Poolside Chat Episode #42: Pool Pump Motor Capacitor

• How do I find the correct replacement pool pump capacitor?

I need a new capacitor for my pool pump motor. Which one should I buy?

–Inyo Forum

There are two types of capacitors commonly on a pool pump motors: the run capacitor located in the “motor bump,” or the start capacitor mounted at the back. To find a match for your capacitor find its ratings on the capacitor’s jacket. The important numbers to find are the microFarad that is abbreviated to MFD or to μf; also note the listed voltage. With the pool pump capacitor’s ratings in hand, go to InyoPool’s capacitor page by entering “capacitor” in our search.

Which Capacitor do I need? Run or Start

To give you an idea of which one’s which, a run capacitor is going to be silver, and it’s going to have a 370-volt rating. And a start capacitor is going to be black, which is going to be 125 – 250 volts. Yeah and a little tip for you, If you can find the same mfd rating but the voltage isn’t the same, you can go with one that’s higher.

So let’s say you can find one with the same mfd rating, but yours is 125v and you see a 250v, you can go with the 250v. And if there’s no marking on the capacitor, what you can do is you can call us or shoot us an email and let us know the make and model of the motor, and we can try and match up the pool pump capacitor for you.