Thread: ESR meter - project

Hi!

I want to build an ESR meter ...first of all i would like to know if you think
it's a useful tool and better than capacitometer on checking defected
capacitors?

second thing... i need heeelp! i know the basic principles of the way it
works, but my knowledge aren't enough to design one!

i prefer to use a wheatstone bridge, i have seen many schematics
and i think it's more easy to build it that way...i also prefer to use
the tl084 op-amps which i already have and i can buy a galvanometer
or use my analog multimeter to read my results! although i would like to listen
any other opinions on my design as long as it has nothing to do with microcontrolers! i don't have knowledge on such things...i'd like my design to be simple and cost effective and above all to do its job!

ready "examples" are acceptable...

Thanks in advance everyone willing to help me.

I designed a simple ESR meter.

I'll post the circuit if you wish.

Originally Posted by whiz115

Hi!

I want to build an ESR meter ...first of all i would like to know if you think
it's a useful tool and better than capacitometer on checking defected
capacitors?

It's almost essential these days, the major cause of faults is low ESR capacitors - with an ESR meter you can easily, and quickly, identify these while still in circuit (mostly!).

second thing... i need heeelp! i know the basic principles of the way it
works, but my knowledge aren't enough to design one!

i prefer to use a wheatstone bridge, i have seen many schematics
and i think it's more easy to build it that way

The designs I've seen (and the one I built) don't use a wheatstone bridge, just a simple potential divider. It's also pretty essential that you do the measurements at 100KHz - which is the standard frequency for ESR testing.

Originally Posted by whiz115

that is interesting... if it works good and makes my design more simple
i would like something like that!

PM me your email address and I'll send you a PDF conversion of the original magazine article.

Perhaps you should design it yourself?

This is your project remember.

I would assume it's copyrighted.

Although I would think it's all right as one diagram probably qualifies as fair dealing.

Originally Posted by ljcox

I designed a simple ESR meter.

I'll post the circuit if you wish.

Sorry, I forgot to post my circuit. Here it is. The .pdf includes a circuit description.

I made it on a prototyping PCB that I purchased from JayCar.