Spent $35 on a capacitor tester and it saved me a return trip to a rental property yesterday

I had a fridge that kept tripping the breaker in a duplex. Could have been a compressor, could have been a bad start relay or capacitor. Instead of guessing and swapping parts, I used the tester to check the capacitor in about 30 seconds. It was dead. $14 part and I was done. Has anyone else found a tool like this that paid for itself fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

laura_wright2mo ago

That's a solid return on investment right there. What model tester did you end up getting? I've been burned by cheap multimeters before so I'm curious if the $35 one holds up. I bet a lot of landlords just shotgun parts at stuff instead of actually diagnosing it. Did it take you long to learn how to use it properly?

the_zara2mo agoTop Commenter

Oh man, I totally get the cheap multimeter fear. I grabbed a Klein one from Home Depot for like $40 and it's been solid for a few years now. YouTube really saved me - I watched a couple of basic tutorials for like an hour and just started testing outlets and switches around the house to get comfortable.

victorb1711d ago

lol I'm probably the last person who should own a capacitor tester considering I still have to Google how to drain one safely every single time. But yeah that thing has saved me more than a few headaches especially when I'd be the guy shotgunning parts at stuff hoping something sticks.