Capacitance Measurement - Mastech ms8217 User Manual

DIGITAL MULTIMETER

3.2.5 Capacitance measurement

Warning
To avoid electrical shock and/or damage to the
instrument, disconnect circuit power and
discharge all high-voltage capacitors before
measuring capacitance. Use the dc voltage
function to confirm that the capacitor is
discharged.
Capacitance is the ability of a component to store an
electrical charge.The unit of capacitance is the farad
(F). Most capacitors are in the nanofarad to microfarad
range. The Meter measures capacitance by charging
the capacitor with a known current for a known period of
time, measuring the resulting voltage, then calculating
the capacitance. The measurement takes about 1
second per range.
The Meter's capacitance ranges are 50.00nF, 500.0nF,
5.000µF, 50.00µF and 100.0µF.
To measure capacitance (set up the Meter as shown in
Figure 6):
1. Set the rotary switch to
2. Connect the black and red test leads to the COM and
terminals respectively (or you can measure the
capacitance by using Multi Function Socket).
3. Connect the test leads to the capacitor being measured
and read the displayed value.
Note:
• The meter may take a few seconds to stabilize reading.
This is normal for high capacitance measuring.
• To improve the accuracy of measurements less than
50nF, subtract the residual capacitance of the Meter
and leads.
• Below 500pF, the accuracy of measurements is
unspecified.
range.
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DIGITAL MULTIMETER
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