Hard Start Kits

[Mickvee]

Has anyone had any experience with hard start kits for a PSC compressor. Are they better than a PTC resistor across the cap.

[wambat]

Has anyone had any experience with hard start kits for a PSC compressor. Are they better than a PTC resistor across the cap.

Normally one doesn't need a hard start kit on a PSC motor because the are used on cap tube systems or systems that equilize when shut down That said, hard-start kits can also be used to soup up the starting torque in a permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor, such as employed in some small hermetic compressors. I would use a solid-state hard-start kit because does not need a bleed resistor across the capacitor because the hot thermistor still has a high, but not infinite, resistance. Therefore, it acts just like the bleed resistor in a potential relay situation.The solid-state kits employ a thermistor as a current control instead of a potential relay. There are hard start kits with internal potential relay and it does have a bleed capacitor if you chose to use one.

[Mickvee]

Thanks for the reply.
I am working on 2 LG air con units were the wires on the caps have melted off, checked the compressor and found the field windings and insulation to be ok. It has a PTCR across the caps and the caps are now open circuit.
I was thinking of replacing these components with a hard start kit and new caps, as I do not know how to test or turst the PTCRs