99
MEASUREMENT TIPS
To avoid possible damage to the meter or the
equipment under test, disconnect circuit power
and discharge the capacitor before measuring
capacitance.
Capacitance is the ability of a component to store
an electrical charge. The unit of capacitance is the
farad (F). Most capacitors are within the range of
nanofarad (nF) to microfarad (μF). The meter
measures capacitance by charging the capacitor with
a known current, measuring the resulting time of the
charging period, and then calculating the capacitance.
The larger capacitors will take longer time to charge.
Some large capacitors can take over a minute to
measure due to the long charge time required. A
flashing “C” indicates charging capacitor. To improve
the measurement accuracy of a small value
capacitance, press REL with the alligator clip leads
open, to subtract the residual capacitance of the
meter and leads.
Measuring tip: For measuring capacitance greater
than 1000μF, you must discharge the capacitor first,
then select a suitable measurement range. This will
speed up the time to measure the correct value.
1. Turn on the meter.
2. If you are using alligator clip leads or SMD
tweezer to test capacitance, connect them to
the “+” and “-“ input sockets. Then press REL
To Next Page
Loading...