Replacing a Craftsman motor capacitor

[SledgeNCC]

I have a Craftsman King-Seeley , 3/4 hp motor on my matching drill press. Went to use it and it wouldn't start. Dismounted the motor and found that the old flat card board capacitor is bleeding out. Anyone have any idea what or where to acquire a replacement? The motor model number is 115.19791, 1750 rpm, 60 cycles, 110vac, thanks for any help...

 

[msnow]

Are you located in NC, if so where? You should be able to read the capacitance on it and find a replacement capacitor at an electrical supply place like grainger or grey bar.

 

[SledgeNCC]

This capacitor is more than likely the original on a motor made in 1959. It is flat, made of cardboard and has no visible writing on it...

 

[Weps]

i believe you will find that is just a cardboard wrap or sleeve. did you try to remove it? inside you'll likely find aluminum stamped/marked with the capacitance.

considering the era, it's also possible the capacitor contained PCB - toxic.

 

[SledgeNCC]

That makes it more interesting, no I hadn't thought about opeing the box, I'll put that off until tomorrow, thanks....

 

[Kirbot]

If nobody here knows...
I'll bet somebody on the www.owwm.org forum could tell you exactly what capacitor you need.

They use and rebuild a lot of old motors over there.


edit
Wow, this was my 1000 post!
Thanks for putting up with me everybody!

 

[smaj100]

I have an old craftsman 257 192190 model bench grinder. My son managed to get a piece of metal jammed into the machine a few days ago. Once we removed the material i noticed the shaft no longer turned freely. I opened up the case and found the halves of the case no longer were lined up. loosened all the housing bolts realigned everything and tightened it up. Shaft spins freely with even some back spin when it stops. When you flip on the power it just hums. My googling shows it is probably the capacitor, however no one carries craftsman part#5539080 from the part list in the manual. I removed the original cap lastnight in an effort the find any markings or info to find a replacement. The markings are all worn off the outside of the casing.

Does anyone have any idea what size cap I am looking for, the motor is a 120v 1hp model.

 

[Davefr]

I have an old craftsman 257 192190 model bench grinder. My son managed to get a piece of metal jammed into the machine a few days ago. Once we removed the material i noticed the shaft no longer turned freely. I opened up the case and found the halves of the case no longer were lined up. loosened all the housing bolts realigned everything and tightened it up. Shaft spins freely with even some back spin when it stops. When you flip on the power it just hums. My googling shows it is probably the capacitor, however no one carries craftsman part#5539080 from the part list in the manual. I removed the original cap lastnight in an effort the find any markings or info to find a replacement. The markings are all worn off the outside of the casing.

Does anyone have any idea what size cap I am looking for, the motor is a 120v 1hp model.

It reads 243-292 MFD @125 VAC. So anything within that capacitance range will be OK as long as it's > or = 125VAC.

I highly doubt a jammed up machine burnt out the cap. It's more likely to fry the start windings when a motor never disengages the centrifical switch.

I'd do some more diagnosis.

 

[Maui]

As long as you are within 10% of the original rated capacitance the replacement capacitor should work without a problem.

 

[bpjr]

I have an old craftsman 257 192190 model bench grinder. My son managed to get a piece of metal jammed into the machine a few days ago. Once we removed the material i noticed the shaft no longer turned freely. I opened up the case and found the halves of the case no longer were lined up. loosened all the housing bolts realigned everything and tightened it up. Shaft spins freely with even some back spin when it stops. When you flip on the power it just hums. My googling shows it is probably the capacitor, however no one carries craftsman part#5539080 from the part list in the manual. I removed the original cap lastnight in an effort the find any markings or info to find a replacement. The markings are all worn off the outside of the casing.

Does anyone have any idea what size cap I am looking for, the motor is a 120v 1hp model.

I have a 1/2hp boat lift motor that hummed and woudn't start. I removed the load and cap, then put power directly to the motor to check it. It started aok without a load or cap. I replaced the cap and everything is fine 10 yrs later. I've done that on 3 old boat lift motors with the same results. Be sure to discharge the cap before working on it.

 

[Mike Folks]

PCB (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) are toxic,wear protective gloves when handling the capacitors.

 

[The Cobbler]

I am in the camp that the lock up didn't fry the cap. you probably have another issue ,ie, start winding or switch

 

[Plombob]

I had the capacitor go out on my drill press. I looked high and low for a square replacement. They are unobtanium. I fixed the problem with a replacement vintage motor.

 

[Dagny]

Start capacitors do not have pcbs. oil filled run capacitors do. A locked rotor condition will quite often burn out a start capacitor if rotation stops the switch closes and the capacitor is back in the circuit. I have seen start capacitors burn out in less than 5 seconds.