Short Circuit Finder
The short circuit finder test equipment is not new in the market. It is already available since in the 90’s and there are many companies currently selling it like Polar Instrument Tone Ohm 950, EDS Leakseeker 82B, B & K 260 Tone Generator, Qmax QT45 low cost short locator and etc. Currently I’m having the EDS Leakseeker 82B which I have bought back in the year 2003. While googling I found a new tester below and you can click on the photo to check it out.
The primary aim of the short circuit finder is to detect shorted components in high density board thus if you repair circuit board that does not consist lots of components then don’t’ get one. If your job is to troubleshoot and repair motherboard that consist lots of SMD components then it is necessary to have one so simplify your job in detecting the shorted component. If you have know that if a particular component is leaky then the short circuit finder may not or hard to detect it.
The short circuit finder is designed to detect those components that have a complete short circuit to ground that have cause the power supply to malfunction. Let’s take the dot matrix printer as an example. The Dot Matrix printer consist of a Mainboard and a power supply board. Assuming if there is a non polar cap shorted to ground in the mainboard, the current draw will be increases and this will cause the power supply to shutdown. Once you have separated the mainboard from the power supply by removing the connector the power supply will work again. In this kind of scenario, you can use the short circuit finder to trace or detect the problem.
The short circuit finder can be used in any repair field but preferably on the high density components board. The reason for it is simple- if a circuit board consist of less components I would rather just remove those components along the DC supply rail line to check for short circuit using my ohm meter which is faster then using the short circuit finder. Again it is your choice and if you think that you want to use the finder on less components board you may go ahead. If you are in tight of budget make sure every tester you are buying serving a purpose for you otherwise the tester can be a display set in your technical department which mean you never use it in your current repairing job. This will be a waste and money is not easy to earn. If you have the short locator in the above photo I would like to hear your comments or review. Only get the short circuit finder that suits your budget.
(53)Dislikes
(3)
15 Comments
Leave a Reply
Ravindra Maraweera
April 9, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Looks usefull for repairinng main boards. Where can buy this and how much?
Jestine Yong
April 9, 2012 at 10:08 pm
Hi Ravindra,
You need to visit the website and check from the owner.
Jestine
hendrik
May 11, 2012 at 11:27 am
Dear Jestine,
can u review EDS leakseeker 82B product ??
seems like above QT45 only tracing shorted circuit, not component like EDS leakseeker 82B
Thanks
Jestine Yong
May 11, 2012 at 11:58 pm
Hi Hendrik,
I have the EDS leakseeker 82B but to tell you the truth it is not easy to use it. You have to refer to the manual and follow their steps. In the manual they even recommended to use a low ohm resistor to create a short circuit for testing hope that you will familiarize with the tester. If you are repairing normal single sided board then don't get it unless your board is high density that is filled with tone of components. Once you have the tester you need to really practice it first before you perform the actual repair. This tester is meant for finding short circuit for components that have shorted to ground. This tester is not as simple s checking a diode with your multimeter.
Jestine
kevin
January 10, 2013 at 9:21 am
Hi! Sir yong. I would like to hear it from you. Is it true. That Eds82b is no longer available in the market? Notify me if there is a supplier selling until today. Thank you.
Jestine Yong
January 10, 2013 at 9:04 pm
Hi Kevin,
You can try check out from the owner's website at http://www.eds-inc.com/leak.html
Jestine
Jan
January 21, 2014 at 3:15 am
Hallo,
a free year ago I have bought from you Testing elektronic componens, do you have a newer version this one ? Or it is the same. And do you have sam good book for repairing LCD TV ?
Thank you very much
Jestine Yong
January 21, 2014 at 11:18 am
Hi Jan,
It is the same version except that the cover already changed. As for the LCD TV repair ebooks I suggest that you visit this link:
https://www.jestineyong.com/repairing-guides-by-kent/
I do not have the LCD TV repair ebook.
Jestine
Amir Mukhtar
January 21, 2014 at 11:15 pm
Good Device
thanks you
Amir Mukhtar
gerald factor
January 23, 2014 at 1:18 pm
Hi, jestine I hope your doing fine, do you sell short circuit finder tester?
Thanks and regards.
Gerald factor
Philippines.
Jestine Yong
January 23, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Hi Gerald,
Sorry i do not sell those testers.
Jestine
carl
February 3, 2014 at 1:11 am
Hello, I'm the designer of the ShortSniffer products. The ShortSniffers were designed to find solder bridges and PC board faults on boards that have just been produced. These faults are common and the ShortSniffer is the best tool for this job. Other boards that have failed in the field often have other types of problems so ShortSniffers may not be the best tool for that job.
Boards that have failed in the field (with shorts) are often obvious, with holes in components and discoloration on the board where the short event occurred. The only use I have had for ShortSniffers on boards that have failed in the field was systems where the power supply had over-voltaged the ICs and melted most of the large scale logic (CPU, RAM, ROM, etc.). I was able to tell that current was going in to all of the VCC leads on all of the parts. With all of the parts shorted out, the board was not worthy of repair, since the cost of the individual parts was more than a replacement board.
ShortSniffers do work for SMD board components, and are good for tracing the short circuit currents on inner layers, since the pickup head senses the E/M field of the audio test current. Since the test current follows the path of least resistance, you can follow the sound to the short.
You can see the ShortSniffer in action at http://www.shortsniffer.com/ShortSniffing.htm , and you can even build your own similar device using the free plans at the bottom of the page:
http://www.shortsniffer.com/Competition.htm .
One requirement is that you must already know which two circuit nets are shorted together before you can tell where to inject the test current. This is usually done with an ohmmeter and/or oscilloscope.
If you are in a PC board production environment, the ShortSniffer is probably a good tool to have. If you are in a video game repair shop, or you have electronics as a hobby, then the ShortSniffer may be "overkill" for your needs. Take a look at the free plans (link above) to see if you can build your own ShortSniffer clone. If it meets your needs, then consider buying a ShortSniffer for the added convenience and extra performance of the optimized design.
Thanks for your consideration,
Carl
Jestine Yong
February 3, 2014 at 11:22 am
Hi Carl,
Nice to know you and thanks for the clear explanation of your product.
Jestine
Babu
July 14, 2014 at 5:00 pm
Hi ,
we are from manufacturing telecom product, we have set up for board repair and testing activities and we require short circuit locator for faulty board. please provide the details of your short sniffer products and cost details.
Jestine Yong
July 14, 2014 at 9:13 pm
Please email the owner of the product by visiting the website.
Jestine