[TenTec] ESR vs Leakage

[Wade Staggs]

In my history of about 45 years. The reason for High ESR has always been.
Older Capacitors which the Electrolyte has Leaked or Dried Out over time.
Most times when we ran into High ESR, the Capacitor is a Polarized
Capacitor. ( Have + and - polarity ) My ESR Meter is Homemade and from an
era that they were not available as a kit. You may also place an older
Analog Meter to the RX100 or RX1000 Resistance Scale and look for a kick in
Meter Deflection, as you are switching the test leads back and forth
between the positive and negative leads. If you also test a Known Good
Capacitor of the same value, you can get an idea of just how big this Kick
... should be. We have been working with Knives and Bear Skins for so many
years!. I would not know how to act with proper Test Equipment on the Work
Bench.

  73 OM from Wade/KJ4WS



On Thu, Jul 10, 2014 at 9:05 AM, Peter Bertini <radioconnection at gmail.com>
wrote:

> ESR can be thought of as a resistor in series with a capacitor.  Ideally, a
> capacitor would be purely inductive, with no resistive losses.
>
> ESR should be constant, regardless of frequency, INMHO... for what it is
> worth... impedance will change with frequency, and many inexpensive ESR
> meters are frequency sensitive in that regard.
>
> A shorted capacitor will read perfect on an ESR meter.
>
> Pete
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