Please attempt to describe (or better yet, if you've got the gear to
do
so, snap a good clear picture of it, jpeg it down to a reasonable size
and put it online someplace, then post a pointer to it here) the plug
a
bit better than "weird"?
Two vertical blades? One vertical, one horizontal? Both horizontal?
Three blades in a roughly circular pattern? Two round pins? Four
blades
in a circle? Two *LARGE* blades plus a largish round pin? One blade
vertical, the other blade an "L" shape, plus a round pin? Something
else?
Knowing *EXACTLY* what the plug looks like *CAN* (unfortunately, not
"will") give a good idea of what kind of juice it wants, but
describing
it as "weird" is just about as useful as a screen door on a submarine
in
terms of figuring out what it expects to be fed.
And as a bit of advice: If you need to ask "How can I tell if a
capacitor is any good?", then quite frankly (and with apologies in
advance for what's probably going to sound like a slam or a putdown,
but
isn't intended to be one) you aren't qualified to consider opening the
beast up, and you should make no attempt to do so unless you don't
care
that you'll probably screw something up (possibly including
yourself...
Electricity's "bite" is MUCH worse than its "bark") beyond repair.
You've already gone FAR beyond what I'd recommend for anyone with what
your level of expertise seems to be by dinking around trying to run it
from an wires jury-rigged to an incompatible socket. Hell, to lay it
all
out there for everyone to see, you've already gone further than *I*
would have, and I'm far from being a beginner at the electricity and
electronics game. If you're lucky, you didn't damage it. If you're
not,
you may well have "smoke-tested" it, and it's never going to run no
matter what you do. The very fact that you need to ask "how do I..."
says that you're tinkering with something you don't have the proper
knowledge to be messing around with without standing a very good
chance
of trashing it.
As I said, this isn't intended as a slam or putdown - It's simple
statement of fact. The need to ask "how do I..." about such a basic
concept as determining whether a capacitor is good or bad is almost
always an indicator of someone who is "in way over his head". Don't
despair, though... Stupidity might be forever, but simple ignorance
such
as you're displaying can be easily cured with a dose of edgyookayshun
Here's your first dose:
Set up your meter for high ohms - 20K or thereabouts should be fine.
Once you've gotten to the leads of the capacitor, use a screwdriver
with
a well-imsulated handle to short the leads of the capacitor together.
Get yourself mentally prepared for a miniature lightning bolt to go
off
when the screwdriver makes contact. Eyeball the capacitor - Does it
have
a polarity marking? (Usually a plus or a minus sign, possibly a line
of
them, situated near one of the leads) If so, observe polarity -
red/plus
to plus, black/minus to either minus or the other lead from the
capacitor - and touch the probes to the capacitor lead. If the cap
isn't
totally dead, you should see almost zero ohms at first, then rising to
a
higher value.
If you see that, leave the probes in place for a few seconds, then
remove them, switch your meter to read volts (20 will probably be
overkill, but if you've got a higher range, start there, and work down
until you get a reading) and touch the probes to the capacitor leads
again. You should see an initial high value that slowly drops to zero.
If either of these tests doesn't do what I told you would happen, then
the cap is probably toast, and you'll need a new one. If they both
work
as described, put the lid back on. It's at least acting as a capacitor
should, regardless of whether age has sent it "off value" or not, and
it
probably isn't the source of your problem.
--
Don Bruder -
[email protected] - New Email policy in effect as of Feb.
21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password
in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me)
address.
See <
http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.