My ESR Meter

[bigbeark]

After looking at the truly beautiful Bob Parker Blue Meter, I decided to post pics of my much less glamorous meter. At the time, two years ago, I doubted my ability to assemble a kit, and moreso my ability to do board level repairs. So I opted for a preassembled meter at much lower cost (about $80 delivered).

Feel free to offer opinions about the meter's construction etc. I have found it to be sufficient for my purposes. When I compare my readings against new caps published specs, the meter seems quite accurate. There is a trimming potentiometer that I occasionally adjust to zero the meter.

I had never taken it apart before today. Not Pretty.

[mockingbird]

Re: My ESR Meter

I calculate it would take at least 50 repairs to justiify the cost of these ESR meters or capacitance gauges. I just look at the brand and then I know if it needs to be replaced, or in cases where even brand name caps have failed, I look at the date codes.

I'm not saying these aren't very useful, and I certainly wouldn't complain if I had one.

[brethin]

Re: My ESR Meter

I calculate it would take at least 50 repairs to justiify the cost of these ESR meters or capacitance gauges. I just look at the brand and then I know if it needs to be replaced, or in cases where even brand name caps have failed, I look at the date codes.

I'm not saying these aren't very useful, and I certainly wouldn't complain if I had one.

/agreed

And why do they seem to cost so much? You can buy a cheap DMM for $10 but these run $75+. Makes no sense to me.

[Agent24]

Re: My ESR Meter

Economies of scale: DMMs are produced on a much larger scale and some with horrible build quality.


The price is not as bad as you might think. Take a look at the parts list of Bob's Blue ESR meter for example, then calculate the total cost based on the parts. It's quite close to the kit price.

The blue enclosure for example is $22 already, and some decent test leads another $20.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: My ESR Meter

/agreed

And why do they seem to cost so much? You can buy a cheap DMM for $10 but these run $75+. Makes no sense to me.

Main IC is a processor [runs a program, does calculations].
A DMM doesn't need one.
.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: My ESR Meter

I calculate it would take at least 50 repairs to justiify the cost of these ESR meters or capacitance gauges. I just look at the brand and then I know if it needs to be replaced, or in cases where even brand name caps have failed, I look at the date codes.

I'm not saying these aren't very useful, and I certainly wouldn't complain if I had one.

Not every new cap that leaves the factory is good.
If you aren't checking new caps before you use them eventually you will get a dud.
When that happens you'll spend more time chasing your tail trying to figure out what's wrong than the cost of the meter.
.
Agree it's not worth it if you don't recap often.
.