Lost the magic smoke

I was testing an alternator I had rebuilt on my Allen test stand. I had it running full load at 72 amp when I had a capacitor that let the smoke out. I managed to get the resulting fire out without any noticeable damage to any of the wires inside. Between the noise, the smoke, and the resulting fire it can sure get a persons attention! I've still got some cleaning up to do inside the machine, little pieces of aluminum film all over the inside of the cabinet.

My question has to do with getting a replacement capacitor. This tester as made in the late forties and the only reference I have found for the company that made the capacitor, THE CAPACITRON COMPANY, Chicago Illinois, is in a museum. Fortunately there is printing on the case that is still readable. (I wanted to take a picture but when I went to use the camera the battery was dead.)

On the case it has the UL listing mark then next to that 2929. A little to the right is marked A1261 which I figured is the part number. Below that is 2.MFD and then 220 V. A.C.

I've ben told in the past that as long as I keep the capacity the same I can substitute a unit with a higher voltage rating. If that is true could I use this one as a replacement?
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=22-1300&catname=electric

The original capacitor is round, 2" diameter, 2-1/4" tall.

That should work for you just fine. Rule of thumb you can go up with the voltage, but not down. Too the fluid/oil filled run capacitors are rated for continuous use, and don't tend to 'go bad' like their dry cousins, so the surplus ones are just fine.

OWEN,
Not sure where to get a 2 MFD cap. I've never seen one that small used on Air conditioners. If my menory is correct you can get 4 MFD's rated over 300 vac used on fan motors. You may want our resident EE, JohnT, opinion on what I'm about to tell you. When you take 2 capacitors the same size and put them in series you get half the capacitance of one of the capacitors and their voltage ratings add together. So two 4 mic caps in series = 2 mic. If you know a HVAC mechanic, the cost of each cap should be between $5-10. Most likely they carry them on their service trucks too.

If you had an old 2 mic cap and it was filled with oil, there is a good chance the oil contained PCB's. SOOOO you may had toxic smoke released. The newer caps will say PCB free.

Hope this helps,
George

It will work fine. Buy a couple cause the new ones don't last very long.