looking for a capacitor meter recommendation

starfighter2

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I would like to get a capacitor meter and have seen some recommendations for them on a couple of sites but thought I would ask to see what folks are using. The two that seem to be out there that folks have talked about are the bk Precision In0Circuit ESR / DCR capacitor Tester Analyzer 881, CapAnalyzer 88A, and Capacitor Wizard.

Are there any other recomendations?
is the BK tester better?
Does this test all types of capacitors or just electrolitics?
 
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I use the CapAnalyzer88A and I love it. I use it every day!

I also at one time owned a Capacitor Wizard. I used both the CapAnalyzer88A and the Capacitor Wizard side-by-side and found the CapAnalyzer88A out-performed the capacitor Wizard. The CapAnalyzer88A found bad caps the Capacitor Wizard missed! I ended up GIVING AWAY the Capacitor Wizard after just two months of ownership because it was failing to spot bad capacitors.

ESR style capacitor meters are strictly for testing electrolytic capacitors rated 2,000 uf and lower in value (and preferably the capacitor to be tested is already discharged).
 
A tantalum capacitor is really an electrolytic so an ESR meter will test them.

Mylar capacitors, ceramic disc caps, and other style capacitors can be tested with a digital readout capacitor "value" meter.

I use a value meter for testing wax paper capacitors in old tube operated radios and amplifiers. This is where a value meter works best. ESR meters are useless in this application.
 
Thanks, one last question. Any recommendation for the digital readout capacitor "value" meter? is this a DSR meter?
Do you plan on testing a lot of non-electrolytic capacitors? Non-electrolytic capacitors have a very low failure rate and are very cheap. If I suspected a non-electrolytic cap to be bad I would just replace it, unless you do a lot of work involving non-electrolytic caps. If you do I would think that you can accomplish the same task with the cheaper Tenma capacitance meter Tenma 72-8150 this should be more than adequate for the hobbyist.
 
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