Thoughts on this ESR meter

[ivtec]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

Good day folks. I thought I'd seek some professional advice: I'm planning on getting myself an ESR meter and while I definitely don't quite have the budget for a top of the range one, I certainly don't want it to be dirt cheap either, so in searching for one, I thought I'd base its quality more or less on its price....I initially wanted to get the Atlas ESR, which although was at the very limit of how much I was willing to spend, I was just about ready to go for it, but it sort of disappeared overnight and couldn't find another locally, so I found this thing instead.

I'm sure you've heard of OLX before, since it appears to be an international thing, so don't be scared if you can't understand the language - I'm sure you can get the gist of it and make out the specs and everything else needed to come up with an opinion, especially since it throws some part names in there, like INA128 and so on, which pros may be able to identify better than I can. Google Translate could also come in handy if it really comes to that.

If clarifications are needed, don't hesitate to ask Cheers guys. Thanks for the help.

i use this one and it has been a good friend.
http://eds-inc.com/product/capanalyzer-88a-series-ii/

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

that price is 1980's pricing!!
it needs to be something like 10$ now we know how they work and every other person has posted designs online!

[budm]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

in circuit work is bs, the readings are effected by other parts.

+1000

[jondoe]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

if in doubt, take it out!

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

if in doubt, take it out!

also applies to politicians!

[Dannyx]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

So people here seem to think in-circuit measurements should be taken with a pinch of salt...not having used an ESR meter before, I wouldn't know myself enough to form an opinion, thought strictly from what Dave showed it seems it can be done with the right tool....right ? Trouble is the cost of such a "right tool" is usually prohibitive...

[Per Hansson]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

I have that same meter, it's Bob Parkers design.
It's a nice meter but doing in circuit measurements is very difficult.
Why?
Because you will often have an electrolytic cap, and then a ceramic cap in parallel, because they filter different frequencies.
Try measure that dead electrolytic cap and all you will see is the ESR of the ceramic cap.
Same goes for caps used for bulk filtering like for a CPU: they will all be parallel, what if only a few have failed, it would be enough to have one ok and the meter will show it's lowest possible value...

If you have taken a capacitor out of circuit, and you then check the spot where it was.
Only then will you learn if there was anything else in parallel in that spot.
So for the next identical unit that comes in that might proove to be useful...

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

a "component tester" will tell you capacitance, esr & leakage.
the old bargraph / 2digit units just give you a very rough idea of esr - nothing else.

[Adrian_]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

Regarding the cheap ebay ESR meters, it appears that they only measure capacitance up to small values.(50uF, 100uF things like that)

Do you guys know of a reasonably priced esr meter (20$ or so) that can also measure capacitance up to at least 5000uF? Preferably one that also has cap discharge circuit on it.

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

the atmel based component testers dont have that limit, i'v used mine on 6800 and 10,000uF caps before.
probably not the best tool for that size, but it was in reach.

the discharge circuit is your screwdriver btw.

[eccerr0r]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

My Sencore LC meter has a limit of around 0.25F ...
Does the Atmel avrtester work OK with even higher capacitors, perhaps supercapacitors?

[Adrian_]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

the discharge circuit is your screwdriver btw.

I've been doing it for a long time , but was looking for something that could do in-circuit discharges without involving pliers, in case the distance between the contacts is wider then the screwdriver's head . Not to mention high voltage caps, even if I suspect that no El Cheapo cap/ESR meter can safely discharge those...

[eccerr0r]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

Incidentally, I've discharged and apparently destroyed capacitors by short-discharging... I think the count is five or so - the ESR of these capacitors shot up dramatically after shorting the capacitor.

These were all fairly large capacitors (unexpected) and a fake capacitor (expected...). The large capacitors were larger than "C" (UM2) batteries. Ended up having to toss them

[jondoe]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

Use a large value resistor to discharge them if you don't want to short them completely. None of the cheap or even some of the more expensive cap testers discharge caps for you.

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

Does the Atmel avrtester work OK with even higher capacitors, perhaps supercapacitors?

i tried a supercap about 1F when i first got mine and it miss-identified as a "cell".
that may be fixed now, i'd have to check.
in theory it can go to 5F i think, but you probably need to put it into cap mode manually so it wont miss-identify the part.

(you probably also need to make a coffee while it charges the cap! )

[Dannyx]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

I use a 230v 60w lightbulb to discharge caps. This also gives me a visual indication of the charge that was left in it

[Per Hansson]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

My Sencore LC meter has a limit of around 0.25F ...
Does the Atmel avrtester work OK with even higher capacitors, perhaps supercapacitors?

This is the biggest cap I have at hand, tests fine even after being in use in industrial equipment since 2002!
I just realized it's actually this very cap from the OP in this thread:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7413

[Dannyx]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

This is the biggest cap I have at hand, tests fine even after being in use in industrial equipment since 2002!
I just realized it's actually this very cap from the OP in this thread:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7413

Hey I've got a couple of those lying in a drawer at work somewhere

[stj]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

This is the biggest cap I have at hand, tests fine even after being in use in industrial equipment since 2002!
I just realized it's actually this very cap from the OP in this thread:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7413

that anti-static bag can probably effect the readings!
that's why i fitted mine to a bit of acrylic with spacers.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Thoughts on this ESR meter

Well, a box has been on my to-do list since forever, but you know, lazyness and all that got in between :P