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I am in Phoenix and it's hot. The indoor blower motor just went out on our AC unit and the wife and kids are not happy. It is just a bad capacitor.

Original capacitor is 15uf 440v. I was able to get one on Amazon that will be here in two days but it is only 10uf 440v. Will this be alright for a week or two until I can get my hands on a 15uf 440v capacitor or is it dangerous?

Thanks in advance.

Matt Cashatt
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    It's a starting cap? Reading around...no it reduces the life of your motor. – DKNguyen Apr 18 '20 at 02:27
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    Thanks for your comment. Yes, it is a starting capacitor. The motor is old anyway and will probably need to be replaced as well. Just looking to keep the family cool for a week or two. – Matt Cashatt Apr 18 '20 at 02:28

1 Answers1

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It will be fine for a temporary role, it means the phase shift of the motor is a little off, so you can expect lower output power / torque than usual, a larger capacitance would be what might cause damage.

Reroute
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  • Awesome, thanks for your response! – Matt Cashatt Apr 18 '20 at 02:32
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    Draft inducer fan on our furnace failed because the run cap dropped in value (as they do, due to self-healing) and it stalled/overheated and the coils shorted. – Spehro Pefhany Apr 18 '20 at 02:46
  • @MattCashatt Yeah, from what I read an oversized cap runs the motor too hard, but an undersized caps underpowers the motor which can make it stall and overheat all the same. – DKNguyen Apr 18 '20 at 05:07