Question on ESR meters

[pompeiisneaks]

I've watched quite a few of Uncle Doug's videos on Youtube.  He uses an ESR meter a lot just like this one: http://smile.amazon.com/Blue-ESR-Tester-Kit-Requires/dp/B00O0BMIJ6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1439938808&sr=8-2&keywords=anatek+esr+tester

I tried searching for esr and esr meter on the forum and found nothing.

Are they very helpful for amp repairs?  is it worth it for me to get one, or should I just do a visual inspection and based on age/bubbling etc, desolder one side and do normal capacitance test? 

Just was curious as to common practices with testing caps for replacement.  Resistors are easy, they still test fine in circuit, but I know caps are not so easy. 

Any other methods to easily test quality of caps in circuit that I'm not aware of? 

[pompeiisneaks]

And of course I forgot one other question, are any of the other cheaper kits on ebay worth it like:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12864-LCD-Transistor-Tester-Capacitance-SCR-ESR-Meter-Diode-Triode-MOS-NPN-US-/131539364479?hash=item1ea05b6a7f

or even

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12864-LCD-Transistor-Tester-Capacitance-SCR-ESR-Meter-Diode-Triode-MOS-NPN-US-/131539364479?hash=item1ea05b6a7f

??

[HotBluePlates]

I've watched quite a few of Uncle Doug's videos on Youtube.  He uses an ESR meter a lot ...

Are they very helpful for amp repairs? ...

I've never used one, but after watching Uncle Doug's video, it looks like a very handy tool for testing electrolytic caps.

[SoundmasterG]

I've got an ESR meter on my Sprague Tel-Ohmike TO6A, though it is likely not very accurate until I overhaul the tester. I highly recommend the TO5 and TO6 and you can find them pretty cheap on ebay sometimes. The TO5 can test transformer winds too in addition to cap value, ESR, reforming caps etc. Super useful.

Greg

[p2pAmps]

I don't own one but I hear the "Capacitor Wizard" is suppose to be good.

[pompeiisneaks]

SoundmasterG, it looks like they're not so cheap on ebay right now, between 50 for a broken one and 150 for a working one ugh the first one I mentioned is 89 new but unassembled, I think I'd stick to that, but I'll keep my eyes out for a better deal.

mscaggs, that one seems a bit pricey too, at 199, but if nobody else has heard of the first one I posted, maybe its not really very good? 

At any rate, thanks for the input, I'll keep my eyes out.

~Phil

[HotBluePlates]

mscaggs, that one seems a bit pricey too, at 199, but if nobody else has heard of the first one I posted, maybe its not really very good?

It looked good enough to me to get the job done; in fact, I think I'm gonna buy one in the next month or two.

If you're not very good at soldering, I'd recommend buying the assembled version on ebay. The small components will be sensitive to overheating, and at least some of the solid-state components will be sensitive to electro-static discharge (ESD). That means if you body isn't grounded when handling them (ideally through a wristband attached to ground through a resistance), you could destroy them internally before you even try to put them on the p.c. board.

Paying the little bit extra to get one assembled and known-working is a good idea. However, if you have a fine-tipped iron and are confident you could glance at the instructions and assemble the thing right the first time, the kit will save you a few bucks.

[pompeiisneaks]

HotBluePlates, thanks yeah I went and reread their own description after I posted and came to the same conclusion.  I like soldering, but not on tiny stuff, I have big fat hands, so every time I've worked on really small stuff I start getting annoyed.  I've done some work with a brewing controller on arduino and had to solder together some of that and thought I was gonna lose it :P

[pompeiisneaks]

As a followup, I ended up getting the blue one assembled, and its pretty cool.  when I first powered on my Vox AC30 clone, there was a bit of smoke from the area of a filter cap, so I quickly shut it down, and found out later it was the resistor that was overheating, due to a bad ground I fixed.  I used the ESR meter to test the cap and it tested just like the others so I knew it was still good, before I proceeded.  Having that test was invaluable. 

~Phil