Teka Dishwasher Water Pump (Recirculation Pump) Capacitor Testing

3 uF / 450V capacitor, why such a high voltage?: It does not mean that the capacitor will work at 450 V; that voltage means that the capacitor CAN WITHSTAND up to 450 V.

In this first check, I am going to check it with a capacitance meter, a device similar to a multimeter, but this one only measures capacitors (in each country, the capacitor is called something different).

Checking the 3 µF capacitor with a capacitance meter: set the measuring device to the scale closest to, but immediately higher than, 3 µF; in this case, the 20 µF scale. If you set it to a scale lower than 3 µF, it will NOT measure.

In this case, this faulty, de-capacitated (low capacity = faulty) 3 µF capacitor shows a reading of 0.74 µF.

We already know it is faulty, but just to focus the measurement a little more, we lower the scale on the measuring device to the 2 µF scale, which gives us a reading of 0.718 µF.

Playlist of videos on capacitor measurement.

We have another “simple” capacitor testing method. It is not as reliable as a meter, but if we do not have anything else, this one is simple to build and cheap:

The test cable with a light bulb; in this case, a 15 W oven, refrigerator, or microwave bulb (all of those work; LED bulbs with electronics DO NOT WORK; a 25 or 42 W filament or halogen one works for us). WARNING: NEVER USE BULBS OVER 42 W.

Regarding this method to test capacitors, I have many videos on YouTube. It is a highly copied method. I highly doubt you will find a video earlier than 2010 that explains this method, but many insist, without providing any graphic evidence, that mine was not the first... we will leave the controversy there.

As you can see, this was the first video, of low quality since I did not record in digital format back then. It was my beginning on YouTube in the year 2010 and it is the 1st I filmed out of the many, more than 1450, that I have today HOMEMADE CAPACITOR TESTER CABLE, APPLIANCE CAPACITORS 1 of 5

Original document from 2010 with updates in 2017, with photos where I explain the construction of the light bulb tester cable, very simple. The key or password it asks for is: repara https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IspqWnQ...

Used 15 W lamp; a refrigerator, oven, or microwave oven lamp works.

Connect the power plug and observe the light the bulb produces:

With an OK capacitor, the 15 W bulb will light up to almost 100%. This is the same as if we were to close a nightstand lamp switch (this simply bridges the capacitor terminals).

A capacitor with low capacitance = damaged = faulty: the lamp will barely light up or the filament will not even turn on. FAULTY. Photos 2 and 3.

We will now compare it with another 4 µF capacitor in good condition (very similar to the faulty 3 µF one we have); we can replace a 3 µF capacitor with a 4 µF one without any issues. With this one, the lamp shines at almost 100%, as you can see.

What is the test knob switch or 100% test button for?

We will now compare it with another 4 µF capacitor in good condition (very similar to the faulty 3 µF one we have). We can replace a 3 µF one with a 4 µF one without any issues; with this one, the lamp lights up at almost 100%, as you can see in the photos.

2nd: When checking a capacitor, the switch allows us to compare the light generated by the capacitor with the light generated by the lamp at 100% power, so we can determine how much energy is being lost in the capacitor (loss of light).

Test with a 25 W lamp, we see that the result is similar to the 15 W lamp.

Note for this test for capacitors between 2 uF and 40 uF: We must never exceed 42 or 50 W of power for the lamp; for example, a 75 W filament lamp DOES NOT WORK for this test, it always lights up at 100%. Or CFL-type fluorescent lamps, or LED, or higher-power halogen lamps DO NOT WORK.

A remake of videos I made in 2017 where the test cable made on a board can be seen better: Videos.

End of the Guide