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Chris Birch #64383 15/04/13 4:36 PM
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Saved £1800 by replacing a faulty cap on the inverter board of an LCD monitor. Buy a good ESR meter, it'll pay for itself many times over. They don't teach this stuff on Clinical Technology courses wink

biomedbill #64384 15/04/13 6:30 PM
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"Clinical Technology courses" ... what's that? whistle

Yes, Bill. I've still got my ESR meter (two of 'em, in fact). Good kit! smile

See here.

Chris Birch #64385 15/04/13 8:19 PM
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We have the Peak ESR meter, it works well. As I mentioned it has saved us thousands over the years.

biomedbill #64386 15/04/13 9:56 PM
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ESR meters are only good for testing electrolytics, of course.

The classic ESR meter is (arguably) the Dick Smith (now no longer available, unfortunately). However, Bob Parker's Blue tester (marketed by AnaTek) is also "sought after".

Apart from my Peak ESR-60, I also have another "classic":- the BadCaps ESR Meter from Széki MiLu (hope I've got that right ... a guy in Hungary, anyway).

OK ... seeing that I've dropped so many names in there - I guess I should also mention Jeremy Siddons at Peak. A true Genius Guy (who wouldn't tell me the secrets behind their clever test kit - especially my questions about "how does the DCA work")! Although, in the spirit of Open Source (Public Domain) - not to mention DIY - anyone really interested in this stuff could do worse than check out Markus Frejek (note also the nice section about ESR). smile

How many names is that?

biomedbill #64387 16/04/13 12:21 AM
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OK ... one last name:- Doug Jones. smile

That certainly looks like a nice one. And Doug is very forthcoming with information ... and even offers spare parts for his meter.


If you don't inspect ... don't expect.
Chris Birch #64390 16/04/13 1:22 PM
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Sorry for hijacking this post. Back on track, briefly. One of my colleagues ordered some backlights for a Drager vent display from LCDparts, from what I remenber it took ages to get them, unfortunately he found it too fiddly to fit the new tubes so I think we might try OMI next time we need the tubes replacing, prices don't look too bad.
Back off track. I suppose we could link ESR measurement circuit with an Arduino project to create a DIY meter.

Last edited by biomedbill; 16/04/13 1:23 PM.
biomedbill #64391 16/04/13 1:42 PM
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Slight deviation from the straight and narrow:- repairs (especially repairs to modern kit) are often like that ... in a word, difficult. I have already found that replacing SMD (for instance) usually ends up in a blobby mess, once you get to my state of decrepitude. frown

But when you're working in a hospital it's always been the case that you have to consider the speed of returning kit to service (by whatever - usually expensive - means) versus the "luxury" of actually repairing it yourself.

It's another thing that I doubt you'll be taught at "Clinical Technologist School":- the economics and practicalities (and priorities) of repairing kit. That and discovering (and facing up to) your own limitations. In other words:- the Art of the Possible.

However, when you're working from a shed, the back room at your flat, or indeed the boot of the car (that is, "cost-effectively") - well, different rules apply, and customers can't tolerate hefty invoices ... and so, in turn, they are generally used to waiting a while before seeing their kit again.

Regarding DIY ... my own brief "research" would seem to indicate that those ESR meters employ some sort of secret (AVR etc.) wizardry. Best left to the Wizards in this case (and existing ESR meters are not that expensive). But don't forget you can always use a signal generator and oscilloscope when working at the bench. Arduino? Don't forget SproutBoard.

OK ... cutting back through the thicket and back on the path (and heading in the right direction, more or less):- see this link. Yes, it all looks a bit, er ... delicate! There are a number of YouTube videos about changing backlight components, as well. smile

biomedbill #70300 08/03/16 7:49 PM
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How about this as a nice piece of kit?

I wouldn't mind having one of those just to look good sitting on my shelf! smile

Does anyone on here have one?

Meanwhile, here is a better link for the Sprout Board (not sure how current any of that stuff is, though).

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