Many single-phase motors used on refrigeration systems will incorporate some type of capacitor. They will either use a start capacitor or a run capacitor. Some motors will even use both.

So, test the capacitors while the system is running for a more accurate reading, and it works doubly in your favor as a way to impress other technicians with your newly found math skills. Remember ...

The circuit shown here tackles ESL/ESR measurement of capacitors by using a mercury-wetted relay (Fig. 1). In this circuit, the relay is employed as a fast closing switch.

[James] designed a set of circuit boards that enabled him to place different types of capacitors at various distances along a set of PCB traces.

Engineers usually have access to signal and function generators, as well as frequency counters and oscilloscopes, but they may not have access to capacitance or inductance meters. Using the test setup ...

Measurement of circuit's attenuation factor and generator's internal resistance leads to r c, the capacitor's ESR: Instead of using a sine wave excitation, we can use a square wave.

Longtime contributor Bob Meister from Hamden, Conn., writes in response to Tom Osenkowsky’s recent contribution with respect to equivalent series resistance (ESR) and the Sencore LC-75 Z-Meter being ...