Starting capacitors are common in home appliances or HVAC equipment. If your washing machine's motor makes a humming noise and doesn't work, check the condenser. You can do a test to see if the capacitor is to be thrown away or can still be used. Read step 1 for more information.
Steps
Step 1. Remove the starting capacitor
The most convenient way to discharge a capacitor is to connect the low wattage terminals of a 120 volt (about 20 watt) light bulb to the capacitor terminals. Thus, you will discharge the electricity still present in it.
Make sure you don't cause a short circuit when you connect the terminals while discharging the capacitor - it could injure or kill you. Use extreme caution when discharging the capacitor before proceeding
Step 2. Check if the condenser is swollen or there are liquids
If the capacitor is swollen, as if it is expanding, it could mean that it is bad. Likewise, check for liquids on top of the condenser.
If this is the case, check the capacitor with a voltmeter
Step 3. Use an analog voltmeter or digital.
They are both suitable for this type of work. To begin with, set the voltmeter to 1k ohm.
Step 4. Touch the terminals with the voltmeter test leads
Normally they touch twice and the reactions are compared. Touch the terminals with the test leads and then reverse them.
The needle of an analog voltmeter should move starting at 0 and moving forward, while in a digital voltmeter an open line should appear on the screen when you flip the leads. If this is the case, then your capacitor is still functional and the problem is elsewhere. If the values remain unchanged, the capacitor is faulty
Step 5. Check the capacitance, if the capacitor is working
If you have a multimeter use the capacity settings to do a quick check. If the value is similar to that on the capacitor, it is in good condition.
