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Problem: Start capacitors continuously fail.
| Like Causes: |
What to Do: |
| The motor is not coming up to speed quickly enough. |
Motor may not be sized properly. Verify how long the motor takes to come up to speed. Most single phase capacitor start motors should come up to speed within three seconds. Otherwise the capacitors may fail. |
| The motor is being cycled too frequently. |
Verify duty cycle. Capacitor manufacturers recommend no more than 20, three-second starts per hour. Install capacitor with higher voltage rating, or add bleed resistor to the capacitor. |
| Voltage to motor is too low. |
Verify that voltage to the motor is within 10% of the nameplate value. If the motor is rated 208-230V, the deviation must be calculated from 230V. |
| Starting switch may be defective, preventing the motor from coming out of start winding. |
Replace switch. (Courtesy of Leeson Motors Corporation) |