Page 108 - Testing Electronic Components

To test the small blue resin coated ceramic disc capacitor that have the
capacitor marking of 104 50v, besides using digital capacitance tester to
check for the capacitance value, I also use an analogue meter. Set to times
10Kohm range that has 12 volt output from the probes to check this type
of ceramic capacitor failure. Many times it will reveal the bad intermittent
capacitors. You will be shocked to see the digital capacitance meter tested
ok when checking the capacitor but show a shorted reading when check
with an analogue meter.

In the market there is certain brand of analogue meter that have the range
of 100kohm. If you remove the cover, you can't see the 9 volt battery in
it, what you see is only the 2 pieces of 1.5 volt batteries. This type of
meter can't accurately detect the ceramic capacitor leakage because the
output voltage from the probes was only 3 volt!

Ceramic capacitor manufacturer produced many construction and types of
capacitors, and if the ceramic disc capacitor always failed even though
you had replaced a new one then try another type which is the resin
coated ceramic disk capacitor. Replacing a higher voltage rating than
the original one may also help to prolong the life of the ceramic capacitor.

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