Should a capacitor have continuity ?

Capacitor is one of the important parts for compressor. There are different kinds of capacitors according to their material and function, including run capacitor, start capacitor, aluminum capacitor, plastic capacitor. Capacitor widely used on air conditioner system, to have the function of start up motors. 

The question is: Should a capacitor have continuity ? 

Before this question, we have to know the function for a capacitor in the air conditioner system. 

Capacitor name implies is a “charged container”. It is a device that holds a charge in the entire system. Capacitor are one of the most widely used electronic components in electronic devices. They are widely used in the air conditioner system for energy conversion and control. Which constitutes a capacitor between any two conductors (including wires) that are insulated from each other and are closely spaced apart. 

An open circuit, by definition, has no continuity, therefore there is no current flow. A failed capacitor in an open circuit would have absolutely no effect.

If capacitor are not continuity, what will happens?

Dc current cannot pass through a Capacitor as it get charged only if alternating pulses(sine wave) are applied as the input. As a result, the capacitor cannot get charged.

The capacitor charges up to the level of the supply voltage. A capacitor is normally connected across the supply in a piece of equipment fed from a dc source. It is called a decoupling capacitor and it isolates the equipment from outside effects coming in on the supply wires.

Capacitors are the important components for starting air-conditioning motors. Most of the air conditioners on the market today use capacitors for air conditioning start-up and operation. A damage capacitor will cause the compressor starting current to rise too fast. Automatically turn on the protection mode to stop or fail to start the compressor, resulting in the air conditioner not working properly or automatically powering off during the start up process. During the start-up of the air conditioner, the capacitor acts as a conductor to help the compressor start normally. If a capacitor are not continuity, then it can’t ensure the function of start up air conditioning motors, in this case, it will cause the compressor starting current to rise too fast, then air conditioner will stop work due to automatically protection process. So we can see how important that the capacitor act in air conditioner system. Air conditioners are mostly single-phase compressors that require phase separation of the capacitors to start during start up. The quality of the capacitors is directly related to whether the compressor can start normally. 

Therefor, the capacitor should be checked first when the air conditioner cannot start normally, and whether the capacitor is continuity. 

In the end, when we choose capacitor on the market, we have to choose the high quality which is continuity, it is important for the motor, compressor and air conditioner.