18
Why I stopped trusting capacitors just because they look fine
Had a 10 year old TV come in with a no power issue last week, checked the caps visually and they looked perfect. No bulging, no leakage, nothing. Spent an hour chasing bad solder joints and a flaky power switch. Finally grabbed my ESR meter on a hunch and found three caps that read like resistors. Replaced them for about $4 and the thing fired right up. Has anyone else had caps test bad even when they look brand new?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
elizabetht5628d agoTop Commenter
Respectfully, I think you're overcomplicating this. ESR meters are great tools but visual inspection has caught plenty of bad caps for me over the years, especially the bulging ones that fail obviously. You found a rare case where looks were deceiving, but that doesn't mean you should stop trusting your eyes entirely.
6
ryanprice28d ago
Trust your eyes until your meter says you're wrong, right?
7