My guess would be that you're measuring small uF caps and the measuring
frequency is such that the series impedance (due to the uF value) is too
high for the system to deal with.

Have you tried it with a electrolytic and non-electrolytic of similar uF?

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Bill Jeffrey writes:

A long shot, but ...

Is it possible that your meter actually reads out the equivalent
parallel resistance of the cap (yes, I know what ESR stands for)?
For most caps (but not electrolytics) this would be a very high
resistance -
many megohms.

Just a thought. By the way, if you didn't get a manual, you can buy
the instructional video on eBay for $10.

Bill

wrote:

I recently bought a Sencore LC102 off of e-bay. It was calibrated just
prior to sale. When checking caps for ESR, I only get readings on
electrolytics, no other type caps. Other caps cause the meter to flash
a high value, regardless of control/voltage settings. The meter will
read value though for all caps. Am I doing something wrong, or is my
meter gimped? Thanks.