Does the physical size of a capacitor matter?

[tlmartin84]

I order a new capacitor for my air compressor. All the ratings are the exact SAME (capacitance, heat rating, etc).

But the old cap was about 5" long and 1.5" in diameter and costs a couple hundred to replace through lowes. The new cap is 3"long and 1.25" in diameter.

I hooked the new one up and it seems to work just fine........

 

[pattenp]

As long as the Volts and MFD are the same then you're okay. Why in the world is the cap a couple hundred to replace? Is that having a service repair guy come and do the replacement?

 

[930dreamer]

X2 and it fits under the cover.

 

[dogmir]

Yeah i just replaced mine $30 off ebay. I actually used the same part just because it was available, but they are right as long as it is rated the same you should be good.

 

[tlmartin84]

No thats for the part alone! Excuse me it is 162.58, and a whole motor is only 286.99.

http://www.mastertoolrepair.com/kobalt-kla3706056-lla3706056-221565-138336-p-4487.html

Go figure that one out, maybe they think your not smart enough to read the specs on it.....

 

[tlmartin84]

i bought both the start and run caps for less than 30....

 

[danielzig]

Wow, that is an absolutely ridiculous price for a capacitor. Just sayin.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Many capacitors are smaller these days due to newer materials.

Us old farts remember sitting in a Physics class and the prof would explain that a 1 Farad capacitor would be as big as a building.

1 Farad 5 Working Volt capacitors are common now a days and fit in the palm of your hand. They make great alternative battery back up for electronic equipment.

Ever notice on newer PCs, that you can unplug them from AC and the standby power LED stay on for almost a minute ?!!

 

[ddawg16]

Oldwizard....I'm sure you never charged one up to about 100v and then tossed at a friend saying "Catch"....

 

[Stuart in MN]

Us old farts remember sitting in a Physics class and the prof would explain that a 1 Farad capacitor would be as big as a building.

Yeah, if they were laid out flat...rolled up they wouldn't have been that big.

 

[gatchel]

Slightly off topic but I replaced a capacitor on our A/C unit and it was less that $15 for a 3 terminal unit. The new unit was smaller than the one that went bad, partially because it was old and partially because it swelled up a bit.

$162.58 sounds like a **** job without lube...

 

[pattenp]

Slightly off topic but I replaced a capacitor on our A/C unit and it was less that $15 for a 3 terminal unit. The new unit was smaller than the one that went bad, partially because it was old and partially because it swelled up a bit.

$162.58 sounds like a **** job without lube...

More off topic but just an FYI. The three terminal run capacitor is two run capacitors in one. May be labeled such as 30-5. In an AC unit it is for both the compressor and the fan.