Hello everybody.

Newbie on this forum. My ceiling fan is out of order due to capacitor burnout. It is 2.25 MFD. Even when it was working fine, I felt it was not running at full RPM revolutions per minute.

My friend suggested that replacing old capacitor with 4 MFD will help resolve RPM issue. Is that correct? I was under the impression that capacitor is there only to give starting torque.

Another related question, what is triple capacitor? Is it of any use in my case?

Thanks.

- Ketan

Clarification, 'M' in MFD above stands for 'micro'. Found it difficult to write 'mu' on my keyboard. - Ketan

Ceiling fans use PSC motors, it is used as both a Start and Run capacitor. You need to replace it with a new capacitor of equal value, unless the one that's in there is not original and is of an incorrect value.

American made ceiling fans - Ceiling Fans N More

That link should read ceiling fan capacitors.

Triple capacitors are used for silent speed control. Sounds like your fan has a single capacitor. How many wires does it have?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ceilingfanrepair

That link should read ceiling fan capacitors.

Triple capacitors are used for silent speed control. Sounds like your fan has a single capacitor. How many wires does it have?

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Thanks for responding to second part of my problem. Link is helpful too.

My old capacitor has 2 wires. Actually 2.25uf capacitor is easily available. But person says he has experience that installing 4uf capacitor will help increase RPM count. Your suggested link says +/-1uf is "TOLERABLE". My confusion is "will it help increase RPM". What harm it can cause to fan?

Thanks again for taking care.

- Ketan

Installing a capacitor of a lower number will cause the fan to run slower. Installing a capacitor of a significantly higher number WILL cause the fan to run faster, but can damage the motor and will likely cause it to overheat.

If the fan is running slow, either the capacitor is bad or something else is wrong. Try replacing with another 2 or 3uf capacitor first. What make is the fan?

Thanks again. Replaced capacitor with 3.15uf one made by Tibcon

There in noticeable increase in RPM. Fan is Crompton Greaves model# HS1400 Crompton Greaves Ltd.
It is supposed to have better motor winding over this part of the world (india). I hope and wish it will be able to withstand higher capacitor.

I liked this forum. Regards.

- ketan bhatt

Crompton Greaves, those are VERY good fans are normally go VERY VERY VERY VERY fast. If it is still not going fast, it might need oil!

2.25 vs 3mfd should be fine.

Are you located in India?

Replacement capacitors are available through most venues that sell ceiling fan parts. They may be found by Google searches or most local stores.

**** edited FC*****

I prefer CeilingFanParts.com Home but most electrical supply houses have them. Also going through the manufacturer can sometimes be cheaper.

Ceiling fan is a Single phase Induction motor.Generally we use a capacitor start &Run AC Motor for ceiling Fans.
Motor principle: whenever current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field-it experiences force.
Stator: supplied by 1-phase voltage, current will produce in the stator winding-so magnetic field. But AC motor needs a rotating magnetic field in order turn the motor shaft (fan blades). This is done by applying voltage with different phases to different windings. In a single phase system (like at your house where you would use a ceiling fan) there is only one voltage phase. The capacitor is used to provide a phase shift (i.e. a time offset between currents) in the windings of the motor, making it appear that the motor is operating in a multiphase system.In Simple Terms, A single Phase is Split Into Two. There are also other methods to split Phase But using a capacitor is less expensive.
Now we have magnetic field.
We need current carrying conductor:
Because of Induction, voltage will develop in rotor as It is a closed circuit current will produce-so current carrying conductorp laced in magnetic field.
Rotor will rotate.