ESR Meter Advice

Hi All:

I'm still getting into electronic repairs. I'm learning, but the lack of
formal instruction makes things a little bumpy sometimes.

Anyways, I've decided that it's time to buck up for an ESR meter. Casually
searching, I've found the two following URLs:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2596539383&category=25423

http://www.anatekcorp.com/testequipment/esr.htm

To my untrained eye, these units appear identical. But I'm wondering if the
eBay unit is some kind of counterfeit. Does anybody know of such a thing?

Also - there is considerable savings by purchasing the Anatek unit
unassembled. Is assembly & calibration of one of these meters beyond the
scope of a novice electronics hobbyist?

Another also - any recommendations on a decent unit to buy? Where to buy?
I'm mainly interested in repairing computer monitors at this time. I will
probably get involved with audio amplification & signal processing repairs
as skills allow me to.

Thanks for any advice.

 

These are identical units. They are both Dick Smith Electronics ESR meters,
designed by Bob Parker, who frequents these groups from time to time. They
are top-notch meters. The calibration is nothing more than connecting a
couple of precision resistors (supplied with the unit) and adjusting
trimpots to the correct reading.
To my knowledge, there are no counterfeits of these units, because they are
run by a pre-programmed microprocessor, which can't be copied.
You will not be sorry for buying one of these units. $79 USD for an
assembled unit is a great price. If you are concerned about price, you can
buy a kit of this unit and assemble it in a couple hours. Everything you
need is in the kit.

Cheers!!!

 

All I would add is if he is inexperienced at soldering and assembly, he
might be better off buying a unit that has already been assembled. Just
thought I would add that since he said he was "Learning, but the lack of
formal instruction" and was concerned.

 

buy?

I have had good experiences with this ESR meter:
http://clientes.netvisao.pt/greenpal/evb1.htm

Like the Anatek one this one is based Bob Parker's design. The build
quality of this unit is excellent and in my opinion well worth the price.

 

Do yourself a big favor spend the extra money and get a Capacitor Wizard
ESR tester . It is much nicer and easy to use .

 

In Bob Kos typed:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2596539383&category=25423

Look at his history. That guy has made a business out of reselling
them, and at the same price as Anatek and probably without the tech
support! People often buy on ebay without shopping around.


-
-Reply in group, but if emailing add 2 more zeros-
-and remove the obvious-

 

Hi,
Nicolae who sells those meters on Ebay is a good friend of mine who
works very hard to keep his customers happy.
There's a ton of support available for the Dick Smith ESR meter,
for example at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bobpar/esrprob.htm.
If all else fails, I'll personally help people having problems to
get their meter working.
And of course Ken's comments about the Capacitor Wizard should be
taken seriously. That's an instrument with a formidable reputation and
a feature set which is rather different to the DSE meter. It's got an
adjustable beeper as well as an analog meter, which is easier to
interpret than just numbers on a digital display. However it doesn't
have automatic power-off like the DSE meter.
Have a look at the comparison between those plus another two ESR
meters on the Anatek website at
http://www.anatekcorp.com/testequipment/esrcompar.htm before you
make a decision.

Cheers,
Bob

 

or even this
http://www.eds-inc.com/cap.html

 

It's not the same price. That's what prompted my suspicion of a possible
counterfeit. Anatek = $110. eBay seller = $80. Big difference.

I agree that many people just bid @ eBay without regard to what the real
world value is on a particular item. But this auction seems like a
reasonable deal if it is as advertised.

Thanks for your input.

 

In Bob Kos typed:

Earlier today I was looking at the anatek site and I thought I saw $79
for the assembled unit. I don't know how I made that mistake. Sorry.

 

Hi Bob:

Thank you for your reply. I have followed the link offered in one of the
other replies:

http://clientes.netvisao.pt/greenpal/evb1.htm

This meter appears to be an updated version of the Dick Smith unit. The
seller at the site above claims that you have collaborated with his company
in developing this meter. Any truth to this? If so, would you consider it
fair to say this model is an equal to the Dick Smith unit?

Please share your thoughts. Thank you for your time and insight.

 

Hi Bob,
Yes, we collaborated on the design of the EVB meter. If you look at
my ESR meter's web page at
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bobpar/esrmeter.htm you'll see a big
picture of the EVB one with a link to the EVB website.
The circuitry's identical to the DSE meter except that it's got a
pair of large power diodes connected across the test leads as "brute
force" protection against damage from charged caps. It also has the
high-brightness LED displays I originally designed into the meter, but
which DSE doesn't use.
The firmware's been changed a bit for a 3 minute automatic
switch-off time.
Construction and component quality of the EVB meter is excellent.
I'm happy to recommend it to everyone. You can see user comments at
http://clientes.netvisao.pt/greenpal/comments/comments.html
I hope this has answered your questions well enough.

Regards,
Bob

 

I've just bought one of the kits from Satcure in the UK and I must say I was
most impressed with it. It took about a couiple of hours to complete and worked
first time.
One question that will probably get an easy answer is, why is it some new 105c
caps have quite a lot higher ESR than quoted on the front panel. eg 0.2 and some
are showing 6.0 would this be suspect manufacturer?

Cheers
From yet another Bob

 

Hi Bob from Bob,
It's a known fact that high temperature electrolytics usually show
somewhat higher ESR figures than the 85 degree ones. But it's not
usually that much higher (usually less than double). Can you check
some 85 degree caps of the same value and voltage rating and see if
they're reading approximately what the front panel indicates?
If they read OK, then these 105 degree caps of yours are rather
suspect.

Cheers,
This Bob

 

why is it some new 105c caps have quite a lot higher ESR than quoted
on the front panel. eg 0.2 and some are showing 6.0 would this be
suspect manufacturer?

Because you bought a cheap low cost make do tester . Sell it and buy a
Cap Wizard and you wont have to go through things like that

 

Ouch!!
Flames to follow no doubt.

 

Thanks Ken,
You always have a "constructive" comment to make, don't you?

Bob
(DSE ESR meter designer)

 

Wow, that is quite a comment and a surprise to me. We have sold
thousands of the DS ESR meter (and a lesser number of Cap Wizards) and
have never had a complaint on either one.

Of course Bob P. has always said that he did not expect his design to
be so popular. He just ginned it up for himself and some friends.
Pretty nice "make do" I would say - thousands of happy users.

Maybe Ken was having a bad day, or off his meds or something.

John
AnaTek Corporation
www.anatekcorp.com

 

Well, I certainly hope that was the cause of his slip from reality. I have
owned a DS ESR meter for nearly 2 years, and have never had it lie to me.
When it says I have a bad capacitor, it is bad, especially when I'm working
on a switch mode power supply. Audio capacitors are usually a bit more
tolerant of ESR, but if the ESR is much higher than the chart indicates,
replacement does make a difference.

Ken, please get back on your meds, and maybe talk to your Dr and see if your
dosage needs to be increased.

Cheers!!

 

Well I have to say that my DS meter has already earned its keep after its first
outing by identifying some 'new' caps that were well below standard. I'd spent
hours on the repair previously so I'm chuffed.
Enjoyed making the kit too.
The more expensive one, for me, would have not been economic. Well done Bob P.

Bob