JasonS Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 TLDR: I need 2 capacitors for my jointer/planer but they're $49 each from Felder. Where do I even start looking for capacitors this size? So I finally had the chance to tear into the Hammer A3-31 jointer/planer I bought almost 2 years ago. It was in a friends garage until May when we moved into the new house. It wasn't running when I got it, but my friend found a loose wire, reconnected it and it started right up. BUT, it only ran intermittently. He never could figure out why. I got it to start as long as I held the power button; after that it'd shut down. It was also making an awful squealing sound. I'm thinking bearings of course. So I put in a service call to Felder and talked to a tech this morning. Of course it started up and stayed running. He gave me some ideas and a couple schematics so I got to it. I got the planer drive wheel off and took a look inside but had to clean it out first. Then I noticed the capacitors were just sort of sitting there, loose. I think the tech at the school I bought it from was just done with trying to get it to run (he told me his boss just wanted it gone) and forgot to settle everything back - or didn't bother. Long story short, the loose capacitors were rubbing against the drive belt making an awful squealing sound. The belt was cutting into the capacitor body and had already worn through the wire jacketing and into the copper of one of the capacitor wires and was almost through the second. Felder has the capacitors but they're $49 each and I need both. That seems a tad steep. Even the tech recommended I try elsewhere first. I have no idea how to read the info on the capacitors and I have no idea where to start looking for them anyway. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 https://www.capacitorindustries.com/products/rpn3f406/ This isn't the exact same, but pretty close. Not sure what connectors yours has. You may be able to send your pic or read off the data to the company linked above and they could tell you if it would work. It’s a bit cheaper, but for a few more bucks I’d be tempted to go through Felder to be sure it’s the right one. If you go much cheaper you run the risk of them going bad with not much runtime, in which case you’re spending more time and money than going with the ones from Felder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 Actually you only need one they come as a pair. I ordered two not knowing this and now have a spare set FYI Mine is a A3/31 as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonS Posted September 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 3 minutes ago, pkinneb said: Actually you only need one they come as a pair. I ordered two not knowing this and now have a spare set Are they identical? Mine are and I thought start capacitors had a higher capacitance than run capacitors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 They're wired together. You may want to call them just to confirm Phone 866-792-5288 but that is how mine were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonS Posted September 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 Huh. I've never seen that before (not that I'm a motor guru, but I've replaced a few capacitors before). Once the tech gets back to me this afternoon I'll ask him about that and get them ordered. Thanks for all the input. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonS Posted September 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 Well, I ordered the capacitors from Felder. The tech insists they're sold separately so we'll see what shows up. If I get 2 pairs I'll be on the phone with Felder about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 7 minutes ago, JasonS said: Well, I ordered the capacitors from Felder. The tech insists they're sold separately so we'll see what shows up. If I get 2 pairs I'll be on the phone with Felder about it. Interesting! Full disclosure mine is 12ish years old not sure if that matters but none the less report back once you get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonS Posted September 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 Mine is a 2010 so it's not much younger. We'll see what happens. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonS Posted September 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 And after confirming with the tech that the capacitors are sold individually what arrives? 2 sets of 2 capacitors. I guess I'll be calling Felder on Monday. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 58 minutes ago, JasonS said: And after confirming with the tech that the capacitors are sold individually what arrives? 2 sets of 2 capacitors. I guess I'll be calling Felder on Monday. OMG sorry but its kinda funny Now we both have spares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonS Posted September 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 I know. What irks me is that the techs don;t know what they're selling. When I was doing tech support for Northern Tool (lo these many years ago) I knew what I was sending people. If a customer had a question and I wasn't sure of the answer I found out. I may keep the spares, I may insist on a call tag. These aren't cheap and no supplier I've communicated with so far has an equivalent cap. By the way, where abouts in MN are you? I grew up in St Louis Park and lived in Cities until I moved east. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 That’s unfortunate but kinda funny. It would be good to call them and let them know so they can update their documentation or training. It will also give them the chance to either redeem themselves or dig the hole deeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 1 hour ago, JasonS said: I know. What irks me is that the techs don;t know what they're selling. When I was doing tech support for Northern Tool (lo these many years ago) I knew what I was sending people. If a customer had a question and I wasn't sure of the answer I found out. I may keep the spares, I may insist on a call tag. These aren't cheap and no supplier I've communicated with so far has an equivalent cap. By the way, where abouts in MN are you? I grew up in St Louis Park and lived in Cities until I moved east. Yeah I thought the same thing but in my case I would have had to pay shipping so I figured may as well keep them as a spare. I grew up in Inver Grove Heights now we are in Zimmerman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstephens Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 On 9/15/2019 at 1:18 PM, pkinneb said: Yeah I thought the same thing but in my case I would have had to pay shipping so I figured may as well keep them as a spare. I grew up in Inver Grove Heights now we are in Zimmerman. @pkinneb Sorry to ressurect a slightly older thread, but my 2007 vintage A3-31 needs new caps and I'm curious if you happen to know what the Felder part number was on your cap set? Might save me some time or help me validate Felder's recommendations here in Canada. Their service is pretty random from really great to absolutely atrocious in my experience. I've included my unit plate for posterity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 2 hours ago, cstephens said: @pkinneb Sorry to ressurect a slightly older thread, but my 2007 vintage A3-31 needs new caps and I'm curious if you happen to know what the Felder part number was on your cap set? Might save me some time or help me validate Felder's recommendations here in Canada. Their service is pretty random from really great to absolutely atrocious in my experience. I've included my unit plate for posterity. I should as I still have the spare set. I am leaving now but when I get back this afternoon I will pop out to the shop and see what I can find and post it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 18 minutes ago, pkinneb said: I should as I still have the spare set. I am leaving now but when I get back this afternoon I will pop out to the shop and see what I can find and post it here. Wife wasn't ready so had time now, here you go: This is what was on the pkg This is the actual capacitor set. FWIW one set includes both capacitors i did not realize this and that's how I ended up with a spare set. They are actually wired together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstephens Posted January 4, 2021 Report Share Posted January 4, 2021 On 1/2/2021 at 10:10 AM, pkinneb said: Wife wasn't ready so had time now, here you go: This is what was on the pkg This is the actual capacitor set. FWIW one set includes both capacitors i did not realize this and that's how I ended up with a spare set. They are actually wired together. Here's the funny part: Felder in Canada has quoted me for 2 units of x 222KR 40uf capacitors at $35 CDN each (about 27 USD). The question I have is: are they going to send me 2 capacitors total, or 2 x 2 cap kits. LOL. Only one way to find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted January 4, 2021 Report Share Posted January 4, 2021 1 hour ago, cstephens said: Here's the funny part: Felder in Canada has quoted me for 2 units of x 222KR 40uf capacitors at $35 CDN each (about 27 USD). The question I have is: are they going to send me 2 capacitors total, or 2 x 2 cap kits. LOL. Only one way to find out. Based on mine and others experience I can almost guarantee you it will be two kits when only one is needed. Best of luck, worst case you end up with a spare set like me and others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post cstephens Posted January 14, 2021 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 14, 2021 So I ordered 2x 222KR capcitors from Felder Canada. $35 Canadian each plus shipping. And only 2 capacitors showed up! Pleasantly surprised. The 222KR caps dont come in a 'kit' form like the other pictures posted above. Just the cap with 16" of 2 wire cable out each end. New cap on the bottom vs old cap on top. The mfg part numbers and specs (40 uf) were exactly the same, but the new caps are a slightly larger diameter. No issues with fitment on installation however. On removal of my old caps, I found my problem. After installing the 2 new 222KR (felder part #) caps my A3-31 starts perfectly again! Thanks to all in the thread who contributed. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted January 15, 2021 Report Share Posted January 15, 2021 Glad you are up and running!! Thanks for the follow up now if we get questions in the future we can let folks know they may have gotten this corrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark K Posted August 22, 2022 Report Share Posted August 22, 2022 I'm a little late to the party, but this topic is of interest to me. My A3-31, relatively new and still under warranty, stopped running. I called Felder and describe what happened and the tech figures it's the capacitors and sent them to me. They look slightly larger than the originals and are not wired together. My question: How hard is it to swap these items out? There doesn't look like a lot of room for my sausage-like fingers to maneuver. I haven't touched them yet, maybe it gets roomier when I remove the faulty ones. Any tips before I start the operation? TIA. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted August 22, 2022 Report Share Posted August 22, 2022 Find a youtube video on discharging a capacitor before trying to change one. This is Very important for your safety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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