Randall
I don't think it's quite that easy. If I remember my old college EE courses the
caps will charge to the peak voltage available which should be 120 volts times
the square root of three (1.714). The caps should charge to about 208 volts.
You may have to by a small transformer and wire it backwards (say 50VA with a
480 volt primary and a 120 volt secondary) then use the caps and diodes to
provide a smooth dc output.
Mark
-------------- Original message --------------
> > If you can't find a automotive coil/condenser checker
>
> Been trying to buy one on eBay, but I keep getting outbid. Guess others want
> them more than I do.
>
> > then what you need is
> > a high voltage DC power supply and a milliammeter (preferably a DMM on the
> > Amps scale because you are going to peg the meter initially). You apply the
> > voltage to the capacitor with the meter in series. The meter pegs until the
> > condenser (capacitor) charges, and then shows some leakage current. The
>less
> > the better.
>
> I'm guessing that the leakage current should be well below 1 ma for a healthy
> condensor. Guess I'll have to throw together a 400v power supply (3 caps & 3
> diodes should do, just triple 120vac from the wall) and test a few "known
>good"
> condensers.
>
> Randall
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