built into the side of the pump. Not so!! Turns out I let the smoke out of what I assume to be the starting capacitor View attachment 93929.
If you look to the right, you can see a crack in the plastic casing, and a spot at the bottom where the plastic got hot and melted into a little bogger.
I assume my failure is most likely due to the fact that the capacitor was the cheapest one money can buy. My pump is a Harbor Freight special (3/4hp cast iron shallow well) that I bought 7 years ago, and surprisingly it has served us well for the limited amount we use it. I know some of you may say replace the whole thing, especially considering the same pump is currently on sale for $99, but that ain't me. I want to get every last bit of goodness out of this thing that I can, and I don't consider my self a member of the throw-away society. So after all that here are my questions;
I can get a starting capacitor from Granger and several other sources. How close does the MFD rating have to be to what was present (Capacitor was a 65?F +/- 5% rated at 250VAC)?
Secondly, If I find an acceptable candidate for replacement, is it acceptable to solder and shrink it into place? In my haste to get it out of there to take a look at it, I chopped the wires too short to effectively wire nut it back in. I should have enough wire present to do a good solder job on the stranded wire HF used.
Thanks.