How to measure the capacitance of electronic components

The previous article talked about how to measure inductance. This time, let’s talk about how to measure capacitance.

Compared to resistance, the measurement of capacitance is a bit more complicated, but there are special instruments that can be used to measure capacitance, and many multimeters have special capacitance measurement blocks.

(1) Fully discharge the capacitor before measurement to avoid damaging the multimeter during measurement.

(2) Discharge the capacitor after measurement (a certain amount of power will remain in the capacitor during the test with a digital multimeter) to reduce safety hazards during subsequent use. If the instrument itself has set protection for the capacitance block, there is no need to consider polarity and capacitor discharge during the capacitance test.

(3) When using a multimeter to measure capacitance, insert the capacitor into the dedicated capacitor test socket, as shown in the figure below.

(4) When measuring large capacitance, it may take a little longer to get a stable reading. Be patient and wait for a stable count to appear.