Hi-
Thanks for this post --
unfortunately, on tring to locate this item, I found a Dick Smith entry
with Gogle, ut his Yahoo store seems to be non-operational.  The cached
version wets the appetite.  What we really need is a PICversion :-)
David
Russell McMahon wrote:

>On looking at past postings I see that Roman Black doesn't seem to have
>posted on PICLIst since January !!!
>Time to send out a posse methinks!
>
>Summary:
>The Electronics Australia ESR meter (kitset) as enthusiastically recommended
>by Roman Black is utterly
>brilliant at locating old dry electrolytic capacitors in circuit.
>It also has many other uses.
>Buy one!
>
>(I consider mine has about paid for itself after one use).
>
>"K7204 EA 1/96 ESR & Low Ohms Meter"
>_____________________
>
>
>This post is to recommend an instrument that Roman recommended.
>It's an in circuit ESR & low ohms tester available in kitset form & based on
>an Electronics Australia article.
>While its specialist purpose is to perform Equivalent series Resistance
>tests
>on electrolytic capacitors in-circuit, it can also be used as a general
>purpose low ohms tester.
>
>Preamble: Electrolytic capacitors have a common failure mode caused by loss
>of electrolyte. This can occur with age or earlier on if run at a high
>temperature. The result is an increase in the effective resistance for AC
>signals. The capacitor can lose its effective filtering capability while
>still retaining its capacitance (as measured on a capacitance tester) and
>still having low leakage. Without an ESR meter such failures are essentially
>undetectable. Such failures are common in electronic equipment and indeed
>may be the major cause of failures.
>
>We have an oldish and very heavy 29" AWA brand television. Over time it
>slowly ceases turning on reliably via remote control and after enough time
>it won't turn on at all by any means. On a previous occasion I searched for
>the problem
>to no avail and finally summoned up enough muscle and will power to lug it
>to the local TV repairer. They (presumably having inside knowledge) replaced
>several small capacitors and it
>again worked OK. The problem returned some years later and as there was
>another unrelated fault I again sent it to the repairers. This time the fix
>was partial and the problem returned rapidly.
>
>Lack of the TV's circuits, general inexperience with TV circuitry and best
>use of time was weighed
>against , decreasing muscle power and increasing annoyance
>at paying repairers for a poor job - I decided to take up Roman Black's
>highly recommended solution of the EA ESR meter. Construction would take a
>long evening in front of the TV (where else? :-) ).
>
>Note that this is an *** ESR meter *** and NOT just a low ohms meter. It
>uses AC measurement techniques and uses a low enough signal to allow in
>circuit testing.
>
>Using the meter to look in the general area where I expected the fault to
>lie produced success with the second capacitor tested. It had a very very
>high ESR reading compared to the values provided with the meter (on it's
>front panel). One replacement 100 uF 25V cap and the TV appears to be back
>to full working order. I could have found the fault with a scorched-earth
>capacitor replacement policy. Replacing caps on a tight TV PCB is at best
>annoying, requires a range of suitable caps to hand, may cause extra
>problems and takes time. And it may have been something else. This meter
>allows
>intelligent replacement.
>
>Given the repeated occurrences of this fault, it appears this capacitor is
>over stressed for its role - mechanical aspects
>resulted in my replacing it with one of identical rating but if it happens
>again before the TV expires I'll use a better rated part.
>
>The meter is a microprocessor (Z8) driven autoranging device measuring from
>0.01R to 99R. It will measure resistances of eg PCB tracks & wire shunts and
>should prove invaluable for locating the physical location of PCB shorts.
>Highly recommended.
>
>
>_____________
>
>ESR meter's own page
>http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bobpar/esrmeter.htm
>
>The creator's project page
>http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bobpar/index.html
>
>US: Another writeup & pictures here
>http://www.flippers.com/esrktmtr.html
>
>$U49.95 from here            http://www.flippers.com/esrktord-form.html
>
>Canada
>http://www.mainelectronics.com/esrkit.htm
>
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>
>
>

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