To test a capacitor properly, as if measuring its actual capacitance, you need a multimeter that has the capacitance measuring mode or a specialized tool. Your Etek 10709 DMM (Digital MultiMeter) does not have the capacitance measuring mode.Â
However, it is exceedingly rare for a capacitor to lose only a part of its original capacitance, and even then it would still work all the way down to at least 20%-30% of the original value. So, all you need to actually know about the capacitor in terms of operating an AC motor is these three things:
Does it have <strong>some</strong> capacitance? Is it shorted? Is it open? Â
Only the positive answer to the first question and negative to the other two would mean a working capacitor. Any DMM that has a resistance measuring mode (and that's every DMM these days, yours included) can get you the answer to these three questions. Note that the dual capacitor you're testing (borrowing info from your other question
How to do the test:
Here is the interpretation of what you will see:
This test is based on the way the DMM operated in resistivity testing mode - it provides a small voltage that can charge the capacitor and while being charged, it's exerting a changing resistance to the charging current. Once charged, it does not take in any more current and behaves as it were open.
Sorry for the long post, I just see you're in a pinch and although you can't properly measure the capacitor(s) with the tools you have, you can still determine if either or both halves of the dual capacitor are bad (i.e. shorted or open)
<strong>The power to the A/C unit should be disconnected and the capacitor removed from it's circuit for these tests! Be safe!</strong> read more and respond »Posted 3 years ago by homeowners in Air Conditioning
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