[Test-Equipment] Need Recommendation for LCR Meter

[Edward Knobloch]

Hi,

You can go badly wrong believing a digital capacitance meter.
I used a B&K model 830 digital capacitance meter to measure
a bunch of old "Black Beauty" capacitors (Sprague paper tubulars).
All of the digital measurements were in the right ballpark,
and the capacitors had previously shown d.c. open circuit 
(greater than 30 Meg Ohms) using a Fluke model 75 DMM.

Out of curiosity, I broke out my old Sprague TO-4 capacitance bridge.
The eye of the bridge did open at the right place on the scale,
but the eye did not indicate a good null - it looked fuzzy,
compared to its appearance when testing a good mica or ceramic capacitor.
I then tried the insulation test feature of the Sprague TO-4, 
and all the paper capacitors tested failed -  all were below 150 MegOhms
when tested using a moderately high voltage.  (Sprague says a small value
paper
capacitor should have an insulation resistance greater than 5000
MegOhms.)

Short answer: a digital capacitance meter will give you an accurate
capacitance value of a good capacitor, but can't tell if the capacitor is
leaky.
An old bridge like the TO-4 will test the capacitor under some stress 
 - the TO-4 has either 85vac or 150vac across the arm - 
 so leakage will show up.

By the way, I had previously changed out all the paper tubular capacitors
in the Sprague TO-4 to Orange Drop mylar capacitors during refurbishment
-
that's where I got the tubular capacitors to test!

73,
Ed Knobloch

On Mon, 4 Dec 2006  "Ken Woodside, WB8EQO" 
<wb8eqo at yahoo.com> writes:
> I am looking for a decent meter to measure inductance,
> capacitance and resistance. Any recommendations on
> what to buy? I was looking seriously at the Ocean
> State Electronics 1810 but know they are in turmoil.
> Many thanks in advance!  Ken  WB8EQO
>