Hi - It's a long time since I studied electronics but I'm confused by something I've recently come across. My chainsaw stopped working and after dismantling I found that the DPST switch was faulty (one of the contacts was burnt out). I noticed it has a capacitor (0.15 microfarad) wired across it, I understand (sort of) that this is there to reduce potential damage caused by the arc however I always understood that it would need to be wired in series with a resistor, however there is no resistor - surely this would allow the capacitor to discharge rapidly and actually lead to more damage (maybe that's why the DPST burnt out) - or am I missing something?
If I replace the DPST, can I leave out the capacitor, is there any danger or is it just a case that the DPST life will be shortened?
thanks
J
If I replace the DPST, can I leave out the capacitor, is there any danger or is it just a case that the DPST life will be shortened?
thanks
J