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- Thread starter bbudd
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from WikiAnswers:
"Q: How do I test a capacitor when I cannot remove it out of circuit?
Generally a multimeter is not sufficient to test in-circut because you re reading the other components in the circuit .
A large electrolitic Cap. can be tested with a multimeter provided you clip one side of it to remove it from the rest of the circiut .
Most electrolitics dry up over time and open , in this case you can apply another cap over the old one and observe the results .
A small , low uf capacitor cannot be tested with a ohm meter unless its shorted .
There are however in-circiut capacitor testers as well as transistor testers that are designed to do what you want .
If correct troubleshooting techniques are done in live circiut such as voltage and signal tracing , you need not be testing individual components , that can be time consuming and expensive .
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I would like to add one point here. It is possible to validate a in circuit caps using a multimeter, provided
1. There is not short in the circuit connected across the given caps
there are n number of possibilities. For example, if the given caps is a decaps for power pin of a given IC and due to the ESD (electro static discharge), lets say, the input protection diode has been blown off/shorted and when you measure the impendance across the caps, it shows a short. This may mislead us. We can isolate the real status of the caps until we remove it from the circuit.
2. There are no bad caps connected in parrallel with the given caps."
Testing the starter is a little tricky from what I read, something about applying electrical pulses to the starter???. If your caps test good, google the number on the starter and try one replacement before you buy quantity.
"Q: How do I test a capacitor when I cannot remove it out of circuit?
Generally a multimeter is not sufficient to test in-circut because you re reading the other components in the circuit .
A large electrolitic Cap. can be tested with a multimeter provided you clip one side of it to remove it from the rest of the circiut .
Most electrolitics dry up over time and open , in this case you can apply another cap over the old one and observe the results .
A small , low uf capacitor cannot be tested with a ohm meter unless its shorted .
There are however in-circiut capacitor testers as well as transistor testers that are designed to do what you want .
If correct troubleshooting techniques are done in live circiut such as voltage and signal tracing , you need not be testing individual components , that can be time consuming and expensive .
------------------------------
I would like to add one point here. It is possible to validate a in circuit caps using a multimeter, provided
1. There is not short in the circuit connected across the given caps
there are n number of possibilities. For example, if the given caps is a decaps for power pin of a given IC and due to the ESD (electro static discharge), lets say, the input protection diode has been blown off/shorted and when you measure the impendance across the caps, it shows a short. This may mislead us. We can isolate the real status of the caps until we remove it from the circuit.
2. There are no bad caps connected in parrallel with the given caps."
Testing the starter is a little tricky from what I read, something about applying electrical pulses to the starter???. If your caps test good, google the number on the starter and try one replacement before you buy quantity.
why test then, curiosity? You said the ballast is good, the only thing in question is the cap and starter. If the cap tests good then it's reasonable to assume a starter would fix it. But you don't want to fix it?
