(Ken G.) wrote:

Save yourself alot of time and buy a Cap Wizard

Save yourself a lot of time and measure electrolytic cap ESR by any
means available, including the 99 cent ESR adaptor at
http://octopus.freeyellow.com/99.html

Bob

"Bob Parker" wrote in message
...
(Ken G.) wrote:

Save yourself alot of time and buy a Cap Wizard

Save yourself a lot of time and measure electrolytic cap ESR by any
means available, including the 99 cent ESR adaptor at
http://octopus.freeyellow.com/99.html


In saving time... that's where the Cap Wizard wins,
since its setup time is basically minimized...

"Thank God it's 5 PM, only 7 more working hours until bedtime."

"Do Litlle Jr." wrote:

In saving time... that's where the Cap Wizard wins,
since its setup time is basically minimized...

"Thank God it's 5 PM, only 7 more working hours until bedtime."


Doug Jones' Cap Wizard's a great instrument. I've never heard a
single bad word about it, but plenty of praise.
All I'm saying is that any kind of ESR measurement saves an amazing
amount of time in a repair situation. Just ask Larry Dishman who
sometimes pops up here, who's been a fan of the Creative ESR meter for
20 years or more.

On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 02:06:44 +1000, Bob Parker
wrote:

"Do Litlle Jr." wrote:

In saving time... that's where the Cap Wizard wins,
since its setup time is basically minimized...

"Thank God it's 5 PM, only 7 more working hours until bedtime."


Doug Jones' Cap Wizard's a great instrument. I've never heard a
single bad word about it, but plenty of praise.
All I'm saying is that any kind of ESR measurement saves an amazing
amount of time in a repair situation. Just ask Larry Dishman who
sometimes pops up here, who's been a fan of the Creative ESR meter for
20 years or more.


Bob is right, as usual. The most important feature of an ESR meter is
that one is on your bench. They all work, have different features,
strengths and weaknesses. Some of it is personal preference.

For years we carried both the DSE (Bob Parker's design) and the
Capacitor Wizard. When customers asked for a recommendation between
them I always said that it came down to personal preference for an
analog meter and a digital readout.

The Cap Wizard has the additional advantage of an audible beep which
allows you to keep your eyes on the unit under test and move along
from cap to cap. The DSE unit has a price advantage. Make your
choice.

The Cap Wizard is also sensitive to charged caps. The repair is not
hard but that is non-productive time. That is why we developed the
Savr circuit for it - lets the meter work but protects up to 400
volts.

John
The Electronic Repair Center at www.anatekcorp.com
Professional electronic repair discussion at
www.anatekcorp.com/elrepair/elrepair.htm

"John Bachman"
wrote in message ...
[....]
The Cap Wizard is also sensitive to charged caps. The repair is not
hard but that is non-productive time. That is why we developed the
Savr circuit for it - lets the meter work but protects up to 400 volts.

I might as well add a word about some cheap imports that have been
manufactured in China and sold by (for instance) a big electronic
wholesaler in Toronto. Those ESR meters have major problems
with protection... one should implement input protection, else its
only a matter of time and a waste of Can$ 39.95 since they are
completely toast after an ordeal with a charged capacitor.


"Thank God it's Friday, only two more working days until Monday."




John
The Electronic Repair Center at www.anatekcorp.com
Professional electronic repair discussion at
www.anatekcorp.com/elrepair/elrepair.htm

Hi Bob
I built your kit a few years ago and it has been a great addition to my
shop. It still amazes me the dead sets I get working without a
schematic by just poking around a SMPS and finding a high ESR cap.
Prior to getting this meter I would resort to other tricks. I would try
powering up and after fifteen minutes or so feel the caps around the
power supply. Sometimes a warm one turned out to be the culprit. Then
there was always the hot bridging method. Lots of sparks and excitement
At least once you will inadvertently reverse polarity. I wiped out a
regulator and scared the crap out of my wife that day. With my meter
though it doesn't lie. Among many other things we do here, I rebuild
apartment house intercom amplifiers. These things sit in a lobby wall
for twenty years and will suddenly start sounding like crap. I find
dried up electrolytics with my meter almost every time. Its a quick
profitable repair. and the building managers love it too as I rebuild
their equipment at a fraction of the cost of new. One serious concern I
have though is that on more than one occaision I have discharged caps
through the meter . Apparently, and luckily these were not charged
enough to damage it but seeing an arc even a small one through my meter
sure disturbed me though. I read somewhere in this thread about the
installation of two diodes. Could you please tell me the specifics of
this modification? Thanks very much and best regards, Lenny Stein,
Barlen Electronics.

Hi again Lenny,
I know what you mean about the "hot bridging" technique. It's not
for the faint-hearted! There's also a fairly high risk of damaging
semiconductors in the circuit, as I seem to remember happening to me a
long time ago.
Regarding the idea of adding extra diodes for protection, this is
what I wrote about it in the Mark 2 kit instructions:
"Heavy-duty protection.
To provide greater protection
against connection to charged electrolytics,
some kit builders have
connected an inverse-parallel pair
of 1N5404 (or similar) high-power
diodes between the test lead sockets (jacks).
If you’re the kind who’s likely
to connect the meter to the
120uF input filter capacitor of a
240V-powered switching power
supply without checking that it’s
been properly discharged, this
modification is for you.
Reportedly, this protects the
meter quite well, although it can
result in the probe tips being blown
off by large charged capacitors.
The resulting surge current can
also damage the charged capacitor
and the power diodes themselves.
However, without the diodes, the
resulting 600A current spike
destroys the microcontroller (IC2)
and damages C6."
Anatek Corp was selling a little protection board for the DSE ESR
meter, and probably still is. It's much kinder to the meter and
capacitors than the above brute-force idea. On the down side, it adds
a small amount of resistance to the test lead circuit, making it
essential to use high quality low resistance test leads.
I hope this gives you some ideas to think about. I'm delighted that
the meter's been assisting you for so long.

Regards,
Bob




" wrote:

Hi Bob
I built your kit a few years ago and it has been a great addition to my
shop. It still amazes me the dead sets I get working without a
schematic by just poking around a SMPS and finding a high ESR cap.
Prior to getting this meter I would resort to other tricks. I would try
powering up and after fifteen minutes or so feel the caps around the
power supply. Sometimes a warm one turned out to be the culprit. Then
there was always the hot bridging method. Lots of sparks and excitement
At least once you will inadvertently reverse polarity. I wiped out a
regulator and scared the crap out of my wife that day. With my meter
though it doesn't lie. Among many other things we do here, I rebuild
apartment house intercom amplifiers. These things sit in a lobby wall
for twenty years and will suddenly start sounding like crap. I find
dried up electrolytics with my meter almost every time. Its a quick
profitable repair. and the building managers love it too as I rebuild
their equipment at a fraction of the cost of new. One serious concern I
have though is that on more than one occaision I have discharged caps
through the meter . Apparently, and luckily these were not charged
enough to damage it but seeing an arc even a small one through my meter
sure disturbed me though. I read somewhere in this thread about the
installation of two diodes. Could you please tell me the specifics of
this modification? Thanks very much and best regards, Lenny Stein,
Barlen Electronics.

"Bob Parker" wrote in message
...
(Ken G.) wrote:

Save yourself alot of time and buy a Cap Wizard

Save yourself a lot of time and measure electrolytic cap ESR by any
means available, including the 99 cent ESR adaptor at
http://octopus.freeyellow.com/99.html

In "PopTronics" (USA) July 2001, pages 25-28 there is a build it yourself
design that uses a few common parts and has full protection. It claims to
test in circuit from 1 uF on up.
--
N

I remember that one quite well, because of the absurd number of
errors in the schematic. Don't even think of building it until you've
got all the errata notes which came out in subsequent issues.




"NSM" wrote:

In "PopTronics" (USA) July 2001, pages 25-28 there is a build it yourself
design that uses a few common parts and has full protection. It claims to
test in circuit from 1 uF on up.

"Bob Parker" wrote in message
...
I remember that one quite well, because of the absurd number of
errors in the schematic. Don't even think of building it until you've
got all the errata notes which came out in subsequent issues.

Not unusual for them!
--
N

"NSM" wrote in message
news:CyT6e.30157$jR3.9652@edtnps84...

"Bob Parker" wrote in message
...
I remember that one quite well, because of the absurd number of
errors in the schematic. Don't even think of building it until
you've
got all the errata notes which came out in subsequent issues.

Not unusual for them!
--
N


Yes.

I contributed articles and computer programs to several magazines back
in the '80's. They insisted on double spaced, non dot-matrix, hard
copy on non perforated paper, and a floppy with a working sample of any
programs. It wasn't easy (for me at the time) but I complied and the
published work was always wrong. I spent a lot of time sending in
corrections.

Never made any money but enjoyed seeing my name in Radio-Electronics,
Popular Electronics, HUG and MicroComputing magazines. Lucky I had a
real job.

It really isn't my fault that they are not around now.