ESR meter says 'Resistor Only'...really bad cap ?

[kingofcoins]

I've been using the Russian Mikes Ver4.0 ESR meter for about a year now.Very happy with it and feel it is often an accurate aid. But this is the first time I've run into his display calling five of my in circuit caps 'Resistor Only' ..no capacitance bad ....they are 10uf and 47uf caps on a Sceptre logic board.
Have you experienced this ? Are these caps really bad? Does it happen to you very often? Do you always end up replacing every such cap ?
Dan

[Trinite]

Re: ESR meter says 'Resistor Only'...really bad cap ?

First, do you have some spare caps that you know are good that you can use as a reference to make sure the meter is working properly?

Second, you may have to desolder the caps to test them, since they are likely coupled with other components, including resistors, inductors and other capacitors.