Well, my motor exploded and I need a new one.

[SteveHGraham]

If you're in the 0.01% of people who have a problem with a solid Ebay seller, you are just as likely to be in the 0.01% of people who order something from McMaster and have it damaged or lost in shipment. The objections to Ebay are really starting to get pedantic and tortured.

[warmstrong1955]

Do I need to repost 'The Argument Clinic' again???

[SteveHGraham]

I feel like I'm talking to my dad. We used to take his boat to the Bahamas, and he would steer into the sun for hours, watching the compass and making corrections. When it was my turn, I would hook the GPS to the autopilot, sit back, and enjoy a soda.

He always said the same thing: "I don't trust that ouija board!"

[SteveHGraham]

Just to be more annoying, I looked up McMaster-Carr's best 200 uF capacitor. It's over $13, before shipping.

Checked Ebay. I found a USA capacitor with a 1-year warranty. It's $8.90, shipped. The seller has over 100,000 sales and a 100% positive rating. The capacitor itself has two reviews. Both are five stars. The sale is backed up by Paypal, which almost always sides with the buyer.

Looks pretty dodgy to me!

[liveaboard]

5 years ago I bought a mixed box of used motor capacitors at a flea market for a few bucks.
I've been planting them in things since, without a failure so far.
I live an hour away from any shop that might have what I need, and mail takes a week. A big box of motor capacitors is a great asset, just for the time saving.
If one does fail; who cares? Put in another one, no big deal.

[SteveHGraham]

You're going to catch it now.

[Bentworker]

Is the motor fixed?

New capacitor installed? Did you check out the centrifigual switch in the back?

[TheGreenMan]

Just to be more annoying, I looked up McMaster-Carr's best 200 uF capacitor. It's over $13, before shipping.

Checked Ebay. I found a USA capacitor with a 1-year warranty. It's $8.90, shipped. The seller has over 100,000 sales and a 100% positive rating. The capacitor itself has two reviews. Both are five stars. The sale is backed up by Paypal, which almost always sides with the buyer.

Looks pretty dodgy to me!

I use Ebay, Amazon, McMaster-Carr, Grainger, etc. They all have their places. This time McMaster was the best for me. The 35uF run capacitor was $12.73 and ground shipping (next day arrival by 10AM at my work place) was free. The shipping was free due to me ordering work related stuff too and them paying for it. Otherwise it would have been $11.46 shipping with all the items I ordered.

The best deals on Ebay I can find are about $9-$10 including shipping and most come from China/"California" or would take around 3-4 days to get here from within the USA. If I wasn't caring about time those would have been fine deals. But for $3 more McMaster was the fine with me.

Is the motor fixed?

New capacitor installed? Did you check out the centrifigual switch in the back?

I had the lathe up and running the day after I placed the order. No issues yet. Seems to run the same.
I didn't think to check the switch (not sure this motor even has one) when I had it apart. How would that affect the run capacitor? I thought that had to do with the start capacitor?

[Bentworker]

Excellent!

I'm surprised that it has a run cap on such a small motor. It isn't a bad idea on a single phase motor to pull the back bell and look at (& clean) the contacts on the centrifugal switch. I have seen quite a few pool and spa motors where the switch has gone south causing the start cap to stay energized and fail, or the switch gets crud in it and will not make up to allow the start cap and winding to do it's job.

[ccfl]

"Ebay is great for some things. Sometimes it's more convenient/quicker/better to find it somewhere else. No one single source is always best for everything."

What Steve sees when he reads that: "Nobody should ever buy anything from Ebay, everyone on there is a total scam artist and criminal and will very likely just use your contact info to come and burn your house down and salt your front lawn."