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Spent $400 on a fancy multimeter that claimed to read capacitance in-circuit and it lied to me every time
Had to pull three boards from a King Air last week before I realized the meter was giving me garbage readings on caps that tested fine with a manual discharge and check has anyone else found a handheld that actually works for in-circuit testing?
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blair_dixon1mo ago
Three hundred bucks for a Fluke that swore it could do in-circuit capacitance and it sent me chasing ghosts on a Cessna radio stack. My buddy swears by a Brymen I couldnt even find in stock, so I stick to pulling the caps and testing them like its 1998. At this point I assume every meter is lying until I prove it wrong with a cold beer and a second opinion.
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the_andrew1mo agoMost Upvoted
Yeah I feel that. My first Fluke was supposed to save me time and instead I spent a Saturday afternoon chasing a 10uF cap that was actually fine, just some board leakage messing with the reading. Pulled it, tested it, 9.8uF perfect. Now I keep a bag of frozen beer cans in the shop fridge and tell myself the meter is just a glorified flashlight until I've had two of them and a fresh solder joint. Funny how the old methods never lie, they just make you work for the answer.
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victorb171mo ago
Your bag of frozen beer cans in the shop fridge is the most relatable thing I've read all week. I've got a six pack of Hamm's in my mini fridge for the same reason. Nothing beats that "pull it and test it" reality check when the meter starts acting fancy.
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