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Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

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    #41
    Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

    Originally posted by stj View Post
    doesnt esr on batteries vary with charge?

    i know on 18650's i salvage that they look a lot better after a full cycle
    I never tried testing 18650's.
    Just lead acid, nickel metal hydride and nickel cadmium's.
    Can't recall really checking for charged verses dead.
    Lots of charged verses charged to compare their health is all.

    Comment


      #42
      Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

      Those minor upgrades add up to ease of use!
      The longer leads would keep me from dragging my Blue around so much!
      Nice job on the holder!

      Comment


        #43
        Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

        bcstedt,..

        About your FA error code.
        Lots of reading gives me this from Bob Parker. (Don't try out the self-diagnostic function unless you really need to. And don't use a 9V battery with the diagnostic function because it will report an 'F2' fault which probably doesn't exist. It must be powered by 5.5v to work properly.)

        As far as errors and faults check here. http://www.bobparker.net.au/esr_meter/esrprob.htm

        Lots of good Info on errors and problems with the Blue ESR Meter from Bob himself!

        Comment


          #44
          Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

          Originally posted by volkswagenvan View Post
          I kinda made one from the old Bob Parker meter.
          Thanks for the printout. Doesn't look as "professional" as the original but 10 times more useful.
          Attached Files
          Last edited by Per Hansson; 02-20-2022, 07:06 AM. Reason: Offsite image uploaded
          --------------------------------------------------------------
          Ryzen 3600x
          16GB Patriot 3600MHz
          MSI B450 Gaming Plus
          MSI Air Boost Vega 56
          Acer 32" 1440P Freesync
          Rosewill Capstone 750W
          --------------------------------------------------------------
          Hakko FX-888D Station
          FX-8802 Iron
          MG Chem .8mm 63/37 RA 2.2%

          Comment


            #45
            Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

            Glad to help... looks more professional in color. lol
            I know i love mine now!
            Attached Files

            Comment


              #46
              Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

              Originally posted by volkswagenvan View Post
              Glad to help... looks more professional in color. lol
              I know i love mine now!
              I should have printed it out at work on our $3000 copier instead of my monochrome $80 home laser printer. It looks good enough and I didn't use sticker paper either. I was just really careful with packing tape and used a razor to trim the excess.
              --------------------------------------------------------------
              Ryzen 3600x
              16GB Patriot 3600MHz
              MSI B450 Gaming Plus
              MSI Air Boost Vega 56
              Acer 32" 1440P Freesync
              Rosewill Capstone 750W
              --------------------------------------------------------------
              Hakko FX-888D Station
              FX-8802 Iron
              MG Chem .8mm 63/37 RA 2.2%

              Comment


                #47
                Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                Interesting the "old" table seems to include some compensation to limited testing frequency, but the "new" graphs do not...

                Now to attach a table to the AVR transistortester ... heh...

                Comment


                  #48
                  Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                  Looks Good Enough to do the job jayjr !

                  Everybody can use it if you want. Its not to fancy but it works!

                  I remember typing the omega / ohm symbol was a pain for me!
                  The colors just looked kinda cool. I saw similar on the net and they got added at the end.

                  I have two printers that i use. One HP Laser Jet P1006 for cheap black and white and
                  a HP Office Jet Pro 8210 for color printing.

                  Comment


                    #49
                    Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                    Originally posted by redwire View Post
                    What ESR chart did you go with?

                    I've heard measuring battery ESR can also be done if you add a series DC blocking capacitor. Good for many testing different batteries, LiIon and car batteries with the Blue ESR meter.
                    This guy seems to think the meter can check batteries charged or not.
                    https://youtu.be/toq3msUeQ40?t=207
                    --------------------------------------------------------------
                    Ryzen 3600x
                    16GB Patriot 3600MHz
                    MSI B450 Gaming Plus
                    MSI Air Boost Vega 56
                    Acer 32" 1440P Freesync
                    Rosewill Capstone 750W
                    --------------------------------------------------------------
                    Hakko FX-888D Station
                    FX-8802 Iron
                    MG Chem .8mm 63/37 RA 2.2%

                    Comment


                      #50
                      Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                      AnaTek worked with Bob Parker to get the Blue ESR Meter assembled for sale.
                      I would trust anything he says because he would know!

                      As for ESR getting better with charge cycles,... It could happen.
                      I have seen old caps that have just sat around in equipment unused get better
                      after some time back in service. Reform I guess.

                      You got me playing with battery's at my desk now!

                      New AA alkaline 1.5 volt reads .00 on the Blue while Old almost dead ones removed from my belt flashlight read 1.0 ohms. Same brand from the same package!

                      Interesting!

                      Another interesting thing is if you put one sharp tip test lead on the bottom of a cheap
                      AA battery you can touch the positive and negative through the plastic at the same time producing a red glow hot enough to make a small blister on your finger!

                      Never done that before! Ok,...I`m done testing stuff now. LOL

                      Comment


                        #51
                        Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                        Some (good) battery blue ESR measurements:
                        AAA Panasonic alkaline, 0.11 ohms, 0.13 ohms
                        AAA Ikea alkaline, 0.07 ohms
                        AAA chinese alkaline [weak almost dead] 0.2 ohms
                        AAA Energizer lithium, 0.22ohms, 0.24 ohms
                        ----------------------------------------------
                        AAA Ikea Ladda NiMH 900mAh charged, 0.06 ohms. Discharged, 0.06 ohms
                        AAA Eneloop NiMH 750mAh charged, 0.17, 0.23
                        ----------------------------------------------
                        9V Energizer Industrial alkaline, 1.2 ohms
                        9V Duracell alkaline, 5.0 ohms I just want to take a leak?
                        ----------------------------------------------
                        12V 7.2Ah gel-cell good 3yrs on standby, 0.03 ohms
                        ----------------------------------------------
                        AA Ikea Ladda NiMH 2,450mAh new, 0.03 ohms
                        AA Eneloop Pro NiMH 2,450mAh used, 0.06 ohms
                        ----------------------------------------------
                        AA Ikea alkaline, 0.05 ohms
                        AA Duracell alkaline weak, 0.77 ohms I just want to take a leak
                        AA Duracell Procell alkaline weak, 0.70 ohms I just want to take a leak
                        AA Duracell Procell alkaline weak, 0.13 ohms
                        ----------------------------------------------

                        I think the main advantage to using ESR is it doesn't depend on state-of-charge, so dead or alive it checks the plate's active surface area and cell interconnects etc. which go downhill with corrosion.
                        But I really need to build a new blue ESR meter with an extra digit of resolution.

                        Comment


                          #52
                          Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                          Very interesting! No burnt fingers?

                          I found more reading material, The new blue ring tester is interesting as well!

                          Bob Parker's Electronic Stuff http://bobparker.net.au/index.html

                          Anatek Instruments https://muut.com/anatek-forum/#!/ana...ct-discussions

                          Comment


                            #53
                            Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                            Originally posted by volkswagenvan View Post
                            bcstedt,..

                            About your FA error code.
                            Lots of reading gives me this from Bob Parker. (Don't try out the self-diagnostic function unless you really need to. And don't use a 9V battery with the diagnostic function because it will report an 'F2' fault which probably doesn't exist. It must be powered by 5.5v to work properly.)

                            As far as errors and faults check here. http://www.bobparker.net.au/esr_meter/esrprob.htm

                            Lots of good Info on errors and problems with the Blue ESR Meter from Bob himself!
                            I know that this is one year late. Before using the diagnostic function in the Blue ESR meter, a few things have to be done first (which are in the instructions): "Before doing the self-test, it's very important to first set VR1 to the center of its adjustment range, short out R30, 100R and make sure that the meter's supply voltage is in the range of 6.2 – 6.8V. Do not use a 9V battery for this test because it will cause a false F2 warning!" If you don't short out R30, you will get a false "FA" fault code. I hope this clarifies things a bit.
                            It is a good shrubbery. I like the laurels particularly...

                            Comment


                              #54
                              Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                              Thank`s for the info Bob!

                              It's never too late to learn something. Example = "Kombi vans" Lol
                              Thank`s for the clarification!

                              Comment


                                #55
                                Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                                In case anyone's wondering why it's necessary to power the Blue meter from an unusual voltage and short out R30 before invoking the diagnostic function, it's because the microcontroller's firmware was designed for the Dick Smith Mk2 ESR meter which has a different voltage regulator and there's no R30. I knew that if I changed the firmware to suit the Blue meter, there would be endless mix-ups between the different microcontroller versions.
                                It is a good shrubbery. I like the laurels particularly...

                                Comment


                                  #56
                                  Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                                  Interesting and Good call on keeping the same firmware.

                                  I hope to never have to use the diagnostic function but my biggest fear is doing
                                  something stupid someday and making my Blue meter a Blue brick!

                                  Hopefully that will never happen. I can replace and repair everything but the Zilog!
                                  Your Blue meter is so popular that I would find a replacement with no problem if needed.

                                  You made yourself quite a good piece of test equipment! Thank`s for sharing your Meter with the world!

                                  Comment


                                    #57
                                    Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                                    Originally posted by volkswagenvan View Post
                                    Interesting and Good call on keeping the same firmware.

                                    I hope to never have to use the diagnostic function but my biggest fear is doing
                                    something stupid someday and making my Blue meter a Blue brick!

                                    Hopefully that will never happen. I can replace and repair everything but the Zilog!
                                    Your Blue meter is so popular that I would find a replacement with no problem if needed.

                                    You made yourself quite a good piece of test equipment! Thank`s for sharing your Meter with the world!
                                    So far I haven't heard of even one microcontroller failure due to connecting the Blue meter to charged high voltage capacitors. In fact the late John Bachman at Anatek who I collaborated with actually tried connecting one of the meters to bigger and more highly charged capacitors until it started blowing tracks off the PCB, but the microcontroller survived.

                                    I only designed the ESR meter to help with my own repairs. I submitted it to a local magazine as a construction project, and the editor gave me a look like "Why would anyone want to measure a capacitor attribute which no one has ever heard of?". But kit sales just exploded and have stayed high for 1/4 of a century.

                                    I'm sure that Andy at Alltronics who makes the kits now would help out if anyone needed a replacement microcontroller IC. He's that kinda guy.
                                    It is a good shrubbery. I like the laurels particularly...

                                    Comment


                                      #58
                                      Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                                      how much current does the blue meter use?
                                      just wondering because there is a cheap(free) source of very compact 500ma lion pouch cells

                                      Comment


                                        #59
                                        Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                                        Originally posted by stj View Post
                                        how much current does the blue meter use?
                                        just wondering because there is a cheap(free) source of very compact 500ma lion pouch cells
                                        I can check in a little bit for you. I currently use a 9v lithium which is just two lithium cells making it about 8.4v fully charged. Seems to work fine.
                                        --------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Ryzen 3600x
                                        16GB Patriot 3600MHz
                                        MSI B450 Gaming Plus
                                        MSI Air Boost Vega 56
                                        Acer 32" 1440P Freesync
                                        Rosewill Capstone 750W
                                        --------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Hakko FX-888D Station
                                        FX-8802 Iron
                                        MG Chem .8mm 63/37 RA 2.2%

                                        Comment


                                          #60
                                          Re: Finally built the Bob Parker "Blue" ESR Meter

                                          Originally posted by stj View Post
                                          how much current does the blue meter use?
                                          just wondering because there is a cheap(free) source of very compact 500ma lion pouch cells
                                          The current consumption jumps all over the place depending on how many segments of the displays are on. It's about 15mA at idle but can get up to maybe 40mA.

                                          According to Energizer's data, the 522 alkaline 9V battery has a capacity of around 600mAH at that level of discharge, so a 500mAH Li-Ion battery could be expected to last a similar amount of time.

                                          Hope this helps...
                                          It is a good shrubbery. I like the laurels particularly...

                                          Comment

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