Part II- Can ESR Meter Test Result Be Trusted?
There are some comments about the above topic and you could read the comments in the below link:
https://www.jestineyong.com/can-esr-meter-test-result-be-trusted/
The answer to the above question is trust only 90% and not 100%. As mentioned in many of my repair article before was that there are no such test equipment that can test 100%. The best test equipment is still the equipment itself. Although it is not 100% at least it could help you to check on e-caps that have ESR problem. I could say lots of e-caps have ESR problem and i have used ESR meter to detect many bad equipment that was cause by bad ESR.
Actually to really test a capacitor, one has to test the:
1) Capacitance value
2) ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance)
3) Dielectric absorption and
4) Leakage test
But then again some caps could still breakdown when under load eventhough it has been fully tested (the 4 tests above) by the special meter (Sencore lc102, lc103 etc). My rule of thumb is that is you suspect a section have problem and all the components seems to be tested good, the first thing i will do i will directly replace the components one by one and retest. I will start with semiconductor first because the chances is high for a semiconductor to breakdown when under load as compare to a capacitor. I have no regret owning an ESR meter because it has proven to solve lots of e-caps problem. Few days ago i got a call from a fellow repairer from other state told me that his Blue ESR meter had helped him solved lots of electronics problem. Sometime i wish there is a meter kitset that can perform the above 4 tests so that we do not need to have so many meters on the repair bench.
Thanks for all the feedback and comments on the previous post and if you would like to comment on this post you are welcome to do so.
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Waleed Rishmawi
March 2, 2012 at 3:55 pm
so far I did not have any problem with ESR meter. I am using the blue ESR and the GME ESR meter. sometimes I compare both results on both meter to make sure all is well. so far, I have repaired so many equipment with these meters. many electronic repair friends do not use the ESR meter and always have problems solving electronic problem and they always asking me questions about it and when an electronic equipment end it in my shop, i slove it in no time simply i have the edge over them..I have the ESR meters and i am loving it.
Jestine Yong
March 3, 2012 at 1:20 am
Hi Waleed,
Seems like you are enjoying the ESR meters. It is just a small percentage that the cap can't be accurately tested by ESR meter. Thanks again for the comment.
Jestine