Posted April 16, 20187 yr hi guys, my shredder stopped working. all seems ok but i have a suspicion this component has 'blown', some questions: what is it? how do i test it? [i have a multimeter] can i replace it if it is broken? obviously the little motor could also have overheated, but lets start with this unknown thing...
April 16, 20187 yr 39 minutes ago, gabriel said: what is it? It's a 2µF (micro-Farrad) capacitor. If it was blown... you'd know. It would have a big hole in it somewhere. It's rated at 450VAC, it's probably an interference suppressor of some kind, that is to say you could probably remove it and the device would continue to work... it will just cause more electronic noise.
April 16, 20187 yr Author thanks @plonkster, the hunt continues... now for the switch to have a look at other more obvious things before tackling the motor itself... but that is for tomorrow, now we must catch a few z's 1st
April 17, 20187 yr Shredders have overload and overtemperature protection. Google the shredder model to see if other people have asked for advice on it.
May 18, 20186 yr On 2018/04/17 at 6:00 AM, plonkster said: If it was blown... you'd know. It would have a big hole in it somewhere. It's one of those pesky safety capacitors, with the testing authority logo and ratings. Though I'm surprised to not see an X or Y (e.g. X2) specification. It probably has the internal fuse system that prevents blowing a hole, but causes it to go low capacitance. It could be the starting or phase shift capacitor. I find these to often be the cause of single phase motors failing. You can test the capacitor for this problem by disconnecting one lead and measuring its capacitance with a multimeter that has capacitance ranges. By no means all, but many multimeters have this ability. I have a cheapo unit that does C and L (inductance) measurement, but I have to change the plugs to do these measurements. My Fluke (a relatively recent acquisition) has auto-ranging capacitance measurement without having to change plugs. I find it invaluable to be able to measure the occasional capacitor. A replacement capacitor should not break the bank. Make sure it is a suitable model though, AC rated (at least X2, X1 is higher spec). Polypropylene is better than polyester, according to my notes.
May 19, 20186 yr Author i solved the problem . bought a new one, stronger etc. i believe the old shredder could not cope with the load or was mistreated. thanks for all the info though! God bless g
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