There is no "always" in HVAC or anything else. As others have pointed out, some capacitors have 4 on every terminal, some have different numbers on certain terminals than described here. It's a rule of thumb but it's not 100 percent.
@@Isaac_31492 capacitors are usually marked with a label or a code letter near the terminals. The tip in this video is a shortcut, or for the times when you can't read the label.
Use your meter and go from common to the other two. Your compressor is going to have a much higher Mfd reading than the fan. That one is it!@@Isaac_31492
@@Isaac_31492it doesn’t matter if the old cap is worn down so you can’t read it. Just know where the wires are supposed to go. Wire from fan to fan on the new one. Compressor to herm. Contactor to c, just an example.
Awesome!!! Thanks for making this video my capacitor 12 years old and I couldn't read one thing on that capacitor. My first time changing it out so this helps so much
And if all three terminals do have 4 connections, the terminal that is wired directly to the contactor is always going to be the common. Then from there trace your other two wires down. One will go to the fan and one will go to the compressor. Easy pezzie.
I had a great Uncle Herm....he was a giant guy and farmed never using tractor on his large farm....raised and butchered hogs...beef, cows milk, butter, cheese.... massive crops, orchard etc.Cursed every breath but was a great man....I never could hear the cursing.... Only the knowledge he had...He was a blacksmith, carpenter, tack and saddles,shoded all the Belgium, horse,,, kept up all the wagon equipment etc...
Cool. I actually figured this out after taking capacitance measurements. Ordered a new 30+3 dual start run capacitor for 16 bucks (Fan capacitor reads 4.7uF).
Yes. I knew this. It's not always the case but in most cases yes. But...if you're able to read a wiring diagram there's other methods to figure out which is which if you can't read it on the cap and it's not this type of cap.
Just replace the capacitors on my condenser. 4 terminals each. Herm, fan & common. careful when somebody says standard across-the-board there’s always exceptions. Look it up for yourself. My capacitor is a GE genteq 97F9042
It’s easier for me to learn things with a system that makes sense. 1,2 - Fan. 3 Herm. 4 is C. That becomes F, H , C. You can make up a mnemonic or cute little ditty if you want till you get some experience with it.
Im holding the one i just replaced as a home owner not in hvac at all. All three have 4 prongs. One is white the other 2 are black. No other indicators at all.
Very cool. Except the one I’m trying to replace on a rv AC unit has the three terminals but each one has four prongs. The writing is gone except I can faintly see herm on one end
Seems that majority says it’s not always so. Not universally always so. I just take pictures to wire it back up correctly. And take note of how terminals position are relative to unit. DIY here. C was against unit the closest to it.
Can someone help me I have a a/c squirrel cage fan I'm repurposing as a garage fan it's capacitor has only 2 terminals with 4 prongs each there's no words on the capacitor to tell me what is what. Both brown wires on the capacitor goes to the motor does it matter? For some reason the installers who installed me a new system cut both wires to the capacitor they didn't know I wanted to keep the squirrel cage fan they was replacing. I reconnected it and may have crossed the capacitor wires does it matter? The motor is running quiet and fine but running too hot after 10 min or so. Any ideas?
It doesn't matter when it's only two terminals.. If it's getting hot, then you're probably pulling too many amps because it's not the correct size cap. Try using one with a higher micro-farad rating.. Like if yours is a 35.. try a 45.. You can buy something called a "turbo 200" cap. and it has several sizes built into it, so that you can try different ones.
Should capacitors be positioned so that their male terminals are on the top to get the longest life out of them?- is it OK for a capacitor be positioned on it's side while it's in service?
Hermetic .. It's referring to the compressor that is typically the black cylinder down in the bottom. The compressor is completely sealed inside the case so that it can't leak out anywhere.. and it's known as "hermetically sealed". which means "air tight".. I think they didn't call it "comp" for compressor because it's too close to "com" for common.. So they changed it to herm; referring to the hermetic compressor
Not true. I’ve been doing this for 25 years and just today saw a cap with 3 on common and 3 on herm. Yes 99/100 will be 4 C/3 Herm. But don’t say every universally across the board common always has 4. Not sure why some of you hvac “tech” TH-camrs give advice that simply is not true. Maybe because you read it in a book? You need more field experience kiddo
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There is no "always" in HVAC or anything else. As others have pointed out, some capacitors have 4 on every terminal, some have different numbers on certain terminals than described here. It's a rule of thumb but it's not 100 percent.
Facts
So how do we find out what's what on those that have all 4 post?
@@Isaac_31492 capacitors are usually marked with a label or a code letter near the terminals. The tip in this video is a shortcut, or for the times when you can't read the label.
Use your meter and go from common to the other two. Your compressor is going to have a much higher Mfd reading than the fan. That one is it!@@Isaac_31492
@@Isaac_31492it doesn’t matter if the old cap is worn down so you can’t read it. Just know where the wires are supposed to go. Wire from fan to fan on the new one. Compressor to herm. Contactor to c, just an example.
omg, that sound effect is so satisfying!
I just spent hours trying to find anyone to tell me this information online. Thank you thank you so much for showing us this basic capacitor Clues
Good to know
Thanks for sharing 👍
Thank you, this helped me out tonight, God bless you 🙏
There are some with 4 terminal on all 3
Yep
How do we find out what's what on those? 😂
100% that’s how mine is well the one I replaced it to
Throw it out and buy a new one..
Then read the schematic
The best and professional way is read your wiring diagrams and no cutting corners
Awesome!!! Thanks for making this video my capacitor 12 years old and I couldn't read one thing on that capacitor. My first time changing it out so this helps so much
Thank you!! I looked and got different colors same place... You're
awesome
Thank you for the coaching!
I thought this was almost always the case as well until like a few days ago. All 3 had 4 terminals.
Exactly. It’s clear this guy has very minimal field experience. If any at all
This is awesome info, could have used this yesterday. but now I know for the future
And if all three terminals do have 4 connections, the terminal that is wired directly to the contactor is always going to be the common. Then from there trace your other two wires down. One will go to the fan and one will go to the compressor. Easy pezzie.
I had a great Uncle Herm....he was a giant guy and farmed never using tractor on his large farm....raised and butchered hogs...beef, cows milk, butter, cheese.... massive crops, orchard etc.Cursed every breath but was a great man....I never could hear the cursing.... Only the knowledge he had...He was a blacksmith, carpenter, tack and saddles,shoded all the Belgium, horse,,, kept up all the wagon equipment etc...
Short for Hermes?
God bless you 🙏
Learn something new all the time. Thx.
Awesome job thank you so much
Thank you so much!
Thank you this video helped me!
thanks for sharing for knowledge
THANK YOU FOR THE SIMPLE INFO VIDEO!
Keep the good stuff and tricks of the trade coming, bhrada. 🤙👍😎
Thanks 4 posting!💫
Cool. I actually figured this out after taking capacitance measurements. Ordered a new 30+3 dual start run capacitor for 16 bucks (Fan capacitor reads 4.7uF).
Thanks
From what I’ve found the fan terminal is generally brown, I remember that wire goes to the fan terminal because shit hits the fan lol😂
🤭
Herm is typically green or blue
Awesome 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
Not always! I just changed on out yesterday. Common had three, herm had two, fan had one.
Maybe general rule but I just bought one and it was 4x4x1 for terminal tabs.
Thats Great! Thankyou!!
Amazing video
Thank you sir
Wow, thank you so much. I never knew that.
Yes. I knew this. It's not always the case but in most cases yes. But...if you're able to read a wiring diagram there's other methods to figure out which is which if you can't read it on the cap and it's not this type of cap.
Thank you.
…. Really wish TH-cam woulda shown me this yesterday while I was replacing mine.. 😂
Thank you
Some commons have 3
Thank you for making this video. It really helped me out. My old capacitor had no markings on it.
Don’t always rely on that. This is typically true. But sometimes you will get a curveball. Always go to the schematic if you can’t read the cap.
@@Razor-Rudy the schematic was totally gone. But it worked thank God.
@@thanosdoomjuggernaut2846 sometimes that happens too. 😬
Good thanks
That startup intro gets to my OCD 😂! Investing in slow starts like Micro Aire is a good thing. Great tips on the capacitor though 👍.
Great info!! Is this the start or run capacitor?
I wonder if that also goes for the resistivity of the coils? Like how the resistivity of common to run + common to start = run to start.
Just replace the capacitors on my condenser. 4 terminals each. Herm, fan & common. careful when somebody says standard across-the-board there’s always exceptions. Look it up for yourself. My capacitor is a GE genteq 97F9042
It’s easier for me to learn things with a system that makes sense. 1,2 - Fan. 3 Herm. 4 is C. That becomes F, H , C. You can make up a mnemonic or cute little ditty if you want till you get some experience with it.
Im holding the one i just replaced as a home owner not in hvac at all. All three have 4 prongs. One is white the other 2 are black. No other indicators at all.
Not all capacitors have the color code or the terminal theory. I've seen run capacitors with three terminals on herm and common.
I came across one yesterday that had 3 tabs for my common and Herm had to look at the schematic to verify
Use AmRad run capacitors. They're color coded and superior in every way.
Now that you taught us how to identify which terminal is which... what's the trick/standard for knowing which color wire goes to those terminals??
Schematics
Depends on the cap.
Very cool. Except the one I’m trying to replace on a rv AC unit has the three terminals but each one has four prongs. The writing is gone except I can faintly see herm on one end
Also YOU DO NOT need to remove the common wires to test the cap….
Make it easier on yourself
Seems that majority says it’s not always so. Not universally always so. I just take pictures to wire it back up correctly. And take note of how terminals position are relative to unit. DIY here. C was against unit the closest to it.
Some have it to where both common and herm have 4
Thank you for your Tip and Great video 😅👍
Chinese brands put whatever they have for terminals
Is cpt and common the same. I got a new one that doesn't have the same connections as the original. A man from a HVAC store gave me it
Cool mine has only 2 and both have 4
What about the color of the lines?
It depends on the capacitor. Always double check.
my fan comes on but not compressor…is the herm for the compressor power?it was working fine until after power outage
Why is the compressor connector called herm ?
This is a rule of thumb but not always accurate lmao
Not always
There's nothing universal about this tip
Can someone help me I have a a/c squirrel cage fan I'm repurposing as a garage fan it's capacitor has only 2 terminals with 4 prongs each there's no words on the capacitor to tell me what is what. Both brown wires on the capacitor goes to the motor does it matter? For some reason the installers who installed me a new system cut both wires to the capacitor they didn't know I wanted to keep the squirrel cage fan they was replacing. I reconnected it and may have crossed the capacitor wires does it matter? The motor is running quiet and fine but running too hot after 10 min or so. Any ideas?
It doesn't matter when it's only two terminals.. If it's getting hot, then you're probably pulling too many amps because it's not the correct size cap. Try using one with a higher micro-farad rating.. Like if yours is a 35.. try a 45.. You can buy something called a "turbo 200" cap. and it has several sizes built into it, so that you can try different ones.
Good video
Should capacitors be positioned so that their male terminals are on the top to get the longest life out of them?- is it OK for a capacitor be positioned on it's side while it's in service?
Herm can have 4 like 5% of the time
I’m not very handy, this video helped tremendously!!!
It's just a rule of thumb.. it's not always right
Very Helpful ❤
Whats Herm?
Hermetically Sealed Compressor
Fuck it just sell em a new system
Not always true!
What does "HERM" stand for?
Hermetic .. It's referring to the compressor that is typically the black cylinder down in the bottom. The compressor is completely sealed inside the case so that it can't leak out anywhere.. and it's known as "hermetically sealed". which means "air tight".. I think they didn't call it "comp" for compressor because it's too close to "com" for common.. So they changed it to herm; referring to the hermetic compressor
@@calholli That's really interesting, thanks!
Not true depending on the age of the unit. Older caps did not follow this format. Ask me how I know.
Sometimes I have to look at schematics stuff is so rusted out
Not true. On my old one, two have four terminals, and one has two.
Wrong, my common has 3.
I wonder how much you charge people for a super cheap capacitor
Not true. I’ve been doing this for 25 years and just today saw a cap with 3 on common and 3 on herm. Yes 99/100 will be 4 C/3 Herm. But don’t say every universally across the board common always has 4. Not sure why some of you hvac “tech” TH-camrs give advice that simply is not true. Maybe because you read it in a book? You need more field experience kiddo
Just not true. Some have 4 on each.
Do you even know what "herm" stands for?
Or
Do you just think it's herm.
This is not true. Most brands are like the capacitors in the video but not. Never say always. Never say never
This is not true
The amount of hours searching this could have saved me. lol ... not funny
Not true 😢
Wow. This video must be for diy ers
Wrong.
Large flashy read along captions are annoying AF. Added sound effects, bloop, chimes dings and bells are annoying AF. Good info video though.
Thanks
Thanks