Cheap ESR Meter

[Ken G.]

I see where the D.S. meter works well and gets great reports but i must
say cheap is not always better .
I would scrape up the extra $ and get a Capacitor Wizard . Its got an
analog meter and beeper . The 4AA batterys last a long time . I know
many are on a budget but the luxury of the Cap Wizard is worth the extra
$ . maybe these show up on ebay by now ?

 

[James T. White]

Looking at two budget meters, the Dick Smith, available from AU for
$44 US + shipping and the MATelectronics MUL-3333 for $50 + shipping.
Anyone have experience with either? Is the kit doable for a rank
beginner? I do have a Weller station, will travel...

I can't comment on those ESR meters, but if you are willing to consider
something a bit more costly, take a look at the Peak ESR60
(http://www.peakelec.co.uk/acatalog/jz_esr60.html). It reads both the
capacitance and ESR which can be handy if your DVM doesn't have a
capacitance scale.

 

[GregS]

I don't know anyone who doesn't have difficulty reading those
atrocious blue-bodied 1% resistors, me included/especially. That's why
the Mark 2 meter's kit notes includes this little caution:

"Note that the kit for the Mk.2 version
contains 1% resistors. It’s notoriously
difficult to correctly identify the colour
bands on these, so check each one’s
value with an ohmmeter before soldering
it to the board."

I was just thinking. What are all the other uses one could use the meter
for. Like measuring resistors, coils, ??? I have used mine to measure
low ohms resistance in wiring.

greg

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

I have both the DSE (made from kit) and the Atlas. I carry the Atlas and
use it almost exclusively because of the size. If you get one get the hands
free kit.

Building the kit is time comsuming but not hard. Great value product.

Leonard

 

[Jim Yanik]

Apologies about that!
I was replacing the batteries about once per 3 months with typical
use, though some people complain that they hardly last any time at
all. Maybe they always leave the meter on until it turns itself off?
The 78L05 regulator can be replaced with a low dropout voltage one,
which extends battery life a bit.

Cheers
Bob

Bob.did the ESR meter kit change from using one 9v battery to 6 AAA cells?
I haven't had much problem with the 9V's battery life.

 

[Arfa Daily]

I was just thinking. What are all the other uses one could use the meter
for. Like measuring resistors, coils, ??? I have used mine to measure
low ohms resistance in wiring.

greg

It's good for reading non-dynamic resistances, like low value resistors, but
maybe not some wirewounds, which have significant inductance. You can also
use it, if you use very sharp tipped probes and make sure that it is
correctly zero'd, to chase down rail shorts on PCBs. There is enough
resistance in the copper tracks to be able to see the resistance dropping,
as you probe the tracks, and get closer to the shorted IC or decoupling cap,
or whatever is causing the short. Put a deliberate short across a board and
try it. Obviously, the thinner the tracks, the more it shows up. You can't
measure coils with it because these represent a dynamic resistance, of
opposite characteristic to a capacitor, when tested with an AC source, as
the ESR meter produces. They will represent a high AC resistance when
excited in this way, and it will be outside the 100 ohm range of the meter.
Even if it came up less than that, it would still not be an accurate
representation of the true DC ohmic value of the coil. It is fairly easy to
put together a low ohms meter with an opamp, for measuring coils. Could be
useful for checking things like EW modulator coils for shorted turns.

Arfa

 

[Arfa Daily]

Apologies about that!
I was replacing the batteries about once per 3 months with typical
use, though some people complain that they hardly last any time at
all. Maybe they always leave the meter on until it turns itself off?
The 78L05 regulator can be replaced with a low dropout voltage one,
which extends battery life a bit.

Cheers
Bob

Must be my twisted sense of humour ... I was being facetious when I said the
battery only lasted 2 years !! The battery life is really very good, and I
honestly haven't got any complaints with it lasting 2 years. Personally, I
prefer the digital display to the analogue one on the other ESR meters. It
is completely unambiguous, and when it says " zero ", it really is. Also, I
don't think that you can call Bob's meter ' cheap ' by any stretch of the
imagination. For sure, it doesn't COST a lot, but CHEAP, it's not. Remember
that it is uP controlled, and does some clever calculations to arrive at the
result. Most of the analogue ones don't work on that principle.

The meter is available in the UK from Satcure. Go to

www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page6.htm#esr

It's called the " Genie " in the UK

Arfa

 

[Bob Parker]

Must be my twisted sense of humour ... I was being facetious when I said the
battery only lasted 2 years !!

I knew what you meant- I was being a bit silly when I apologized. I
should have put a "wink" smiley there instead!

I thought I'd make a few general comments about battery life and
extending it while I had the chance.

Glad your ESR meter's working well for you!

Regards
Bob

 

[Bob Parker]

Hi again Jim,
You've had that meter for a long time now!
Yeh, when we decided to do a minor upgrade of the meter, we
thought that the battery needed to be looked at. Not so much because
of operating life, but because so many people either didn't like or
couldn't understand the idea of holding the 9V battery in place with a
piece of foam plastic between it and the bottom of the circuit board.
It's worked perfectly for me since 1995.
The only practical alternative we could think of was to use 6 x AAA
cells in holders stuck to the bottom of the plastic case. So the Mark
2 meter kit contains two AAA holders which have to be connected in
series.

Rgds
Bob

 

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Hi again Jim,
You've had that meter for a long time now!
Yeh, when we decided to do a minor upgrade of the meter, we
thought that the battery needed to be looked at. Not so much because
of operating life, but because so many people either didn't like or
couldn't understand the idea of holding the 9V battery in place with a
piece of foam plastic between it and the bottom of the circuit board.
It's worked perfectly for me since 1995.
The only practical alternative we could think of was to use 6 x AAA
cells in holders stuck to the bottom of the plastic case. So the Mark
2 meter kit contains two AAA holders which have to be connected in
series.

I'd have preferred AA cells. They cost the same in the UK but last twice
as long. They're also easier to get.

The other alternative would have been a case mounted PP3 battery holder so
you could quickly change the battery.

However, thanks for the kit. It's super.

 

[Jim Yanik]

I was thinking about kludging up some sort of 9V battery clip to glue to
the case bottom.
(say,if you ever get to Orlando,Florida,check out Skycraft Surplus;it's a
hobbyists wet dream.Oh,the Disney/Universal/SeaWorld attractions are
fun,too.)

I also wonder how one of the 9V lithium batteries would last comparable to
an ordinary 9V alkaline? It'd cost more,but longer life and less chance of
leakage might be beneficial.

I'd have preferred AA cells. They cost the same in the UK but last
twice as long. They're also easier to get.

SIX AA's mean you'd need a bigger case.

In the case of the DSE ESR meter,battery life with AAA's(vs AA's) is not
going to matter much;the cells will probably LEAK first.

The other alternative would have been a case mounted PP3 battery
holder so you could quickly change the battery.

However, thanks for the kit. It's super.

Agreed!

 

[Dave Plowman (News)]

SIX AA's mean you'd need a bigger case.

No - plenty room in my one. Perhaps the design of the case has changed?

In the case of the DSE ESR meter,battery life with AAA's(vs AA's) is not
going to matter much;the cells will probably LEAK first.

I'd not expect any quality battery to leak in three years or so.

 

[Arfa Daily]

I was thinking about kludging up some sort of 9V battery clip to glue to
the case bottom.
(say,if you ever get to Orlando,Florida,check out Skycraft Surplus;it's a
hobbyists wet dream.Oh,the Disney/Universal/SeaWorld attractions are
fun,too.)

I also wonder how one of the 9V lithium batteries would last comparable to
an ordinary 9V alkaline? It'd cost more,but longer life and less chance of
leakage might be beneficial.


SIX AA's mean you'd need a bigger case.

In the case of the DSE ESR meter,battery life with AAA's(vs AA's) is not
going to matter much;the cells will probably LEAK first.


Agreed!

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Jim, can you mail me direct with the location of that place. I go over there
at least once a year, and I'm getting fed up of Disney now ...

Arfa

 

[Jim Yanik]

Jim, can you mail me direct with the location of that place. I go over
there at least once a year, and I'm getting fed up of Disney now ...

Arfa

Skycraft's on Fairbanks Ave.about 500 feet east from I-4.(in Winter Park)
Coming from I-4,get off at Fairbanks Ave.

You can't miss it,it's got a red rocket bolted to the building.

 

[Chris Jones]

I see where the D.S. meter works well and gets great reports but i must
say cheap is not always better .
I would scrape up the extra $ and get a Capacitor Wizard . Its got an
analog meter and beeper . The 4AA batterys last a long time . I know
many are on a budget but the luxury of the Cap Wizard is worth the extra
$ . maybe these show up on ebay by now ?

Do you own either of these instruments, or on what basis do you make your
recommendation?

I have the Bob Parker one and it is perfect for the job.

Chris

 

[Chris Jones]

My worst experience with the Dick Smith one was that I screwed up and
grabbed those leads instead of my VOM. Consequently I put 120VAC across
it
and severely let the smoke out - time for a new one. Now I have two red
leads on it to make it more apparent that I don't have the VOM leads.

Other than that, it has worked well for me. Oh, the kit was also fine -
just follow the directions and put on the smallest items first. That way
it's easier to have the board be stable for soldering. I also decided
that I would take one value of resistor, and install all of that value at
one
time. Kind of helped me make sure that I got the right ones in the right
places. I knew that I had to find enough homes for them until I ran out.

WT

On my one I put some very very big diodes anti-parallel directly across the
4mm terminals, (not on the PCB). I am not sure what would happen if it
were connected to the mains (line) but I think it now has at least half a
chance of surviving until the main circuit breaker disconnects it, since
diodes often fail short circuit. Anyway I hope not to test this.

Chris

 

[Ken G.]

Do you own either of these instruments, or on what basis do you make
your recommendation?

Yes i have had a Cap Wizard for years .
When i was looking into buying one i studied the internet and peoples
reviews of several testers .
The Bob Barker is of coarse a very good unit no doubt .
The Cap Wizard is quicker to use and detects even the hard to detect
caps under circuitry . Its like going from the ``test light`` to a
deluxe instrument . You dont need to read and calculate any numbers ,
just listen for a beep or/and look at the meter

I have the Bob Parker one and it is perfect for the job.
Chris

 

[Bob Parker]

Hi Dave,
We'd have preferred AA cells too! Unfortunately their holders are
too large to fit in the case.
We considered changing the case, but there weren't any with a 9V
battery door with suitable dimensions for the PCB etc.
With this kind of thing, a lot of compromises have to be made. Back
in 1995, everyone assumed that a kit for an ESR meter would never
become popular because it's such a specialized instrument. If I'd
known it was going to take off like it did, I'd have designed it
differently.
I'm very pleased that it's been helpful to so many of my fellow
technicians!!

Cheers
Bob

 

[Bob Parker]

No - plenty room in my one. Perhaps the design of the case has changed?

When I met up with the guys in the Dick Smith Kits Dept to plan
the Mark 2 revision of the ESR meter, we checked the size of available
AA cell holders and concluded that there was no way they'd fit in the
space available. Possibly the ones you've seen are more "slimline"
than the kind DSE sells? AAA cells are just as expensive down here,
and it's probably the same in the USA too.

I'd not expect any quality battery to leak in three years or so.

I don't remember seeing any Energizer or Eveready alkaline cell or
battery ever leak. But Duracells are a different story, unfortunately.
I stay away from them now.


Cheers
Bob

 

[Bob Parker]

You can get a satellite's view of the whole area. If you have Google
Earth installed, downloading and running this tiny file should make it
all happen:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bobpar/Skycraft Parts & Surplus.kmz


Bob