Many single-phase motors used on refrigeration systems will incorporate some type of capacitor. They will either use a start capacitor to aid in its starting or a run capacitor to improve its running ...

As electrolytic capacitors age, their internal resistance, also known as “equivalent series resistance” (ESR), gradually increases. This can eventually lead to equipment failure. Using this design, ...

Powered by a 9V battery or an optional ac wall adapter, the Model 881 handheld tester can be used to measure the equivalent series resistance (ESR) of electrolytic capacitors in or out of circuit. The ...

In the 1930s and up to and after World War II, several companies manufactured vacuum tube analyzers specifically for testing capacitors (then called condensers). Although many of today’s digital ...

Guest columnist Dale Cigoy, lead applications engineer at Keithley Instruments, outlines how an understanding of the challenges for testing capacitors can be invaluable to engineers. Capacitors are ...

Building a capacitance meter is a great exercise. If you’re feeling quite safe in your digital-circuit-only life, this will push just far enough out of the comfort zone for you to see there’s nothing ...

Although it dates back to the early days of the Marconi Company in the 1920s, the Franklin oscillator has remained a ...