recommend ESR meter, Multimeter, hot air rework station

[jetadm123]

Re: recommend ESR meter, Multimeter, hot air rework station

Looks like a nice meter. Can you open it up again and post a photo of the circuit board?

[budm]

Re: recommend ESR meter, Multimeter, hot air rework station

EVB review
http://www.capacitorlab.com/esr-meter/
https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...32f3c9b8cd.pdf

[doober993]

Re: recommend ESR meter, Multimeter, hot air rework station

Hi Guys!
I am not an electrical engineer. Repair is a hobby of mine. In the last year I have purchased a digital and analog multimeter, and a soldering station. I recently upgraded my soldering station and bought a hot air rework station with a preheater. This has made working on smd boards soooo much easier. I want to go a step further now and by an esr meter. I have 2 devices that I am looking at and I would like some professional advice on which to choose, if any. I work with smd components a lot so I was considering on getting either:

1. smart tweezers st5-s pro
or
2. bk 879b with a pair of tweezers

considering that they both add up to approximately the same price they fall in my range. the bk has a wider range for the c measurings, but the smartweezers seem to be easier to use, considering that they have the auto mode. I am aware that in circuit measuring of any caps is a questionable act. Do any of you have any experience with any of the above mentioned devices in smd repair? any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance!

[markcoenen]

Re: recommend ESR meter, Multimeter, hot air rework station

This video demonstrates why an ESR need not be terribly accurate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_wbk2F_syg

The analog meter just needs to be in the right scale. So it is with digital displays. But an auto-ranging ESR meter helps.

Excellent link, found it very useful in interpreting ESR meter readings.

In the Youtube videos description there is another link to the design of the ESR meter used and more useful info in calculating ESR and interpreting results. It filled in some of the gaps in my understanding of the whole ESR issue.