So, here’s my third post on my ‘Engineering photography’ series.

We are going to be talking about capacitors today. Hey...

Do you know that your pump may not be working well because you didn’t use the required capacitor rating? Or because the capacitor is faulty? Do you know capacitors expire after some years?..... Find out.

What are capacitors?

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Capacitors are positive two terminal electrical component that helps to store electric energy in an electric field.
There are various types of capacitors like the reservoir capacitor, light emitting capacitor, decoupling capacitor and motor start capacitors. I’ll be talking about the motor start capacitor.

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Motor start capacitor. You can clearly see the rating.

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The motor start capacitor is an electric capacitor that alters the current of an AC induction motor creating a rotating magnetic field.
The motor capacitors can be found in pump control boxes.

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Front view of the inside of a pump control box

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When a motor start capacitor is used for years, the capacitance decreases by 10%. That is, 10% of the range, near the end life. This is why changing the capacitor after some years is important.

Interesting facts you may not know about capacitors

--Do you know that a pump control box capacitor should be replaced every three years?
--That Capacitors are similar to the phone batteries, after being charged so many times, or being used for years, they reach their end life.
--Do you know that you should replace a motor start capacitor every three years to prevent an explosion due to internal leaking?
--Do you know that when the required capacitor rating is not used it could cause damage to electric motors?
--Capacitors can be tested for life span or usage with a multi-meter... I may do an explanation if i'm asked to.

How to replace a capacitor

1. Switch off the power source to the control box
2. Check that your replacement is of equal rating to the old one (rating is usually written on the body of the capacitor)
3. Unplug the wire terminals connected to the old capacitor and put them in the new one accordingly
4. Ensure that the connection is thigh and properly plugged in
5. Turn on your power supply and test for some minutes while observing. Some capacitor with same ratings could be fake.

That will be all for today. I hope this helps you out here. Thanks for reading!

The images here are my original works

Tell me if this was educating. Thanks.
Resteem to enlighten.

Here’s a previous i did on my 'Engineering photography' series.
<a href="https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@omonosa/connecting-a-lamp-holder-explained-with-image CONNECTING A LAMP-HOLDER EXPLAINED! WITH IMAGES