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Pressure washer repair... Is this idea dangerous?

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HarveyH42

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I was out giving my house a much needed bath, when I notice a considerable quantity of smoke coming from the electric pressure washer. Not something you would expect, so I shut it down quickly. Let it set for about an hour to cool off.
I knew there was a problem from the smoke, but still hoped it was only heat related. Plugged it back in, flipped the switch, but only got a hum until it popped the breaker. So, figured I was done cleaning for the day, removed the hoses drained everything.

Started taking it a part to see how much damage, but the outer casing was being a _____. So went online and found the owners manual (Husky 1650), found all the hidden screws, and replaced the ones that didn't need removing... Noticed right off the start capacitor was bad, the gray cancer growing out of the side, was fused to the outer case (bummer they don't blow up anymore). Anyway, the manual showed me an easy way to check to see if the motor and pump turned freely, without taking it a part further, hex-head screw on the fan end of the motor, so kind. Motor turns freely, and hums, so figure all is good.

The start capacitor is a ***** though. It's 80 uF/360 VAC. Much larger then anything I've got. Looked around town, but no luck. Folsom Electric might, but have to wait until monday. Not much selection surplus online, and Husky wants $20, didn't bother checking shipping (canadian company, I think).
I hooked a 15 uf / 330 VAC cap up, motor almost turned. Took a shot... Happen to have quite a few of those 15uF caps, thinking 5 in parallel should be close enough. Not sure if there is enough room inside the case, which isn't waterproof or sealed in any way, more for deflecting water I'd suspect.

The line has GFI built in, but my house is old, and no telling how effective that is. The old capacitor was also used as a plug to seal the hole that gives access to the power switch and sensors. Anyway, the plan for tomorrow is to plug the hole with the old capacitor, and hopefully cram 5 capacitors under the case.

My concerns are how well will the capactors hold up. They are from the 1980's. The voltage rating is slightly less, but should be fine. Unit runs off 110 VAC, needs 15 Amps availiable. Also a little worried about water and all those capacitor leads. If the don't fit, will need to hang them on the outside some how. Pretty sure I can keep everything reasonably dry, always took that precaution, but my little brother doesn't listen to my warnings, and borrows my tools often...
 

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That sounds like a pretty common start cap to me. If it was up to me, i'd wait till Monday and see how much a proper sized replacment costs. I get all my start caps from an electric motor repair shop in town. Maybe you have somthing like that in your area.

Hanging them on the outside seems like alot of extra effort to save a few bucks, IMHO. Also could be dangerous and problematic in the future.

I've never seen one of those little electric washers go for more then a few years. Seems like they make them as dirt cheap as possible and don't put much quality in them.

Oh, and just so you know how lucky you Florida folks are.... while you were washing your house.....up here in Minnesota, we got buried in 6 inches of snow and ice! :p
 
It's probably well worth repairing, it'll probably be more reliable after you've repaired it than it was when it was new.
 
Well, this ought to warm your spirits some... I was wearing shorts and barefoot while washing the house. Six inches isn't that bad, use to get that often when I was growing up (Oregon). It's a bummer when it's your turn to bring in the fire wood though.

Anyway, talked to my brother, and he might have a capacitor out at his house. Wasn't really going to leave the caps hang out, was just a thought on how I might get it running well enough to finish the job. Water and electricity don't mix well.

The motor and pump look good, and of fair quality. The cap had a lot of cheap white plastic (corrosion protection). The grey stuff could be plastic. Guessing the white smoke was the electrolyte.

This was the only problem I ever had with it in about 5 years, but its been about a year since last time I used it. Just seems like an odd failure.
 
There is no snow here in Canada. The grass is still green. The temperature today was suddenly cold at -8 degrees C (18 degrees F for Americans).
Oh, oh. We are getting 10cm (4 inches) of snow tonight.

It will be nice and warm tomorrow at 7 degrees C (45 degrees F).
 
It's 10:25 PM EST and about 78 F, about 30-40 degrees canadian... Feel sorry for you. Only got down past the teens a few times growing up. The wind was brutal when it gets that cold. I don't miss it a bit. 30 years later, and I still remember it clearly.
 
Don't feel sorry. We have four seasons in Canada, you have only one.
We don't have your guns, hurricanes, alligators, freed slaves, Cubans, Jamaicans, Mexicans and all the others who bite badly.
Your 78 degrees F is only 25.6 degrees C, not 30-40.
 
We do get a few days each year, where it almost freezes... If we didn't have the guns, we'd have people jumping both borders...
 
Could just leave it alone. Every time I walked by the pressure washer, I wanted to do something with it... First, I just wanted to see if 4 of the capacitors would start the motor, just out of curiousity. It did, fortunately nobody was around, got sprayed and had to change my shorts. Looked like all 4 could be stuffed inside without blocking airflow around the motor. So, I put it all back together, took it out for a test drive. Ran it for a little over 2 hours, all seems good. Brother stopped by, no capacitor, but did was his truck off. Going to just leave it as is, should be about as safe as it ever was.
 
Hi Harvey,
You made a good free fix.

Today I shovelled snow until I was blue in the face (red? purple?).
We got about 15cm (6 inches) of snow but luckily it wasn't followed by the freezing ice pellets that was forcasted.
Now it is foggy and it is raining cats and dogs.
 
Guess that's why I save all these parts...

Too bad you spent all that time shoveling snow, the rain will melt it. Should have some nice slippery ice in the morning. Good to hear that 'Global Warming' is still years away. Was getting kind of worried here, only had a couple of slightly chilly days (60's) so far this winter.
 
HarveyH42 said:
Too bad you spent all that time shoveling snow, the rain will melt it.
Wet snow is very slippery. Now that I shovelled it then it is not slippery.

Should have some nice slippery ice in the morning.
We are lucky that all the rain today and tonight is not snow. The temperature is expected to be above freezing all night and most of tomorrow. No ice.

Canada is expected to have the coldest winter for 15 years. Except where I am where it will be average. I am surrounded by the Great Lakes. They moderate the temperature.
 
Some parts of Canada use their own temperature measuring system.
I was sent to Arizona in the middle of winter. It is hot there so I took a raincoat. Then I was sent to Winnipeg, in the middle of Canada.

It was way below freezing. I had only a raincoat. No boots, no gloves, no scarf and no sweater. Their temperature measuring system said 4 so I thought it was a balmy plus or minus 4 degrees C.

No. It is the number of seconds for exposed skin to freeze into frostbite!!!

I think the temperature was below -40 degrees C and below -40 degrees F.
 
A fiend of mines father use to work on the oil rigs, he was working out in Saudi, when he was sent directly from there to Alaska to another job! :D

Bit rough in shorts and teeshirts!.
 
Alaska is huge.
Some parts get -32 degrees C while other parts are a little above freezing.
One place recorded -64 degrees C!
Some parts get near +30 degrees C in summer.
 
Same problem here

This Saturday (what other day it would happen?) I was using my pressure washing Husky1650 (washing the house, of course, I live in Orlando), after one quick release of the handle that stopped the motor, it didn't start anymore, just humming. Heat, of course. Wait one hour, didn't start, just humming. Disassembled the unit, found the same capacitor with the same grey stuff at side. I am starting to think this is a kind of a glue they use to hold the capacitor in place. The grey stuff in my capacitor was linking the capacitor to the motor, it is some kind of plastic, very hard, looks like the big red spot of Jupiter... rsrs.

Well, this cap is nowhere to find, except at Husky, they sell it by $23 + shipping. Take days to arrive. I could find similar (not same size) capacitor here in Orlando at SkyCraft, but I need to know if this capacitor is used just to start the motor or it runs continuously with the motor. There is a MOTOR START CAPACITOR (MSC) and there is the MOTOR RUN CAPACITOR (MRC), they are different. The MSC is weaker, it runs for few seconds only when you turn on the motor, then it disconnects. The MRC runs continuosly with the motor, it needs to be strong and durable. IF you instal a MSC in place of a MRC it will blow up after few hours of operation.

Called Husky technical support... They had NO IDEA WHATSOEVER about what I was talking about... figures.

So I bought a MSC at SkyCraft, since they had no MRC for that 80uF x 260Vac. Lets try tonight. I suspect this cap is a MSC, since it is not common to have MRC of 80uF, they usually are less than 70uF and even so, for very large motors, not the case.

So, the 80uF 260V at SkyCraft cost only $4 and the car trip to WinterPark, and I have the capacitor today.
 
Update: The 80uF 260V from SkyCraft was a "Start Capacitor", and it blew 15 seconds after running, literally exploded inside the compressor case. I needed to disassembled the thing and wash with soap and water, since the capacitor chemicals pester the hell of the compressor. The capacitor needed was really a "Running Capacitor", and it is nowhere to be found in all electronic stores, even online. At the end, I took the scorpions out of my pocket and bought the Husky from their webpage, cost me around $30, but fixed it like a charm... still running nice.
 
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