Wouldn't a 20k ohms resister discharge the capacitor very slowly (which is a safe and good thing actually). But when the capacitor is fully charged, I would think it takes more like 60 to 90 seconds to discharge it. Just a quick touch as demonstrated may not discharge the capacitor to safe voltage levels.
A pretty good spark, or if your screwdriver is not well insulated you can have those 300-400V passing through your chest! ... plus capacitors are not supposed to be discharged so fast, it could damage a good capacitor, but in this case (for the most part), the rest of the equipment will discharge the capacitor so it shouldn't be that charged at the moment that you short it.
A capacitor on a washing machine motor will light you up every time, no where for that current to go,I do apt maintenance and work on all the HVAC and appliances
Would it discharged on its own if it's disconnected from the compressor and motor for days?. and I'm trying to make the squirrel cage fan a regular fan and do you need the capacitor hooked up just to run a regular fan?
Just the one being replaced. A capacitor only stores a charge when its been supplied by a source. A capacitor that's still in the box doesn't have anything to supply it with a charge.
Not unless you can spend a long time to provide an adequate discharge. The specification for a meter might be "20,000 ohms per volt." On the range of 1000 volts, that meter's resistance will be 20,000,000 ohms, and the discharge rate will be very slow. The idea isn't to provide "more than" a specific resistance, but rather an appropriate resistance. See: www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-capacitor-safety-discharge
You can discharge before disconnecting the wires. If you pull the wires first with needle nose the it’s easy to accidentally bridge another terminal or ground.
My aircon compressor takes a long time to start, like 10-20mins or so.. and when it stops it takes too long again for it to engage..does that sound a bad capacitor?
I know of some ac units where the failsafe between compressor on and off cycles is on a 5-10 minute delay between cycles, some up to almost 15 minutes. i’ve done alot of ac units and generally the manual or the panel on the outside unit will mention something about a delay if there is one. If the delay i was mentioning above isn’t part of your unit’s normal functionality, then it’s likely that either the capacitor is low and having a hard time getting your compressor started, or possible that you have a safety of some sort not allowing the compressor to turn on just yet.
@@mpurecat4155 it wasnt like that before. The compressor and capacitor has been replaced (2hp, 45um capacitor) The problem is intermittent there are times it restart at a shorter period of time. I tried replacing the capatitor but it didnt solve the problem. Should I try a higher um capacitor?
@@iammarauder5418 did this issue happen after replacing both the capacitor and compressor, or was this happening before having both replaced? Your capacitor should be rated for what the compressor says on the rating plate. oversizing it is gonna result in overheating the compressor very quickly and messing up the windings just as quickly, usually within a matter of minutes or hours. intermittent issues can be caused by a multitude of factors. If the issue was happening before and after the compressor replacement i have a very confident idea that it could be either issues with wiring aka loose connections, or possibly a broken wire inside the wire’s insulation going to the compressor. I would double check the connections and also ohm out the wiring, all with the power disconnect. If there is a wire that is broken or slightly broken inside it’s insulation i would be expecting to see a higher resistance value when ohming it out. The other possibility is related to the refrigerant charge in the system. I would have gauges hooked up to the machine have it running for a while and see how the values on the gauges are changing. DO NOT add refrigerant to the system without checking to see how the values on the gauges are changing before and during operation. If this issue was happening before and after the compressor was replaced i would definitely check the wiring first, then check the refrigerant charge. Just a disclaimer I’m not sure if you are a technician or not, but i would definitely seek out a technician to physically do this work if you are not.
😆 I heard nothing you said while paying attention to that corpse lying on top of that capacitor. 🤣
I thought you were referring to the wire mess till I saw the crispy 🦎
Right! I think the lizard beat him to it. Poor little guy.
@@Metalhead-4lifeI’d like to think that was their first take but there was juice still left in the capacitor so they went with this second take
Now I need to figure out how to make a discharge tool out of a lizard, since that's obviously the superior way of doing things.
Lizcharred
Still waiting for that tutorial video on how to build your discharge tool?
It would be great also if you would scale it down for 450v capacitors also
let's all spare a moment for the fried gecko
💀
Lmao
I am amazed about how this guy ignores completely the elephant in the room... The obvious lizard LOL.
Love that fried lizard as a warning lol
Maybe THAT is why they call it an alligator clip!?
Wouldn't a 20k ohms resister discharge the capacitor very slowly (which is a safe and good thing actually). But when the capacitor is fully charged, I would think it takes more like 60 to 90 seconds to discharge it. Just a quick touch as demonstrated may not discharge the capacitor to safe voltage levels.
The way I discharge a capacitor is to grab a gecko and short the gecko over the terminals.
You can use a duck too!
Man, I just laughed out loud for a solid 30 seconds 😂 you always have to keep spare geckos in the truck for these kinds of jobs!
I've watched a hundred of these videos and haven't seen a spark yet.
Would you teach how to make the tool?
Does it work if I use the metal from the AC and touch with the screwdriver both one by one the connectors from the cap ?
What's the worst that could happen by using the "other" method (screwdriver)?
A pretty good spark, or if your screwdriver is not well insulated you can have those 300-400V passing through your chest! ... plus capacitors are not supposed to be discharged so fast, it could damage a good capacitor, but in this case (for the most part), the rest of the equipment will discharge the capacitor so it shouldn't be that charged at the moment that you short it.
@@ocramas i dont think it would go through the chest
Electrocution.
A capacitor on a washing machine motor will light you up every time, no where for that current to go,I do apt maintenance and work on all the HVAC and appliances
Can you discharge while still hooked to the unit?
I did and got sparks is that bad?
Or did I damage my home air conditioning unit ??
Would it discharged on its own if it's disconnected from the compressor and motor for days?. and I'm trying to make the squirrel cage fan a regular fan and do you need the capacitor hooked up just to run a regular fan?
I usually touch it to my co workers legs to see if its hot. Waaaay more fun
I have always used my volt meter and I have always taught it that way.
I have another video coming out showing the result of discharging with a volt meter.
is this method for all capacitors or is there a different method for certain capacitors?
of corse there are a lot of method and attention to different capacitors
I think the lizard already had discharged the capacitor! LOL!!!
Thank you for sharing this video, learned a lot from it. One of those "rules are for the obedience of fools and guidance of wise men situations"
Looks like the gecko did the job better.
We call that "chicken stickin'" when we high pot PTs or CTs. 😆
This is done on the one being replaced or the new install or both ?
Just the one being replaced. A capacitor only stores a charge when its been supplied by a source. A capacitor that's still in the box doesn't have anything to supply it with a charge.
@@paulh5049 your a little late my friend 🙄
@@esj4373 alright next time I'll just keep my free advice to myself then.
I just read you should do both capacitors because there’s an off chance it was a used & returned capacitor. Safety first
why didn't you verify the discharge with a volt meter?
Mike Cummings show me your capacitor discharge tool and I will tell you why I didn’t reconfirm with a meter 😉
@HVACS though smug, that's not an OSHA approved response. Any professional will tell you to always verify with a meter.
Most volt meters should provide more than 20,000 Ohms of impedance. Is there any reason you/we should not allow discharge through a voltmeter?
I’ve head that before but I’ve not tested it
Not unless you can spend a long time to provide an adequate discharge. The specification for a meter might be "20,000 ohms per volt." On the range of 1000 volts, that meter's resistance will be 20,000,000 ohms, and the discharge rate will be very slow. The idea isn't to provide "more than" a specific resistance, but rather an appropriate resistance. See: www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-capacitor-safety-discharge
I thought the discharging happened after you removed it completely from the wire connection? That did not look safe 👀
You can discharge before disconnecting the wires. If you pull the wires first with needle nose the it’s easy to accidentally bridge another terminal or ground.
Looks like the gecko already discharged it for you.
I think that lizard already discharged it . LOL
First step is to remove the dead animal.
That lizard 🦎 learned the hard way 🥺
You can't see the terminals well enough in this video. Hope nobody died watching this
The lizard did all the work.
My aircon compressor takes a long time to start, like 10-20mins or so.. and when it stops it takes too long again for it to engage..does that sound a bad capacitor?
I know of some ac units where the failsafe between compressor on and off cycles is on a 5-10 minute delay between cycles, some up to almost 15 minutes.
i’ve done alot of ac units and generally the manual or the panel on the outside unit will mention something about a delay if there is one.
If the delay i was mentioning above isn’t part of your unit’s normal functionality, then it’s likely that either the capacitor is low and having a hard time getting your compressor started, or possible that you have a safety of some sort not allowing the compressor to turn on just yet.
@@mpurecat4155 it wasnt like that before. The compressor and capacitor has been replaced (2hp, 45um capacitor) The problem is intermittent there are times it restart at a shorter period of time. I tried replacing the capatitor but it didnt solve the problem. Should I try a higher um capacitor?
@@iammarauder5418 did this issue happen after replacing both the capacitor and compressor, or was this happening before having both replaced?
Your capacitor should be rated for what the compressor says on the rating plate. oversizing it is gonna result in overheating the compressor very quickly and messing up the windings just as quickly, usually within a matter of minutes or hours.
intermittent issues can be caused by a multitude of factors. If the issue was happening before and after the compressor replacement i have a very confident idea that it could be either issues with wiring aka loose connections, or possibly a broken wire inside the wire’s insulation going to the compressor. I would double check the connections and also ohm out the wiring, all with the power disconnect. If there is a wire that is broken or slightly broken inside it’s insulation i would be expecting to see a higher resistance value when ohming it out.
The other possibility is related to the refrigerant charge in the system. I would have gauges hooked up to the machine have it running for a while and see how the values on the gauges are changing. DO NOT add refrigerant to the system without checking to see how the values on the gauges are changing before and during operation. If this issue was happening before and after the compressor was replaced i would definitely check the wiring first, then check the refrigerant charge.
Just a disclaimer I’m not sure if you are a technician or not, but i would definitely seek out a technician to physically do this work if you are not.
Now I know why it cost hundreds to replace $10 capacitor. It's life or death.
life or death? Really?
That cap can hold a 50KV charge which could shock you to literal death.
Sometimes, I use a incandescent lamp, and after I use only the screwdriver
🤔
Did that lizard discharge it before hand?
Is that the gecko from Geico? I hope he had insurance.
Good one Tesla
At least move the lizard corpse first! haha
Connect the white clip to the dead lizard.
that lizard must of had a pacemaker. I'm so bummed...
are we not gonna talk about the dried up lizard?
The capacitor was already discharged by the lizard
I hate when u tubers put up little windows for links to their other videos BLOCKING what they are showing in the current video, Thumbs own
LOL get rid of that dead lizard.
I always use my multi meter. Isn't that the right way?
Those dam gekos
i slam it with a hammer lol
Lizard leg galvanoscope?
RIP lizards
Use a light bulb
That lizard is fried