Hello, is my meter ok for testing caps ? or should I buy an ESR meter?
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Re: Testing caps
It depends on what you plan to work on and if the ESR of the caps is of concern, usually matters in circuits using high frequencies, such as computer motherboards, power supplies, monitors, and TVs. -
Re: Testing caps
Ok so I will probably want to buy one, thanks for the inputComment
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Re: Testing caps
The capacitance doesn't tell you anything about the quality of a capacitor.
The ESR and the visual aspect of the capacitor are the two most important things ... if a capacitor looks bad, it's probably bad.
If the esr is too big (compared to what's expected from that series of capacitors) then the capacitor is also bad.
Proper ESR readings would be measured with a LCR meter with ESR measurement function, but you don't need super exact results to know if a capacitor is good or bad.
A cheap $20-50 esr meter (from eBay for example) will give you a good enough result to spot a bad capacitor.Comment
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Re: Testing caps
Cheers MariushmComment
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I know I've been a little scarce lately (like the last 2-3 years), but I'm still here and still doing my thing with fixing PSUs.
For today's considerations, I have a Seasonic B12 BC-550 [A551bcafh] 550 Watt ATX power supply for you (click on links for full size images).
https://www.badcaps.net/filedata/fetch?id=3591771
https://www.badcaps.net/filedata/fetch?id=3591772
It's a modern ATX unit with fixed (non-modular) cables and an 80-plus bronze certificate. Here's the label:
https://www.badcaps.net/filedata/fetch?id=359177... -
Normally, I never post repairs this quick after I do them, because… I am usually very slow.
But today, I’m making an exception here. Why? No idea. Perhaps only because the repair details are still “fresh” in my head… which is ironic, given this is a 16 year old monitor that hardly anyone will care about today. It is new to me, though. 
I picked it up last November from someone on my local Craigslist. It wasn’t very close to where I live, but was close to a family friend that I had to go visit anyways. So after watching the posting on Craigslist for a few weeks and seeing it getting...
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Recently I was given for free a Sony RCD-W3 with the following symptoms, CD recorder drive reads CDs without any issues (haven't tested recording function yet because I don't intend to burn CDs on that machine) but the reader drive shows disc error after some seconds of it trying to read CD. Tried both CD-Rs and commercial audio CDs with same results.
First thing to do was to clean the lens but that didn't change anything. Googling the issue revealed that this is a common issue on several Sony CD recorder machines and the culprit is SMD electrolytic caps located on the PCB bellow...05-05-2024, 02:04 PM -
Hello!
I have two projects on my work bench. One is a friends dead JBL Xtreme speaker with a blown voltage regulator and corresponding bulged and shorted cap. That cap has clear markings so I know what replacement I need for it.
The other project however is a whole different deal. It's a Zoom 9000 guitar effect from the 90th that has developed a devil hound howl when there is no input from the guitar. I'm guessing caps problem. So, since I don't really use this effect anymore I thought it would be a perfect project to learn on.
I have studied the board and... -
I'm trying to repair two old VCRs, they both have bad caps. One has leaky ones, the other would barely run until I subbed in some caps from another power supply I had laying around (though they are the wrong values). This vcr works for an hour or two, but then the power supply starts whining and the picture gets lines in it. I didn't replace all the secondary caps, so another voltage might still be problematic, or the values I used are too far off.
I've been on mouser and digikey but the options are a bit overwhelming. I just need some new ones that will work. They don't need to be top quality,...
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