extraction fan motor stuff

[robwizard]

Basically in work we have this big old extractor fan and the other day it mad a sort of bang and started smoking funny. Anyway it continued to be used and was still working though not quite as well.. It was slower starting and smelling sort of burnt. So today I took it out of its housing and noticed the grease nipples were underneath it and only stuff was leaking pout the seams. Took the back of the case off and this big aluminium can thing, a capacitor I think, had burst and all the electrical a are oily as anything!

My choices as follows.. Try and find a replacement for the capacitor.. Or try and bastardise it with another much newer motor we have. O would just jump on with the new motor but it's twice the rpm.. 2780! I suspect this might kill someone?

Thoughts? Advice? I will try and get a photo of the burst bit..

Cheers!

 

[rtbcomp]

Trying a new capacitor is the cheapest option, although I would run it through an RCD to be on the safe side!

Don't like the ides of putting a faster motor in, there are balance & torque considerations as well as everything else.

Really the best way is from 1) a new motor 2) motor rewind or 3) a new fan.

 

[robwizard]

Replacing the capacitor and running through and RCD sounds good. Here is a picture of the bit where it has burst..

 

[robwizard]

And the information written on the side.. Sorry its upside down my camera on my tablet does this sometimes..

 

[shenion]

Cap is 51 years old, I guess you got your moneys worth out of it

10uf, 300V or higher will work.

British made, expect maybe 3-5 years on the Chinese replacement.

 

[Jim Davey]

10 micro farad, 450V £3.00 plus P&P from Tech Arc, got to be worth a try. (You possibly can't buy it direct if you're not in the trade but even with a dealer markup it's a cheap thing to try)

 

[500e]

http://www.capacitor-sales.co.uk/

 

[robwizard]

Cheers guys! Spoke to Tech arch and left a message with capaciter-sales.. seems pretty straightforward so I should be cool. Just got to let the oil that leaked out of the old capacitor drain away before stating it up again anyway so fingers crossed.

Cheers

 

[J_K]

Carb / brake cleaner will sort the oil out.
I'd say brake cleaner as there's probably lots of dust and rubbish in there that need flushing out anyway.
Just don't spray it onto the bearings.

 

[robwizard]

Got some brake cleaner somewhere so will give it a blast!

Cheers

 

[robwizard]

Capacitor sales never got back to me and Tech arc was a bust as well.. Ebay however seem pretty bountiful!

This seems in line with the suggestions? Last one so if it seems good I will grab it!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10UF-400V...83778?pt=UK_Irons_Presses&hash=item589ecd6862

Good shout? Will it perhaps work?

Cheers

 

[eil]

That will do for you, don't think you will get 51 years service from it though

 

[robwizard]

Haha probably not.. Worth a shot though I reckon! Cheers

 

[robwizard]

Sorry to keep this thread dragging on but I am a total idiot when it comes to electriczzzzz. My new capacitor is winging it's way to me as we speak (hooray!) however I am now wondering about installing it. The old one has two terminals on it but with no indication of polarity (Polarity? Is that the right word? So maybe the new one wont either and it's no problem just bang it and it will work either way.. surely not though?

 

[shenion]

There is no polarity on AC capacitors; it will work either way.

 

[robwizard]

Awesome!!!!!

 

[robwizard]

So my new capacitor arrives and it's smaller and more plastic than the last one which is sound. All the information on the side seems to match up.. Once again cooool. The only massively noticeable difference is that the old one had two terminals and this one has four. It looks like two on each side as there is a crease down the middle if that makes sense. Can I just use one from each side? Or join them together somehow so I take two terminals to one wire?

Cheers

 

[shenion]

You should be able to use one terminal from each side. Capacitors often have 2 or even 4 terminals on each connection to allow them to be used as a junction point for multiple wires.