Just to disclaim a little more -- I definitely would do this at home, and the first time I did something like this was before I started doing any real circuit w

Just to disclaim a little more -- I definitely would do this at home, and the first time I did something like this was before I started doing any real circuit work at home. I take into account the typical audience of the site, though. Most of us tinker/work with highly complex things that require good research skills even if they don't touch electronics. The basics of how a fan capacitor works, how to handle one safely -- including testing, and discharging, can be done for less than $100 in parts including the required resistor/multi-meter -- in my case. But after inspection and planning, I opted for skipping some precautions and relying on "being careful"[0] which I don't recommend, but how many deaths is that, really, if we all try it? (/sarcasm) In the case of my unit, there was maybe three seconds where -- if a reasonable enough charge were present (and I had every reason to believe it held enough to hurt ... a lot ... which is motivation enough) -- I was in danger of receiving it if started pouring on me spontaneously on a clear day -- I didn't have remove the cap from the unit to secure the leads. I suspect a lot of A/C units are similar, but YMMV and I'd be willing to bet, again, most readers of this site possess the wisdom to judge the danger for themselves after suitable reading/watching. [0] Common sense which starts with Rule #1: Always have a physical witness if you're working on something that can kill you and ends with #2: Use them to double-check your research if it isn't obvious stuff (or my personal favorite, have them handle the dangerous stuff).