Grinder starts and runs then peters out and gets pretty warm. Is capaciter bad?

can depends many factors, try to grind finer coffe powder and warm well the machine before starting to brew coffee. If the grinder does not make finer coffe powder then you must contact the service, check if blades are in place before calling them...

Feel the power cord when that happens. If the power cord doesn't get pretty warm, and the grinder itself doesn't get awfully hot, then I'd suspect the breaker - they get old and trip too easily.

It sounds like you have a bad Ignition Coil (Module). This is how they act when they start going bad. When they get warm, they quit. Some will last up to 20 minutes before they shut down. You can sometimes find a used one pretty cheap at a small engine shop.

Jim

Hi and welcome to FixYa, I am Kelly
Inside your grinder either the stationary switch or the rotating assembly that actuates the stationary switch has failed.

Download this pdf file:
http://www.baldor.com/pdf/literature/CA506_0806_WEB.pdf Then go to page 9

The rotating assembly is this part number: (most common failure)
34RS2060SP

You must remove the end plate / cap to change this part.

The statonary switch rarely fails unless the rotating assembly damaged the contacts when the rotating assemble failed. When the rotating assembly fails you often find a spring and flyweight loose inside the grinder during disassembly. Should your stationary switch have failed try and get a number off of it so you can get the right switch. Otherwise you have to use NEMA code / Body type numbers.

Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly

this is a "Split-Phase"motor it uses only a run capacitor and a typical capacitance rated MFD rating will be between 80 and 290 MFD, go to www. grainger..com and they will have your part,and even if its an older unit and the model/serial/number is available take it with you & they will have a replacement capacitor available in the correct size/dimension/mfd/etc

Safety note - make sure to disconnect the power from the wall before you start checking this stuff.

Odds are it's one of four problems. The first is easiest to fix and most likely. The other three are probably best dealt with by an electric motor repair shop.

1) Start capacitor failure. Capacitors age and eventually die. If you know a bit about electronics, you can disassemble your motor, remove the capacitor and test its capacitance (it will have a label identifying its capacitance in microfarads (mfd)). If the capacitance measures way lower than the label says, buy a replacement of the same capacitance (try Granger) and you'll be back up and running. Be careful though, capacitors are batteries and they can give you a pretty good shock.

2) Shaft locked up. If you can turn the pulley on the motor by hand, this isn't the problem.

3) Start switch failure. This switch is inside the motor. Since you're asking this question. you should probably get a repair shop motor shop to handle this.

4) Winding failure. Since it's been working fine, pretty much all that would happen here is a wire coming loose inside or it might have burned up. If a continuity check on them fails, the windings are probably at fault.

To adjust this grinder turn the adjustment nob to the finest setting (ESPRESSO or TURKISH) Locate 2 small set screws on the adjusting nob. Loosen these screws (do not remove them) about one full turn. Start the grinder and, with it running, VERY SLOWLY and GRADUALLY, turn the CENTER adjustment screw clockwise until you begin to hear the burrs begin to touch (whirring sound). Back off the center screw about 1/16 of a turn, shut of grinder and re-tighten the set screws. Then try the grind on DRIP or there about for brewed coffee.

It sounds like the capacitator might be bad or the starter windings. What you can try and BE CAREFUL is turn the switch on and spin the wheel by hand in direction it will be running to see if starts. Again BE CAREFUL

if this is a cap start motor and not a centrifugal start run motor then bad cap is good place to start

Fill beans before they run out!
If you hear the grinder running empty, press the same button you pressed to start making coffe to cancel the current cup -or, if some beans were ground, stop the water a bit earlier to make a shorter coffe using the same method (press the button you pressed to start the cup). The auto-detect of beans missing is a very minor and largely useless feature.