Hi guys,
I just registered so 1st post here but I'm sure I'll be back for more as I discover more DIY electronics tasks and problems. I have a burned out capacitor in an Asea Cylinda 12000 washing machine that had been going strong for many years.

As you can hopefully see in the files I'll attach to this post I can read some of the specs on the component but I'm not sure if there's enough there to get a replacement. I'm hoping the capacitor just died of old age rather than another problem down the line causing the burn out. There are 2 other larger multi capacitors in the machine which I can upload pics of if it's of any use in identifying the burned one.

I may try to call the manufacturer to see if they can give me any info as they are now - apparently they have become Asko in the intervening years and failing this may see if a repair guy would be the next course of action.

Thanks for any info you can provide - general or specific

 

It appears to be 1μf ?
That is rather smalll for what I would expect for a typical motor in a washing M/C.
But obtain an AC Motor Run type of capacitor as a replacement .
Confirm the μf value and the voltage rating, although if it is a 120v appliance a 230v cap would be OK.
Max.

 

Thanks Max,
I forgot to specify it's 240v mains here. The other 2 capacitor casings say .47μf / 250V and 16μf 320V respectively. They're the multi type though with more than 2 wires coming out and one of them says 85 degrees C on it.

This one just has the 2 wires coming out, 1 of those goes to the 320V other cap. I don't know what all the other letters on them mean though and I don't know if that info has a bearing on whether it's a run or start component. The machine even had a printed wiring schematic nicely folded inside the body all these years but it doesn't appear to have specifics on the components.

 

Does ur machine have a diagram on the back panel or some where ?

 

Thanks Max,
I forgot to specify it's 240v mains here. The other 2 capacitor casings say .47μf / 250V and 16μf 320V respectively.

It could well be 1μf if you can confirm it, as long as you get this right and go by the voltage rating of the other caps, and make sure it is a Motor Run type, you should be OK, try motor re-winders in your area, take the cap in for a sample.
Max.

 

Hey R!f@@,
I don't see any other diagrams than the printed paper one. I've taken a photo of it and can upload that later if it's any use. As I mentioned it doesn't appear to have ratings on it. I just noticed you can see the 16μf / 320V yellow one in this pic too. It also says DB HPFNT after the voltage on that one whatever that means.

Max seems fairly sure about this being a run capacitor. As far as I've read they tend to be physically smaller and have lower capacitance values than start capacitors which matches this scenario other than that 2nd good capacitor saying 0.47μf + 2x4700pFX1Y on the can. The burned one definitely says 1μf as per the pic but there seems to be a character before that, although I don't know if there are caps that are rated X.1μf

One other detail I left out was that before I unplugged the machine this seemed to burn only during the agitation and maybe drain cycles. I don't think it was burning during spin.

Thanks for the responses

 

Most likely because it could be a 2 speed motor, and that would account for it.
I don't think it possible it is a 0.1μf in that application, that would be more of a noise suppression value?
Is there a service centre of these m/c's close by, or you can contact?
Max.

 

Hey Max,
Thanks for the input again. I called Asko who are the current name of the manufacturer and unsurprisingly they didn't supply parts for this anymore and didn't offer equivalents but the guy said it was an RFI suppressor. I didn't think this sort of appliance would need such a thing but who knows. In any case it was a 1uF capacitor so I got one of these, soldered it all up as per attached and 2 loads later it's purring away like a...... washing machine

G

 

The cap must have been shorted, otherwise an open suppressor would not have had much effect on the running.
I thought ABB Asea had an hand in those machine's?
Max.

 

I was going to confirm Max, but the job is finished. (This musta happened while I was out of town.) All that is left for me to say is, we've seen another 1uf motor cap on this site, this year. This size is unusual compared to the last 40 years of appliance history, but apparently it's normal now.

 

The machine is Asea but this explains a bit of the corporate action over the years - it's from 1989 so yeah. We have an Asea dryer from the same year too but I already checked that to see if it had any of the same type of cap. Glad to have it fixed and this capacitor was one of 3 very different ones as above.