This can happen due to a manufacturing defect, physical damage, or corrosion. Open capacitors are usually irreparable and need to be replaced. However, if the capacitor undergoes too much physical stress, it can cause the entire capacitor to break apart.
In addition to these failures, capacitors may fail due to capacitance drift, instability with temperature, high dissipation factor or low insulation resistance. Failures can be the result of electrical, mechanical, or environmental overstress, "wear-out" due to dielectric degradation during operation, or manufacturing defects.
Mechanical Stress and Vibration: Physical shocks, mechanical stress, and vibration can damage capacitor components, lead to internal connections or electrode fractures, and result in open or short circuits within the capacitor.
Capacitors fail due to overvoltage, overcurrent, temperature extremes, moisture ingress, aging, manufacturing defects, and incorrect use, impacting circuit stability and performance. Why Capacitor is Used? Why Do Capacitors Fail? What Happens When a Capacitor Fails? How Do You Know If Your Fridge Capacitor Failure Symptoms?
Visual Clues: Physical damage to the capacitor’s casing, such as cracks or splits, is a clear sign of a problem. This can be due to mechanical stress, overheating causing the casing to burst, or manufacturing defects.
Paper and plastic film capacitors are subject to two classic failure modes: opens or shorts. Included in these categories are intermittent opens, shorts or high resistance shorts. In addition to these failures, capacitors may fail due to capacitance drift, instability with temperature, high dissipation factor or low insulation resistance.