Re: Condensers Testing

[frankr]

The tester shown by westwind is the basis for many commercially available condenser testers. It is a step up from what you are doing with the battery in your multimeter. 110V AC is rectified to DC (such as a battery is), which charges the condenser. When the condenser is charged to the firing voltage of the neon light, it flashes, discharging the condenser. Then the process starts over again. The two resistors, together with the capacitance of the condenser, affect the cycle time. Changing the capacitance changes the cycle time, thus it gives a rough or comparitive indication of the capacitance, judging by the flash rate.