another multimeter question

[powerplayj]

Is the capacitance reader functionality useful in DIY projects?

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

It's certainly useful when you have a cap with 'mystery' markings. (dont expect it to be reliable if you try to measur a cap while it is connected into a circuit though).
RS made a handy little cap meter once also (size of a multimeter, wiht range buttons down the side).

[Nasse]

Wise words from Paul, I agree. I think I must buy or make myself some kind of cap meter.  I think it could be useful when you have some caps in your junkbox whose value you are not so sure about. And matching some caps for filters could be cool...

[ErikMiller]

For me it's been useful. I found out that I had some caps that were way outside tolerance, so I don't use them any more.

Also great for the aforementioned "mystery caps."

But I get a lot of my components from oddball surplus NOS sources. For someone else, a cap meter might not be of much use.

It's certainly something I use much less often than I use DC voltage, resistance, and hfe (Fuzz Facers gotta have the hfe:-).