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0 pointsjoenot4432y ago0 comments

I think the vast majority of people go their entire lives without doing any kind of circuit level repair work. It's just not a skill most folks acquire. I can't think of anyone in my extended family who could replace a capacitor, half of them wouldn't even know what that means.

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ye-olde-sysrq2y ago

It's also kind of dangerous though, there's a reason these people need to be certified. Dealing with a 5V breadboard? Yeah I'm game. Disassembling the housing of something to figure out which part needs to be greased or came loose? Yeah sure. My computer science training has prepared me to think outside the box and solve novel problems.

But if it's got 240V mains going through it, I'm not going to touch it. I like how my EKG currently looks and want it to stay that way. Why are humans made out of such a conductive material again? My CS degree didn't do anything to help me here beyond my biology class giving me an appreciation for how much meat-circuitry my body has that relies on fractions of a single volt to operate my vital organs.

lotsofpulp2y ago

This specific repair scenario is not dangerous. It is such a common failure with a cheap fix that it’s simply worth killing the circuit, unplugging the old one, plugging in a new one, turning the power back on, and seeing if it works.

Worst case scenario, you have a new capacitor. Best case scenario, you save hundreds of dollars.

Here’s a video. You can even skip all the diagnostic tests, as all you care about is replacing the capacitor. If that doesn’t work, call an expert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWH38Rg1iMI&pp=ygUeUmVwbGFja...

https://www.homedepot.com/c/ah/ac-capacitor-replacement/9ba6...

commandlinefan2y ago

> This specific repair scenario is not dangerous

I believe you, but I also know I'm not qualified to examine whether or not the repair in question is the non-dangerous one you're describing or the lethal one that looks pretty similar. I have all kinds of respect for you for being able to fix your own stuff, but even if I think I know what I'm doing, I'm still going to pay somebody who definitely knows what he's doing to do it for me.

lotsofpulp2y ago

A central AC compressor capacitor is plug and play.

https://www.ferguson.com/product/mars-usa-455-mfd-440370v-du...

Turn off circuit breaker, unscrew ~4 screws on the cover of the compressor unit, take a picture of how old one is connected, unplug it, connect new one matching up the symbols or letters, confirm with the picture you took, screw the cover back on, and switch the circuit breaker back on.

Watch any of the available 5,000 YouTube videos if unsure.

joenot443OP2y ago

Ah okay, this is admittedly not what I had in mind. When I read replacing a capacitor, I was imagining a soldering job, not a plug and play consumer part. You're right - this seems pretty doable for your average homeowner.

tsss2y ago

Well, the hard part is finding that capacitor. I try to repair almost everything and very rarely it is possible to find the damaged component without extremely specialized skills. The best you can hope for is that someone else has done the work for you and posted it in a forum. Even then it is often the power supply that goes first and those parts are dangerous to work with.

lotsofpulp2y ago

It is not hard to find, and requires no special skills. Every residential AC compressor has a removable cover where the capacitor is mounted. No soldering required either, just connecting and disconnecting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWH38Rg1iMI&pp=ygUeUmVwbGFja...

Home Depot has a tutorial too:

https://www.homedepot.com/c/ah/ac-capacitor-replacement/9ba6...

tsss2y ago

I'm talking about consumer electronics like TVs, washing machines, kitchen appliances, laptops and graphics cards. The latter need specialized soldering equipment even if you know exactly what's wrong. Those are the devices that break most often. Normal people don't have a compressor that they need to repair (and even compressors have digital control circuitry).

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