ESR METERS

[NSM]

Most of us here in Australia don't miss DSE either. Once upon a time they were
a valid part of the electronics scene. But that was a loooooong time ago.

Is he still making the 'Dickhead' matches? What else?

 

[Ross Herbert]

Is he still making the 'Dickhead' matches? What else?

See http://www.dicksmithfoods.com.au/dsf/index.php for products with
the DS label.

 

[Ken G.]

Save yourself alot of time and buy a Cap Wizard

 

[James Sweet]

Save yourself alot of time and buy a Cap Wizard

I have one of those I bought back when it was the only game in town and have
been very happy with it. It is rather expensive in comparison to other
products though.

 

[Bob Parker]

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

 

[Do Litlle Jr.]

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."

 

[Bob Parker]

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.

 

[John Bachman]

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

 

[Do Litlle Jr.]

"John Bachman" <[email protected]>
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."

 

[[email protected]]

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]

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

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Buy a goodone, it pays off. Suggest you check with Portugese design marketed
by Vitor

Read the Worldwide comments on
http://clientes.netvisao.pt/greenpal/comments/comments.html

What a horrible website! The color combination makes it impossible
for me to read and it is so slow I gave up on it.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Years ago I wouldn't have said anything negative about DSE's
service to overseas customers. But the ongoing sloppy careless
couldn't-give-a-damn attitude of the people who replaced Fiona is so
well known that I'm not going to defend them.
That's the reason that I've got the EVB version of the ESR meter at
the top of my ESR meter web page. If DSE loses a large chunk of their
overseas sales of the kits, it's because they brought it on
themselves. I just wish that EVB would make and sell that version of
the meter in quantity at a sensible price.
Thanks for your nice thoughts about the basic ESR meter design.
Much appreciated.

Bob

Can you let someone in the US order parts and package the kits?

 

[Bob Parker]

What a horrible website! The color combination makes it impossible
for me to read and it is so slow I gave up on it.

The whole thing is a dreadful and quite confusing advertisement for
an excellent ESR meter. Someone is going to have to go right through
it and fix it up.
It proves the old saying that "Electronics professionals should not
try to design websites"!



Bob

 

[NSM]

The whole thing is a dreadful and quite confusing advertisement for
an excellent ESR meter. Someone is going to have to go right through
it and fix it up.
It proves the old saying that "Electronics professionals should not
try to design websites"!

I can read it OK but it looks like something a baby vomited up.

 

[Max Harding vk3jin]

start up a mail order service and sell them direct Bob.

 

[Bob Parker]

start up a mail order service and sell them direct Bob.

Thanks for the interesting suggestion, Max. These days I'm
working for someone else, and I wouldn't begin to have time to get all
the bits and pieces together and sell them as kits or assembled units.
DSE is shooting themselves in the foot by upsetting buyers of their
kits in quantity, and EVB doesn't seem to know anything about
marketing.
I'm not sure what to do....

Cheers,
Bob

 

[NSM]

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.

 

[Bob Parker]

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]

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!