All You Need To Know About ESR METER To Fix Stuff. How To Use Test Capacitors Inductors Short Finder

Here we take a look at the various and curious ways we can use an ESR Meter! Learn how to test and recognise bad capacitors, test and measure unknown inductors and even trace short circuit MOSFETS using an ESR meter

CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:47 What Is ESR
00:05:06 Testing Capacitors
00:10:34 How Does ESR Meter Work?
00:12:00 Bad Capacitors (type 1)
00:14:19 Bad Capacitors (type 2)
00:16:56 Measuring Inductors
00:30:39 Short Circuit Finding In VRM
00:38:04 That’s Not A Knife!
00:40:04 Conclusion

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TEST METERS
ANENG AN8009 MULITIMETER
KAIWEETS HT118E MULTIMETER
VC480C+ MILLIOHM METER
MESR-100 ESR METER
XC6013L CAPACITOR METER

TM-902C TEMPERATURE METER
LCR-T4 COMPONENT ANALYZER
FNB58 USB ANALYZER
PCI POST ANALYZER
TL460S PLUS PCI_E ANALYZER
TOOLTOP ET120MC2 SCOPE
FNIRSI 1014D SCOPE
NPS3010W 30V 10A PSU
T12 STATION WITH M8 9501 HANDLE
M8 9501 HANDLE
YIHUA 982 Soldering Station C210/C245
FNIRSI HS-02 PORTABLE SOLDERING C210/C245
QUICK 861DW
PROS'KIT SS-331H

INFIRAY P2 PRO IR CAMERA + MACRO LENS
TOOLTOP ET13S THERMAL CAMERA METER
ET13S MACRO LENS
OPTICAL MICROSCOPE
TOMLOV TM4K AF FLEX
TL866 II+ PROGRAMMER
CH341 PROGRAMMER
NC-559-ASM FLUX

DESOLDER BRAID (I use size 8045)
HX-T100 SOLDER (0.6MM)
ESD-11 TWEEZERS

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Thank you
Richard

[LearnElectronicsRepair]

*IMPORTANT*
As a few people have rightly mentioned - I drew the imaginary resistor in the wrong place at 00:03:25 it should be in series with the capacitor not in parallel with it - this should be obvious really because ESR stands for Equivalent SERIES resistance😅 Sorry guys if that caused any confusion. What I drew, if anything, is the leakage resistance of the capacitor which I later demonstrated at 00:05:30 when I tried to use a multimeter on ohms range to test a capacitor. Hopefully this error does not distract too much from the demonstration of ESR meter usage in various situations.

[mlkegates]

Fantastic ! I feel so stupid . I've been an electronic technician for 27 years and never thought to use an esr tester to find shorts in a vrm ! Tips like this are worth their weight in gold. I'm new to this channel so I will look back for more videos like this. A comprehensive video on using test equipment in other ways such as this would be extremely valuable. Thank you Sir.

[MetalMann-dexi]

I just wanted to let you know that you're a great teacher. You break things down to a level that people can easily understand. Unlike most experts who forget to, you bring the true 101 of a beginner course to the table. Before I watched your series of videos, it felt like I was trying to read a foreign language between other YouTubers, documentation, and what my eyes are seeing in equipment. You taught me how to read meters, schematics, understanding classes of amplifiers beyond a single filter cap.

I've always wanted to learn and understand electronics and it always intrigued me as a kid and beyond. I started getting into audio equipment and opening them up and trying to make them work by replacing stuff until it worked. Now I can pinpoint problems a lot easier than I have. I can only wish I can pick your brain for a million questions and DIY stuff.

One thing that I'm having a hard time with are stabistors. I have a Pioneer SX-838 that has two broken leads at both of the stabistors. I'm having a hard time understanding how to make one, what I should make it with, and even though there's written instructions, I'm still a beginner, and pictures and videos work wonders for my understanding and learning process. I hope you can take the time to help me with this and would greatly appreciate the help.

[vicroberts]

Hi Richard. I bought an atlas peake ESR meter about 15 years ago. I was given a pair of broken computer
monitors. Which I fixed for about £2, and an hours work. I sold one within days, which paid for the meter.
I kept the other. So I had a monitor and esr meter for nothing. Loved your video its opened my eyes in how to properly use my meter. I have several other repair projects that I am going to use my newfound knowledge to tackle.

[ashleyjwilliamshand]

Learning about electronic principles directly tied to the medium your interested in really makes a difference. Thank you!!

Perfect video layout, speed of teaching, and repetition. Simply fantastic.

Motivated and inspired!

[trone]

I remember just after you started this channel you told me to buy an ESR meter in a reply to a comment I made. It was a very useful suggestion and now I can use it for testing even more components

[Steelplayer]

I realize this video has been up for over a year, but my need to troubleshoot capacitors in a switched mode power supply beyond the obvious largest ones brought me here. I purchased the same ESR meter, and am pleasantly surprised to find that it has the dual purpose of measuring inductors. I’ve worked with electronics for half a century, and didn’t even know about the potential of in-circuit testing with this type of meter. I just assumed it to be an esoteric test instrument for very special testing. Boy, was I wrong! Thanks for your excellent presentation and explanations. Well done!

[cskeet]

Hi Richard,
Great video as usual.
I have the MESR-100 ESR meter as well. I found it wouldn't zero properly and started reading 3-4 ohms instead of OL when the leads weren't shorted.
I got an Atlas ESR meter to replace it and although it's a bit more expensive, it's in a different league.
It measures capacitance and ESR at the same time.
It doesn't need to be zeroed.
It doesn't matter which way round you connect it and it automatically discharges the capacitor before testing it, if you forget, letting you know it's doing this as well.
It seems more accurate too, and it's made in Yorkshire, UK!
On that point of discharging the capacitors for you. I know it's best practice, but we can all forget to do this sometimes.
After I got the Atlas ESR 70 meter, I decided to see if I could repair the MESR-100 before throwing it away.
It's turns out that accidentally using this meter on large undischarged capacitors fries input schottkey diodes D1 and D2 on the PCB.
I replaced them and it works fine now.
They are SS14 surface mount diodes (marked S4) and clearly marked at the bottom of the PCB.
I hope this helps anyone who has fried their MESR -100.
Like I say though the Atlas machine has a lot of advantages.

[peterlethbridge]

Brilliant. As usual, superb explanation without getting bogged down in the math. Most content producers in this field seem to want to show off with their math prowess. Rich, just lets you know whats important. There isn't anyone that is producing content this good.

[davidv]

Great video! Thank you for explaining ESR and showing us a unique use for an ESR meter. Testing capacitors completely can be difficult. For example I am currently refurbishing a piece of 1980's vintage test gear that has a 4000 uF, 30 Vdc, +75/-10% electrolytic in the power supply. It measures 4630 uF and has an ESR of 0 ohms at 120 Hz - great! The problem is that it has a leakage current of 317 uA at 30 Vdc. So, as you pointed out, capacitor value and ESR aren't the whole story - especially for larger aluminum electrolytics. Regards, David

[KBUIF]

I'm glad you corrected the ESR info regarding the position of the Resistance for ESR, you drew EPR Equivalent Parallel Resistance which is another important characteristic.
EPR can also be measured and its how you can detect leakage in capacitors, as I'm sure you know Rich, but your viewers might not. Maybe a video on EPR another time.

[TYGAMatt]

I have one of those ESR meters and was using it today to find a bunch of bad caps. Work great. But didn't know about the inductor use. That's brilliant. Thanks for the top tip.

[georgerodriguez]

One of the few people who explains so well with diagrams and calculations
Just great job on ESR capability thanks so much

[mike-ypuk]

These tools are much cheaper than I thought. I bought both while watching this video. Thanks for all your help. This stuff is awesome 👍

[jseco]

Enjoying your videos At 3:25 the resistor should be in series with the cap to properly show ESR. With the resistor in parallel we would be showing "leakage" current.

[googleedwardbernays]

These videos finally help me “pierce the veil” in my path to basic electronics hobbying.
I started upgrading pots, caps and wiring on my basses and guitars. Then i hit a ceiling where everything else i was finna learn was seemingly impossible.
But thanks to this Billy Bragg sounding bloke, i know fundamentals .

[Drmikekuna]

I'm not an electronics guy, but I have always found electronics fascinating. I also have a wish to fix consumer electronics instead of throwing them in the bin. Unfortunately, I don't have a working knowledge of basic repair techniques. However, your videos are helping me out immensely. You are a very clear and excellent teacher. Thank you!

[johnshere]

I got up late this morning but I've learned a lot, and going to the workshop to confirm what my ESR meter will do in practice. Thanks JS

[it-sd]

Thank you for showing the voltage regulator circuit schematic/diagram near the end. Your explanation made perfect sense. Well done!

[paulc]

I have one of these it saves me loads of time in the workshop, take yesterday I did all my jobs by 12:00pm finished for the weekend YES👌👌😊😊🤣🤣., oh and I built one of your H, Clone Trackers, I rattle through stereo amps, finding the faults, brilliant piece of kit, thank you Richard.