It has been far too long between kit reviews, and after cleaning out some cupboards I found a brand-new, sealed ESR Meter Kit from Dick Smith Electronics. Designed by Bob Parker, this was first described in the January 1996 edition of Electronics Australia magazine:
ESR means “Equivalent Series Resistance”, which becomes a problem with electrolytic capacitors. As they age and the electrolyte inside them (which is soaked into a porous material which is layered between the metal sheets inside the electrolytic capacitor) dries out, the resistance of the capacitor increases.
As the resistance increases, current through the capacitor will cause an increase in heat inside the capacitor. As you can imagine, this heat causes damage to the point of discombobulation. Thus the reason for this meter, you can easily test the value of ESR and check your capacitors before their life ends.
Normally I’d build it myself, however instead sent it down to Peter Parker VK3YE, an incredibly interesting person who is an expert on these sorts of things, and also the QRP (low power) world of amateur radio. Peter has made a great video which you can watch here.
Peter has also written some excellent books about getting in to amateur (HAM) radio and QRP as well, you can find them all from his useful website.
The kit retailed for $59.95, which according to the Reserve Bank is $128 in today’s money:
A second revision of the kit was published in 2004 by Silicon Chip, and you can buy the entire kit from Altronics for $105, which is very fair. Also, kudos to Altronics for their 50th year of operation and still making many things in Australia.
If you would like a copy of the magazine article that describes the kit, I’m sure you can find it on eBay or elsewhere.
So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed Peter’s video about the ESR Meter. If you find this sort of thing interesting, please consider ordering one or more of my books from amazon.
And as always, have fun and make something.
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