The Capacitor
This is a long story (at least relative to the points, if any, made).
It all started in December 2008. Deb, a friend and neighbor, told my wife that she and her family owned a Sony 36” flat screen television that they wanted to get rid of. Deb offered it us for free; all we had to do was pick it up. Our then current family television was a ten year old 32” Panasonic, so we were rather excited about the potential upgrade. We called them almost immediately to express our interest, and invited ourselves over that very same evening to take a look at the television.
As it turned out, while the Sony did indeed have a flat screen, it did not otherwise resemble the plasma and LCD televisions that are now popular. In fact, Deb and her family were getting rid of it so they could replace it with a new LCD television that would be easier to move. The Sony is a conventional CRT television, with a depth of about 26”, and it weighs 235 pounds. Nevertheless, it seemed that it would be an upgrade to our then current situation, so we said we would be happy to take it. In addition, my sister had just inquired about whether we had an extra television, as hers seemed to be on the fritz.
Picking up the television was quite a challenge. Two of my nephews, the boyfriend of one of my daughters, and me went over to Deb’s house on a cold Sunday in January. The two biggest of our group lifted the television from a dolly onto a hand truck, and we dragged the hand truck over snow covered grass around the back of the house to the driveway. Lifting the television from the hand truck into the back of the car was the most difficult aspect of the job. It required all four of us, and the presence of an awkwardly positioned small snow bank exacerbated the situation. Once home, the four of us put the television back onto the hand truck and wheeled it the side door ofto our house. From there, we maneuvered the television onto a quilt, and we were then able to drag the television where it needed to go.
After a day or so, the “new” television assumed the location formerly inhabited by the older Panasonic, and the old television migrated to the dining room.
Because the new television was so big, it sat on the floor. We did not have a suitable stand or other piece of furniture for the new television. I gave some thought to building something, and even came up with some preliminary design ideas. This project was put on hold indefinitely when my son Jake told us we would give us his 42” plasma television (he now has a projector, which he prefers). Around the same time my sister told us her television seemed to be working after all. So, after picking up the new plasma television, we had increased our television ownership quire dramatically.
The new plasma television was also the inspiration for another home improvement project. After doing some research, it was quite clear that the new plasma television should be wall mounted on the same wall in front of which all the previous televisions had sat. It was also necessary to have a small bookcase underneath it, to conceal the plug, and to house a DVD player, DVDs, remotes, and related paraphernalia. And the time to do all this was limited, because we wanted everything done in time for the party we were having to celebrate and view the premier of The CollegeHumor Show.
I ordered and installed a wall mount, and then set about building a bookcase. Generally, things were going pretty well on the bookcase project. I was pleased with the design, and I was able to get all the materials at a reasonable price from Home Depot. I had nearly completed the bookcase before the weekend of the party. I had planned to cut the shelves on Saturday and start painting them (the primer dries in less than two hours, so the painting could have easily been completed on Saturday). There would then be relatively little to do on Sunday other than play soccer, bring the bookcase upstairs, and get ready for the party.
My table saw is pretty old. It’s a Craftsman, probably from the 1950s. It had originally belonged to my Uncle Jack, who gave it to my father, and my father gave it to me about 25 years ago, when my wife and I bought our first home. I don’t use the table saw that often, as I work full time in a profession where a table saw is not often useful. It has been great to have for various building projects (including the bookcase), and it had never broken down or otherwise given me trouble. So I was quite shocked and dismayed when the motor would not start when I wanted to cut the shelves. The motor hummed and the circuit breaker blew every time I tried to start it. Some Internet research led me to believe that the capacitor was the problem. I found a discussion thread in which someone mentioned he had replaced a capacitor in an old Craftsman table saw. Someone else in a different power tool forum mentioned that Grainger is the place to get capacitors. And I found another forum in which someone from Sears advised that the capacitor was not a separately replaceable item. The Sears parts Website was somewhat helpful, in that it had a diagram of the motor and some of the parts were still available (though not the capacitor). I even joined a power tool discussion forum to see if I could get any advice. I got little in the way of helpful advice when I posted my question, which was simply, “How does one replace the capacitor on a more than 50 year old Craftsman table saw?”
I realized that I would not be able to repair the table saw in time for the party, so I used a neighbor lady’s table saw to cut the bookshelves. But by then I was a day behind so the shelves were only primed when we had the party. Fortunately, no one noticed.
The next day I continued in my efforts to figure out how to repair the saw. Armed with the little knowledge I had, I proceeded to remove and dismantle the motor. When I opened up the motor I found the capacitor. I sent the specifications (161 MFD was printed on the old capacitor) and the size to customer service at Grainger, they advised on a replacement, I ordered it, and it was delivered within a day (using standard shipping). I also took the opportunity to replace one of the bearings as Sears still had that part available. After putting it back together, I was a little fearful about trying to start the saw. But it started right up, and it seemed to run better than I had remembered.
