MiniMax MM16 Bandsaw Capacitor Specs

[William Rae]

Hello,
I have a MiniMax MM 16 bandsaw and found one of the capacitors has leeked/melted. Because of this I don't have the specs to find another one. MiniMax and the motor manufacturer, CEG, have not been helpful. Are there any MM16 bandsaw owners on this forum? Could you post a photo or list the specs? There are two capacitors, I assume one it the start capacitor and the other is the run capacitor. One is black and the other is grey. I need info on the the grey one.They are housed in a black plastic box attached to the motor. See the photos posted below. I've also attached a photo of the motor plate.

Also, anyone have a good source for replacement motor capacitors?

Thanks so much for your help!

[Paul F Franklin]

It looks to me like the specs are on the motor plate. (Cond, short for Condenser is an older/alternate name for capacitor) 50MFD run cap and 100-125 MFD start cap. 50MFD is pretty big for a run cap, but that's how I read the motor plate. 280VAC or greater. If you have any local motor shops, they will have it. Otherwise, you can order from Mcmaster or Grainger.

[Bill Dufour]

If you can not find ones to fit they can be mounted remotely in a way that you will not touch the terminals.
Bill D

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi William, the run capacitor is a 50uF, 450 volt capacitor.

That’s a common size, you should be able to purchase one through any motor shop. Run capacitor sizing is critical, don’t substitute the uF (micro-farad) rating of the capacitor

Regards, Rod

[Brian Holcombe]

I had trouble finding capacitors in the right size that would fit in the peckerhead. Ended up buying replacements from
SCM.

[Bill Dufour]

To make a motor fit I had to move the capacitor. I lengthend the elads andf move it so it did not hit the bottom of the table. I held it on with a big hose clamp clear around the motor and the cap. Plenty good enough and I feel it is safer then drilling and tapping the motor case and risking nicking the windings. It is buried inside the saw cabinet where no kid is going to accidentally reach. The splices are soldered and covered in heat shrink anyway.
Bill D

[William Rae]

Thanks to everyone who answered my call for info. And I learnt something - the capacitor specs are on the motor plate. It’s also interesting that CEG USA didn’t now that!
Two more questions, do capacitors have polarity, positive or negative, does it matter how the leads are connected? The leads on the damaged capacitor are color coded blue and brown. Also, is it OK if the voltage spec is higher than specified? I understand the uf spec must be exact. Thanks again!

[Bill Dufour]

For an ac capacitor it does not matter. There is no ac polarity it switches 60 times every second. A dc capacitor may have a polarity.
Bill D