You can build a simple leak checker for caps.
You don't have to buy an expensive cap machine.
You need:
1) black box
2) wire
3) 2 banana jacks
4) momentary switch
5) 9 volt battery
6) batter clip
7) digital voltmeter
8) 2 alligator clips
here is the diagram:
here are some pics of the ten minute box i threw together:
Directions:
Wire the circuit
Short the alligators
Measure the voltage (you are reading battery volts)
Hook up a cap to test
Press the button to charge the cap
Release the button, let the voltage stabilize, and read the hopefully low voltage, in this case, I had 0.140 volts dc.
Now divide the low number by the batt volts to get leakage.
Don't forget to multiply by 100 to put it in percent form.
So, in my test-
0.140 volts divided by 9.45 volts (new 9 volt batt reads high)
so 0.14/9.45 = about 1.5 percent leakage for a lytic.
Try it on a spraque orange drop and you should see zero leakage.
Anything over 1 percent....is bad if a coupling cap.
Good to get a DIY project started and finished in the same day
.onward...
You don't have to buy an expensive cap machine.
You need:
1) black box
2) wire
3) 2 banana jacks
4) momentary switch
5) 9 volt battery
6) batter clip
7) digital voltmeter
8) 2 alligator clips
here is the diagram:
here are some pics of the ten minute box i threw together:
Directions:
Wire the circuit
Short the alligators
Measure the voltage (you are reading battery volts)
Hook up a cap to test
Press the button to charge the cap
Release the button, let the voltage stabilize, and read the hopefully low voltage, in this case, I had 0.140 volts dc.
Now divide the low number by the batt volts to get leakage.
Don't forget to multiply by 100 to put it in percent form.
So, in my test-
0.140 volts divided by 9.45 volts (new 9 volt batt reads high)
so 0.14/9.45 = about 1.5 percent leakage for a lytic.
Try it on a spraque orange drop and you should see zero leakage.
Anything over 1 percent....is bad if a coupling cap.
Good to get a DIY project started and finished in the same day
.onward...