/ News & Press / Video / 3 Ways to Check Capacitors in Circuit with Meters & Testers
3 Ways to Check Capacitors in Circuit with Meters & Testers
WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en
00:00:00.060 what's up guys this is Tampa Tech and I 00:00:02.18000:00:02.190 get a question that pops up every now 00:00:03.98000:00:03.990 and then in my TV repair videos why 00:00:06.71000:00:06.720 aren't I using an ESR meter to check 00:00:08.98000:00:08.990 capacitors well ensure this is my go-to 00:00:13.03000:00:13.040 multimeter it checks everything 00:00:15.34000:00:15.350 capacitors resistors diodes transistors 00:00:18.34900:00:18.359 AC volts DC volts high this for 15 years 00:00:21.62000:00:21.630 and it still works great anytime the 00:00:23.42000:00:23.430 readings are really off and wacky is 00:00:25.60900:00:25.619 because the 9-volt battery is low so I 00:00:28.70000:00:28.710 just pop off this back cover put the new 00:00:31.33900:00:31.349 9-volt battery in and it works great for 00:00:33.65000:00:33.660 another six months until the battery 00:00:35.51000:00:35.520 goes low I do have an ESR meter an ESR 00:00:38.60000:00:38.610 meter is great also I'm not saying it's 00:00:40.63900:00:40.649 not great but a lot of my viewers or 00:00:42.97900:00:42.989 just people that are trying to repair 00:00:45.83000:00:45.840 their living room broken living room TV 00:00:48.13900:00:48.149 or maybe they found I found the TV in a 00:00:50.81000:00:50.820 dumpster on the side of the road they 00:00:52.49000:00:52.500 want fixed up well you may not have an 00:00:56.86900:00:56.879 ESR meter this meter runs between 50 to 00:00:59.24000:00:59.250 100 dollars if you're a technician you 00:01:02.15000:01:02.160 most likely have an ESR meter an ESR 00:01:04.42900:01:04.439 meter is equivalent series resistance 00:01:06.89000:01:06.900 meter it detects the resistance and a 00:01:10.19000:01:10.200 capacitor this is electrolytic capacitor 00:01:13.42000:01:13.430 electrolytic capacitors are mainly made 00:01:15.53000:01:15.540 of aluminum inside there's dielectric 00:01:18.44000:01:18.450 material and a paper soaked with 00:01:20.71900:01:20.729 electrolytes which can be a oil form or 00:01:23.74900:01:23.759 gel form if you take a microscope to 00:01:26.87000:01:26.880 that then you'll notice that it is 00:01:29.74900:01:29.759 layered like this electrolytic paper 00:01:31.85000:01:31.860 that's soaked with that gel or oil form 00:01:33.95000:01:33.960 the electrolytes the dielectric and the 00:01:36.64900:01:36.659 cathode and anode when the circuit is 00:01:39.08000:01:39.090 turned on with the capacitors in it the 00:01:41.09000:01:41.100 capacitor will hold a charge 00:01:42.56000:01:42.570 stabilizing the voltage and power in the 00:01:44.81000:01:44.820 circuit even when the capacitor is 00:01:47.96000:01:47.970 pulled from the circuit it still holds a 00:01:49.76000:01:49.770 charge over time five or six years down 00:01:52.91000:01:52.920 the road the capacitor may dry out and 00:01:55.34000:01:55.350 the value of the capacitor will go down 00:01:57.49900:01:57.509 while the resistance goes up if the 00:02:00.26000:02:00.270 capacitor is superheated it would begin 00:02:02.69000:02:02.700 to swell and leak the electrolytes the 00:02:05.06000:02:05.070 capacitance value will actually go down 00:02:08.38900:02:08.399 when the resistance value goes up so 00:02:12.05000:02:12.060 that's what this 00:02:13.58000:02:13.590 reads this meter reads capacitance level 00:02:16.33900:02:16.349 the value of the capacitor which is dumb 00:02:19.64000:02:19.650 this one is thirty three hundred 00:02:21.22000:02:21.230 microfarads right so you have to pull 00:02:23.21000:02:23.220 this out a circuit to read the 00:02:24.83000:02:24.840 capacitance the micro farad on this 00:02:27.50000:02:27.510 capacitor the beauty about this meter is 00:02:29.86900:02:29.879 that you can read it in circuit which is 00:02:32.24000:02:32.250 great so it sends up right here I tells 00:02:35.00000:02:35.010 you it sends a 100 K 100 kilohertz 00:02:38.72000:02:38.730 signal through the circuit and lets you 00:02:41.05900:02:41.069 know the results of that capacitor in 00:02:43.10000:02:43.110 circuit which is amazing so you really 00:02:45.74000:02:45.750 speed through checking all the 00:02:47.30000:02:47.310 capacitors without desoldering all the 00:02:49.25000:02:49.260 capacitors and soldering all back in 00:02:50.93000:02:50.940 there's a third way so those are two 00:02:53.69000:02:53.700 ways to read the capacitor using a pass 00:02:55.67000:02:55.680 over meter capacitance meter and ESR 00:02:59.60000:02:59.610 meter and your eyeballs yes or your 00:03:04.16000:03:04.170 sense of touch actually so you use your 00:03:06.53000:03:06.540 senses that's the third way this 00:03:08.47900:03:08.489 overheated and it popped so if the 00:03:10.61000:03:10.620 pastor looks like that you don't even 00:03:12.80000:03:12.810 have to check it just swap it out it 00:03:14.47900:03:14.489 should look like this this is a brand 00:03:16.69900:03:16.709 new capacitor see how the difference is 00:03:18.58000:03:18.590 this one's flat and this one is right 00:03:23.39000:03:23.400 here swollen now that's the most common 00:03:25.87900:03:25.889 repair is bad capacitors not not every 00:03:29.18000:03:29.190 bad capacitor pops some bad capacitors 00:03:32.42000:03:32.430 may look like this one so this one looks 00:03:36.08000:03:36.090 fine but it could be bad so that's what 00:03:39.58900:03:39.599 you have to check it using an ESR meter 00:03:41.66000:03:41.670 or capacitor meter if you guys are 00:03:43.94000:03:43.950 interested by the way in any of these 00:03:45.58900:03:45.599 meters well I can check out the links in 00:03:48.14000:03:48.150 the video description below 00:03:49.15900:03:49.169 this one is $50 pretty good I had no 00:03:52.84900:03:52.859 problems with it this one is about $100 00:03:55.94000:03:55.950 this was 15 years old they have a newer 00:03:58.06900:03:58.079 model don't worry and I highly recommend 00:04:00.92000:04:00.930 fluke now with this meter it has no 00:04:03.65000:04:03.660 backlight but it does have auto ranging 00:04:07.09900:04:07.109 which is great and auto off and it has 00:04:09.40900:04:09.419 protective circuits if use in a diode to 00:04:11.56900:04:11.579 protect protected circuit when reading 00:04:13.55000:04:13.560 capacitors this also has a fuse and I 00:04:16.06900:04:16.079 believe a diode in here protecting hid 00:04:17.77900:04:17.789 circuit but you always want to dis 00:04:19.31000:04:19.320 Church the capacitors just in case you 00:04:23.00000:04:23.010 know you don't want to put any stress on 00:04:24.35000:04:24.360 these meters just use these needlenose 00:04:26.75000:04:26.760 pliers 00:04:27.43900:04:27.449 hold it by the insulator part the 00:04:29.65900:04:29.669 wrapping of the capacitor so you don't 00:04:31.96900:04:31.979 get shocked you want to touch the metal 00:04:33.26000:04:33.270 just hold it by the insulated cap 00:04:35.60000:04:35.610 wrapper right here and then close just 00:04:39.35000:04:39.360 right there just grab them both legs 00:04:41.51000:04:41.520 like that so this has Auto ranging and 00:04:43.79000:04:43.800 auto off as well and this actually has 00:04:46.30900:04:46.319 two power sources has right here in the 00:04:50.05900:04:50.069 back you could put two double-a 00:04:52.12900:04:52.139 batteries in here but I don't use the 00:04:55.96900:04:55.979 two double-a batteries I don't like 00:04:57.61900:04:57.629 wasting batteries I use the power port 00:05:00.08000:05:00.090 and the power port is a microUSB port 00:05:02.48000:05:02.490 and I like this power bank I think I got 00:05:05.42000:05:05.430 this for like eight bucks and put velcro 00:05:08.24000:05:08.250 on the back right here 00:05:09.43900:05:09.449 and just plug in and this lasts a very 00:05:13.01000:05:13.020 long time just turn it on and now it has 00:05:17.42000:05:17.430 power from the power bank and just press 00:05:20.80900:05:20.819 and hold this and it turns it on this 00:05:23.05900:05:23.069 has a backlight which is pretty cool and 00:05:25.98900:05:25.999 has auto range what I love auto-ranging 00:05:28.96900:05:28.979 meters saves me time and from I hate 00:05:31.93900:05:31.949 pushing buttons so first thing I do when 00:05:34.10000:05:34.110 I turn on my ESR meter is set it to zero 00:05:37.33900:05:37.349 and do the zeroing you just close these 00:05:40.79000:05:40.800 two leads together like just like that 00:05:43.10000:05:43.110 short them together and then press the 00:05:46.15900:05:46.169 zero button okay just like that now I 00:05:51.55000:05:51.560 should be ready to go you don't have to 00:05:53.89900:05:53.909 do that with this meter and switch it to 00:05:55.70000:05:55.710 capacitor mode which is right here so 00:05:59.29000:05:59.300 that's going to read the micro farad of 00:06:01.57900:06:01.589 the capacitor this is going to read the 00:06:03.61900:06:03.629 resistance of the capacitor the ohms 200 00:06:07.15900:06:07.169 volt 250 volts 470 micro farad's now you 00:06:11.92900:06:11.939 don't read the 250 voltage that means 2 00:06:14.20900:06:14.219 up to up to 250 volts can pass through 00:06:17.24000:06:17.250 this capacitor before it overheats and 00:06:20.08900:06:20.099 pops or swells and so we'll put my red 00:06:25.24900:06:25.259 lead on this side my black lead on the 00:06:27.23000:06:27.240 stripe side so anytime you see this 00:06:29.77900:06:29.789 striped side with a negative symbol 00:06:32.02900:06:32.039 that's the black lead the black is 00:06:34.15900:06:34.169 always negative and the red is always 00:06:36.23000:06:36.240 the positive side here it is and it 00:06:39.89000:06:39.900 is 450 microfarads alright and that's 00:06:48.43000:06:48.440 470 micro farad's so if it was reading 00:06:51.56000:06:51.570 10% lower than its value which is 470 00:06:56.02900:06:56.039 micro farad's then i would replace the 00:06:58.24900:06:58.259 capacitor but since it's reading within 00:07:00.71000:07:00.720 the 10% of its value 00:07:03.98000:07:03.990 then i would keep it this is considered 00:07:06.65000:07:06.660 actually a decent capacitor but let's go 00:07:10.15900:07:10.169 ahead and read the ESR so I'm going to 00:07:13.12900:07:13.139 put my positive on this one and my 00:07:15.65000:07:15.660 negative on this side and look at it 00:07:20.33000:07:20.340 it's just reading a very low ohms 00:07:22.25000:07:22.260 resistance point zero 3 and it tells you 00:07:26.77900:07:26.789 right here which is pretty cool it says 00:07:29.48000:07:29.490 good cap which means good capacitor with 00:07:32.57000:07:32.580 low E SR low resistance and it is it's 00:07:36.77000:07:36.780 point 0.05 the most and you can also 00:07:42.65000:07:42.660 look at the chart so we got 250 volts 00:07:46.15000:07:46.160 all right and the closest to 470 micro 00:07:49.85000:07:49.860 farad's would be right here 470 250 00:07:57.58900:07:57.599 volts 0.3 and it's way below 0.3 it's 00:08:05.08900:08:05.099 actually 0.09 so is it definitely a good 00:08:09.56000:08:09.570 capacitor so they're both the both 00:08:12.56000:08:12.570 meters say hey this is a good capacitor 00:08:15.58900:08:15.599 this is a bad capacitor this is a 00:08:18.29000:08:18.300 thousand microfarads what is that 10 00:08:21.86000:08:21.870 volt yeah I think it says 10 volt you 00:08:24.17000:08:24.180 could look at it and physically it looks 00:08:26.06000:08:26.070 swollen looks popped okay so I would 00:08:29.51000:08:29.520 automatically change this out you know 00:08:31.87900:08:31.889 for another capacitor I won't even check 00:08:33.64900:08:33.659 it with my meter I would just change it 00:08:35.69000:08:35.700 out you know same thing goes with 00:08:36.89000:08:36.900 resistors resistors look burned if they 00:08:39.23000:08:39.240 look burned replace them if you see a 00:08:41.48000:08:41.490 transistor with a pin hole burned right 00:08:44.02900:08:44.039 through the transistor replace it if 00:08:46.79000:08:46.800 your board is scorched and it looks 00:08:49.49000:08:49.500 burned up then replace the board 00:08:53.01000:08:53.020 getting a hundred so it's really really 00:08:55.05000:08:55.060 low this should be reading one thousand 00:08:57.99000:08:58.000 microfarads on this I put that there put 00:09:01.58000:09:01.590 that there and I am getting a very high 00:09:06.33000:09:06.340 homes for capacitor so I'm getting high 00:09:09.78000:09:09.790 resistance for this capacitor 8.9 R 9 00:09:13.92000:09:13.930 ohms pretty much it tells you right here 00:09:16.32000:09:16.330 it says good if the past that R is less 00:09:20.22000:09:20.230 than the value of 10 microfarads well 00:09:24.63000:09:24.640 it's a thousand microfarads it's not 10 00:09:28.62000:09:28.630 microfarads so it's telling you that 00:09:32.01000:09:32.020 it's bad it's telling you right here 00:09:33.66000:09:33.670 that it's been it's telling you right 00:09:35.28000:09:35.290 here it's bad if you look on this chart 00:09:37.65000:09:37.660 let's look at 10 volts at thousand 00:09:41.31000:09:41.320 microfarads I should get no more of no 00:09:44.22000:09:44.230 higher than this is worst case scenario 00:09:46.71000:09:46.720 by the way so if you get any higher than 00:09:51.41000:09:51.420 0.1 2 ohms then it is defective and it's 00:09:57.42000:09:57.430 10 ohms so it's definitely definitely 00:10:00.12000:10:00.130 bad and it's sending that 100 kilohertz 00:10:03.15000:10:03.160 signal right through this capacitor and 00:10:05.79000:10:05.800 that's why you're getting this value all 00:10:10.53000:10:10.540 right so let's go ahead and read the bad 00:10:13.41000:10:13.420 capacitors that are in this y-sustain 00:10:15.48000:10:15.490 board I pull this board from a samsung 00:10:19.14000:10:19.150 plasma TV they had no power and this is 00:10:22.50000:10:22.510 a y-sustain board right here that has a 00:10:24.87000:10:24.880 bad capacitor and so I would 00:10:26.91000:10:26.920 automatically switch this out and this 00:10:29.31000:10:29.320 one as well to see this one was actually 00:10:31.32000:10:31.330 popped too as well so anyhow let's go 00:10:34.92000:10:34.930 ahead and check these Quebec capacitors 00:10:37.05000:10:37.060 and some kind of values you get in 00:10:39.00000:10:39.010 circuit and at a circuit flip it over 00:10:42.12000:10:42.130 before reading any capacitor in circuit 00:10:44.49000:10:44.500 or at a circuit always discharge the 00:10:46.86000:10:46.870 capacitor just like that 2.25 ohms and 00:10:54.74000:10:54.750 it says good if the capacitor is less 00:10:58.47000:10:58.480 than 22 micro farad's well it's not it's 00:11:02.19000:11:02.200 actually 680 micro farad capacitor 00:11:06.29000:11:06.300 it is debit saying hey it's definitely 00:11:09.08000:11:09.090 bad without a doubt you should always 00:11:10.76000:11:10.770 read your capacitors add a circuit using 00:11:14.59000:11:14.600 capacitor meter like this one because 00:11:17.18000:11:17.190 this actually it's reading the micro 00:11:18.71000:11:18.720 farad's from the capacitor the 00:11:19.97000:11:19.980 capacitance of the capacitor and for my 00:11:23.03000:11:23.040 black lead on the black and the red 00:11:25.04000:11:25.050 light on a positive side and I'm getting 00:11:28.10000:11:28.110 a reading of looks like 273 250 looks 00:11:35.69000:11:35.700 like it's staying around 240 alright so 00:11:40.10000:11:40.110 let's go ahead and pull it and see if we 00:11:42.26000:11:42.270 get the same reading now usually if 00:11:45.05000:11:45.060 you're reading this capacitor near other 00:11:48.65000:11:48.660 capacitors you're going to pick up the 00:11:50.30000:11:50.310 value of the other capacitors and you 00:11:53.63000:11:53.640 may ask as like why not like aren't 00:11:55.34000:11:55.350 going to pick up the value of other 00:11:56.66000:11:56.670 capacitors using this meter well this 00:11:58.58000:11:58.590 meter uses a 100 kilohertz sine wave 00:12:01.22000:12:01.230 signal running through that individual 00:12:03.20000:12:03.210 capacitor and that's how you get this 00:12:05.87000:12:05.880 value on the screen there you go got it 00:12:10.97000:12:10.980 out so go ahead and now I'm going to 00:12:14.06000:12:14.070 turn that off see if we get the same 00:12:16.76000:12:16.770 value I'm guessing probably it's going 00:12:21.32000:12:21.330 to be slightly off put my black lead on 00:12:25.97000:12:25.980 this side and we are getting a value of 00:12:31.39000:12:31.400 drumroll 290 micro farad's now let's go 00:12:36.38000:12:36.390 ahead and check the ESR meter and see if 00:12:38.33000:12:38.340 we get the same value okay put it on 00:12:42.20000:12:42.210 positive and this side and it looks like 00:12:48.32000:12:48.330 we are getting 1.9 looks like 1.9 ohms 00:12:54.92000:12:54.930 so it is slightly off so I'm going to 00:12:57.68000:12:57.690 read the middle one actually it's a 150 00:13:00.26000:13:00.270 micro farad's 250 volt right there I 00:13:02.84000:13:02.850 could read that or not see that I 00:13:06.16000:13:06.170 circled it right there for you 00:13:08.30000:13:08.310 and we're going to discharge it let's 00:13:12.50000:13:12.510 discharge all three one two three 00:13:16.57000:13:16.580 discharge the other ones 00:13:19.07000:13:19.080 as well and now let's go ahead and read 00:13:22.79000:13:22.800 the value and see if it reads 150 00:13:27.13900:13:27.149 microfarads I'm guessing it's probably 00:13:29.12000:13:29.130 not say I'm getting eight hundred eight 00:13:32.84000:13:32.850 hundred ninety nine hundred twenty seven 00:13:35.00000:13:35.010 microfarads so it's way higher if the 00:13:39.25900:13:39.269 capacitor was bad it would be way lower 00:13:41.42000:13:41.430 than 150 micro farad's so always read 00:13:44.18000:13:44.190 the capacitor when you're reading 00:13:46.16000:13:46.170 capacitor it has to be within ten 00:13:48.07900:13:48.089 percent of its value this read goes to 00:13:53.93000:13:53.940 the plus side and the black posted a 00:13:55.49000:13:55.500 negative side of the capacitor we are 00:13:57.82900:13:57.839 reading point zero zero eight ohms 00:14:00.05000:14:00.060 very very low ESR and it actually says 00:14:02.90000:14:02.910 it on the screen good cap with low ESR 00:14:06.19000:14:06.200 so it's without a doubt a good capacitor 00:14:09.38000:14:09.390 even though on this it said it was 00:14:11.84000:14:11.850 reading really really high so guys if 00:14:14.75000:14:14.760 you're interested in any of these meters 00:14:16.75900:14:16.769 that I shown today go ahead and click on 00:14:19.13000:14:19.140 the links in the video description below 00:14:20.54000:14:20.550 and if you know anyone that's interested 00:14:23.30000:14:23.310 in electronics go ahead and click on the 00:14:25.81900:14:25.829 share button below and if you found this 00:14:27.53000:14:27.540 video informative or you like my TV 00:14:29.69000:14:29.700 repair playlist go ahead and give me a 00:14:32.18000:14:32.190 big thumbs up it lets me know that you 00:14:33.88900:14:33.899 guys are interested in videos like these 00:14:35.44900:14:35.459 and go ahead and click on the subscribe 00:14:37.94000:14:37.950 button right here to subscribe for 00:14:40.19000:14:40.200 future how-to videos coming your way and 00:14:42.19900:14:42.209 click on this video right here for my TV 00:14:45.35000:14:45.360 repair playlist later guys
Office location
Engineering company LOTUS®
Russia, Ekaterinburg, Lunacharskogo street, 240/12