Debate: Should we replace capacitors or test them every time?

Last Tuesday I had a bad day at a repair shop in Cleveland. I spent 3 hours replacing caps on a TV that ended up having a shorted flyback transformer, and the customer blamed me. But then Friday I saved $80 on a stereo receiver by just testing caps first with my ESR meter before changing them. What do you all do when a power supply seems dead? Do you shotgun the caps or check them first? I go back and forth depending on the job.

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_hayes712d ago

You test caps with an ESR meter?

juliahall2d ago

Testing caps with an ESR meter saved me on a dead monitor power supply last month. Checked the caps first and only three were bad, replaced those and it fired right up. So now I test before replacing unless the bulging is obvious.