The Capacitive Load consists of a module housing nine capacitors arranged in three identical banks. Each bank consists of three capacitors connected in parallel that can be switched on or off with toggle switches to obtain various capacitance values. This allows the equivalent capacitance of each bank to be increased or decreased by steps. Six safety banana jacks on the module front panel provide access to each capacitor bank. The three capacitor banks can be connected separately for operation in three-phase circuits. Also, the three capacitor banks can be connected together for operation in single-phase circuits.

A permanently connected discharge resistor reduces the voltage across the terminals of each bank of capacitors to 5% of the applied voltage within 25 seconds after the load is disconnected from the supply. The Capacitive Load may be used with both dc and ac power.

The Capacitive Load is commonly used in conjunction with the other basic load modules, the Resistive Load and the Inductive Load to experiment with the effects of different types of loads on a circuit.