Almost lost a fridge compressor to a bad run capacitor - watch for this

I was out in Bakersfield last Tuesday on a service call for a Whirlpool side by side that was cycling on the thermal overload. Pulled the start relay and the run cap was bulging just slightly on the bottom - barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. The customer said the fridge had been making a humming noise for three days and she thought it was normal. Swapped that cap out for a 5 uF 370 volt and the compressor fired right up without any strain. Any of you run into hidden cap failures that almost took out a compressor?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage5222d ago

See it differently. That cap was already doing its job by bulging instead of shorting out and taking the compressor with it.

kai_west22d ago

You hit the nail on the head with "already doing its job." That bulging cap is a warning sign, not a failure. I've seen so many people treat a swollen capacitor like a ticking time bomb, when really it's just crying out for help before everything goes sideways. Way better that than a short that fries your whole system and leaves you with a much bigger bill. Respect for seeing it for what it is.

sam_rivera9d ago

Dude PREACH, I had a power supply do the exact SAME thing and it saved my whole rig.