hey,
I have a 1/2 hp wood turning lathe motor. The 24uf 250 volt 60hz motor cap is shot, hard to find, and now disconnected from the circuit.
Question: the motor now runs fine it seems. Will there be a problem just putting the motor back in place now or will it consume much more power, or worse yet burn up the motor?.
If it starts and runs w/o the cap, why is it even there?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_motor#Capacitor_start_motor

And an older thread here on the same topic (dont' reply to this link)
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=1223


Those are for reference only, if you have more questions, feel free to ask in this thread!

 

so.....it's ok to just put the motor back in place and use it? I also don't want it to consume lots more power or electricity on my meter. been searching everywhere for this specific capacitor, but nowhere can i find an exact rating. 1-100uf is not 24. and it says its a 250 volt but plugs into 110vac outlet. sorry, i am ignorant, just want this to work without costing me much.

 

oh and thanks "thatoneguy" for the reply. i did read the post prior, and believe me, alot of this is doctor/lawyer jargon to me.

 

250V is the maximum rating, 120VAC current peaks over 170V, typically 50%-100% of max voltage is used for the rating.

24uF isn't a standard value.

22uF/250V caps are 75 cents or so at DigiKey.

I like to keep equipment completely working, meaning all original components when it comes to expensive tools. That's just me though.

 

thanks again,
so its a cbb60 blue cap, 2 wires off top. says 24uf +- 5% 250v ac50-60.
a 22uf cap 250v would be ok then? sorry again too, thought i read somewhere today that its the uf thats important to be exact. i realize i may have misunderstood, just want it to be ok. like you, i like to keep things the way they were. i will be checking that site for caps though
thanks again

 

Here you go:
http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=5910183

If you don't use the cap, your power factor will be off, and your meter will spin faster.

Here's another one; 25uF vs 24uF, but that's close enough:
http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=5910126

 

Not hard to find a 22 uF cap 340 VAC cap at any HVAC supplier.

They really do need to be rated for dealing with live mains.