I was confident that I had this build finished. Be careful of the things that you “know for sure”. I have confused myself. There is a red led, on the right most side of the schematic near the on-on-on switch. Correct me if I am wrong,
1) this is not located on the pcb, it is the discharge indicating led? What about the 2.4k resistor, external to the board as well?
2) I’m so confused, could someone just help an old man out, where exactly do the wires from the spdt switch connect? Please, I’m going nuts over here.
its been a while since I watched the video, I’m sure its all explained, I’d like to get this done and move on.
thanks, jeff
Hi, in order to help you here are the following remarks and suggestions:
For question 1: yes the resistor is outside the board along side the LED.
For number 2: well the explanation in words for that switch is a little more antiquate but as they say: “A picture makes a thousand words” here is my suggestion to you:
First of all, please note that Mr Carlson Has released over the years a number of variants of this so called “cap leakage tester device” all of which are incremental improvements of the very same original idea and the minute he added that switch (to the project) then from there on its wiring stayed the same on the following version (the one you currently have just built) therefore I highly recommend that you go to the list of videos (on Patreon site) and search for Video number 43 named: New! Ultra Sensitive “Forecasting” Capacitor Leakage Tester. This video is 49:09 minutes long. if you scroll exactly ! to the 28:01 time stamp there is the exact moment when he starts explaining and showing exactly how the ON-ON-ON switch is connected and he even mentions about the RED Led and its 2.4K resistor. So it is all in that video. All you have to do is playback the video in full screen mode so you can see best and pay extreme attention to the explanations ! Very important ! I remember that back in the day when the project was released, lots of people were extremely confused by that switch and all of its wiring etc (which is why Mr Carlson has specifically insisted with those explanations in the above video). So, if you pay enough attention to it ! you should have no problem understanding the wiring whatsoever. Good luck and tell us if you could get it to work after watching that video 🙂
@ovi4 thanks for the heads up on this. Am about to commence producing (3rd attempt at the double sided board) that hopefully is not too far out of alignment for the two masks using my almost new HP Laser printer this time. The printer is A4 only so i guess something is being resized to cause an error for either Legal or Letter sized paper. I just completed The S.I.F.T & had a same problems there. I built the 1st Cap Tester way back when MCL released that design & it has been quite a good unit at my bench indeed.
I have had the Dual colour forecasting cap tester all set to go with all the parts etc from over a year ago & now i am in the routine of being retired have the spare time needed make it a priority. FWIW my Add-a-Cap project has stalled waiting for an equivalent relay & so too the Ultra probe all due to delays over parts arriving down-under here in New Zealand.
@peteb2 Hi, the issue you are having with the printer is not unique to your machine but it could be caused by some obscure “setting” or “property” of the printer you are still to discover “or” is a real mechanical de-calibration of that printer. Some manufacturers allow you to “realign” the lost calibration within the settings or properties of the printer using the original software issued by the manufacturer. Also pay extreme attention to the operating system that you are using because sometimes that system could override the printers settings to some kind of OS default settings in which (usually) at the time of printing the OS takes over and “out of the blue” decides to change it to let’s say “letter” instead. I remember that somewhere in system printers there is an option in which you can allow the system to override the printers own software settings. Personally, I did not have such issue but I am aware of it from other people complaints over the years.
@ovi4, thanks again. I just gave the printer a bit of attention, via a visit to the HP support website for my Neverstop 100x series unit & found updates for its Firmware & the Drivers. I have hardly used it in the years TBH until now. At least the pages aren’t coming out with obvious smoke drifting off them as they did prior!
I just test printed the Dual colour LED Cap tester .pdf using 1stly, via Adobe Acrobat Reader (used prior) & then Foxit PhantomPDF, the latter providing way more accessible info & options about the soon to happen print run. I have to say i shouldn’t use Adobe as this appears to be where dimensional error-shift was was coming from by the look.
So thanks again for the heads up. Off to make a few more boards… including the Non Contact Sig Injection Probe i have just added to my List of MCL Projects!
Hi, I.m glad you’ve gotten to the bottom of the printer issue and yes absolutely firmware out of date as well as adobe interference is always a possible reason for the trouble. To be honest last time I’ve used Adobe PDF soft. must have been oh….10-12 ago and didn’t like it then and ever since I switched to Foxit, and some other PDF readers (under Linux Mint OS) I never looked back
. Yes the CNSIP is a fantastic tool to use and surprisingly powerful as well.. I’ve built mine when it first came out (back when) and I’ve used it quite regular in audio but never to troubleshoot leaky, bad quality coax cables (as per the latest MCL’s Patreon Video) and I can’t wait for the next video to see (perhaps maybe) the finished product in action :)). Well, good luck with your builds but especially with anything double sided boards as they need to be very carefully aligned (top and bottom) using either the natural sun light or indoors with a form of illuminated glass window/frame or a so called Fresnel Lens panel/projector like MCL does. I use a similar setup as MCL’s Fresnel lens projector frame (By 3M) he has presented it some time back on YouTube :Off to make a few more boards… including the Non Contact Sig Injection Probe i have just added to my List of MCL Projects!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSu0xibIdyM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y6mNqMU9z8&t=9s
@ovi4 Thanks again for the tips. I am working through building MCL’s test devices which will really be of use for my restoration work on old tube radios & the few vintage audio equipment items that folks are slowly finding out i am able to repair. Currently i have the Add-A-Cap is in a stalled mode as the relays which are a direct equivalent to those suggested are taking such a long time to arrive in NZ.
The CNCSIP is coming along as far as an order with Digikey but the mixer device, the BF1105,215 has been well EOL’d a while ago & i am having trouble locating anyone who has stock. Paul advised one place listing 48,000 stock but they just simply have not replied to my inquiries. I continue to search & am ever hopeful.
For a light box (to align the double sided laser printed masks) i was fortunate to end up with one of those 4″x7″ LED array lights used by a News Crew Op on top their TV camera. It was very worn out & didn’t make sense to repair so the Op gifted it. I repurposed it into a simple lightweight case & used a section of frosted acrylic sheet cut from the LCD panel of a scrapped LCD computer monitor. The light source is adjustable for color temp & intensity & is overkill on brightness! It’s compact & was truly showing up the printer issue i was previously having on the SIFT project (which i have just used to mark all my spares caps for their outside foil).
So at this stage i’ve the Ultra Probe well along, the Add-a-Cap, the entire Dual LED cap tester (as a large box of parts sitting, waiting) so i can’t complain i don’t have anything to do!
I hope to etch up some boards today for the CNCSIP.
Thanks again for your input… Much appreciated.