Capacitor leakage tester design & build DIY - Part 1

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IMPORTANT CORRECTION: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MOSFET SHOWN IN THE FINAL SCHEMATIC IS WRONG. IT SHOULD BE THE ONE MENTIONED IN THE DESIGN STAGES OF THE VIDEO SERIES, AN IRFP27N60K, OR SIMILAR.

In the tube radio restorations that I do, I often adopt the policy of swapping out all capacitors simply because of the high probability of them being leaky after the years of service. I needed a capacitor leakage tester to check the capacitor leakage at their rated (or working) voltages, as a means of sparing some of them and also of double checking for the causes of common capacitor faults.

I could have bought an old one and restored it, but this seemed like a better idea - designing and building a more accurate and modern one, as well as making the applied voltage linearly variable so that I can get a true reading of the leakage as the operating voltage rises. Obviously, another requirement was safety. High voltage zaps you, and I like living.

The variable voltage also serves as a means of reforming old electrolytic capacitors, which would probably save me quite a lot of work and cash in the restoration works.

This video is the actual build of the circuit, which is designed over three further videos which will be published after this one. The reason is that many of you may not be interested in the theory and just want to see it done, or even do it yourself.

Have fun, and be careful - this thing has high voltages that can kill you.

Have fun, and be careful - this thing has high voltages that can kill you.

The other parts of this series are available in the playlist:
   • Capacitor leakage tester design & build DI...  

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