Actron indoor fan motor??

[airflo]

Arrived at a job today and found that the indoor fan motor was not running (no noise at all), when i tested for voltage on the 500V AC range between FAN HIGH and NEUTRAL i got a spark and the unit CB & RCD tripped.

I also tested the 4uF capacitor and got a reading of 1.8uF.

What is this info telling me? down to earth winding or shorted winding?

I didn't have a insulation tester on me to perform any further tests?

[rude]

the spark sounds to me like you touched ur probe onto an earth surface when you were testing the voltage.

It will require a new cap.

Was the motor hot at all?

[airflo]

Didn't actually feel the motor, and i only touched the probe on the NEUTRAL and FAN HIGH.

Exactly what i thought its as though it was earthed? could the motor be down to earth? If so i should have got a belt from the case true?

Could this be as simple as a faulty cap?

[airflo]

Faulty multimeter is what it was!!! its a cheapo chinese one anyway.

But still not sure as to what the problem with the fan is? should i go back and try changing the capacitor?

As i said the fan doesn't hum/make a noise or spin at all, but there is obviously power there or the above wouldn't have happened. true?

[SkyWalker]

caps as far as i know should be +/- 10% so that ones way off the mark, a quick test if you think the start cap is dead is to simple turn the fan blade manually and if everything but the cap is o.k the fan motor will start, as you said the motor wasn't "humming" i would say there is a problem elsewhere also.

[cool_tech]

hey airflow what brand of motor are in actron air units? can you change the speed and see if the motor works. also i would start with a new cap as some good motors are thrown away all because of a faulty cap

[Yuri B.]

Hello Airflow. You have already most probably found the fault. Anyway. Switch off the wires, take with your tester the resistive measure between every motor imput - on the scale of up to 1 KOhm
(your motor should have it in a region of 50 - 300 Ohms). If OK between every a contact - and in case you do not have a megaohmeter - measure between any imput and the casing (ground) with a naximal scale (there are 10 MOhms on my one). Tester should measure nothing ("'continuity"', no digits at all) - if less than 1 MOhm - motor faulty.
If all good, if fan turns good by hand, put a new capacitor and switch the motor not through the RCD but through a conventional, rated to the current of the motor
(read from the plate), automatic switch and a current tong put on the live wire. Turn on power - current should not be higher than on the motor plate. If you have no tong, be near the motor (with aotomatic switch in the hands and one ear close to the motor), switch, if no turning and/or hum is heard, it needs repair.
Sorry for the hasty, long bla-bla.