Couple questions for the hive mind.
First a little background. I recently purchased an older Powermatic model 60-A 8", 2HP jointer. The motor is a Baldor L3515T-BD wired 220v on a dedicated 20a 220v GFI circuit. GFI is built into the circuit breaker in the panel.
When I bought the jointer I noticed it had a shudder/vibration for about a second when it started so I assumed the started capacitor was on its last legs.
Today, I was milling my first large project on it and after 20+/- minutes of operation with multiple stops and starts, it started tripping the GFI circuit breaker when ever I tried to turn it on. Moved it to a non-gif circuit and it started once with a great deal of effort. Would not start again but made a humming sound like it was trying for a second or two..
So I pulled the start capacitor and it reads 640 uf or 690 uf, depending on how I have the leads arranged. Spec on the capacitor is 645-774uf
Are there other things I should check before replacing the start capacitor? Just looking for confirmation that the start capacitor is the likely culprit since the capacitance reading are so close to spec and when I physically examined the capacitor, it had no indications of being fault.
The Baldor replacement, manufactured by BMI, is $75. Amazon has another BMI start capacitor with the EXACT same specs on the label as the Baldor branded capacitor, with the exception of the part number, for $15. Is there any reason not to use the less expensive, non-Baldor branded capacitor?
Thanks,
Carl.