Hey everyone! I recently bought a broken power washer at a bargain, thinking it just needed a new capacitor. Here's the situation: it hums for a few seconds and then blows the fuse connected to it. The motor can be turned by hand, which makes me wonder if it's completely shot. It has a 40uF capacitor, but I tried using a 25uF capacitor from a working power washer and that one doesn't run either. Even without any capacitor, the symptoms don't change at all. I've got a multimeter that measures up to 20uF, but I can't get any readings from either capacitor, and when I check resistance, it climbs to infinity. I know capacitors aren't too pricey, but I'm second-guessing if that's really the issue here. Any thoughts?
1 Answer
It looks like you've ruled out the capacitor as the main problem. How long does it run before the fuse blows? You mentioned the motor turns freely without a load, right? That could help narrow down the issue!
The motor doesn’t actually run by itself; it just makes a humming sound for about 3 seconds before the fuse pops. The shield is on the motor, so I can’t turn it with my hand, but I can reach it with a screwdriver and it spins easily in both directions.