Hardware Insights Forum

You're right, it is 10uF. I had another look at the load tester and that is indeed what I have in there. The probe is clipped onto the output pin of the switch, and the ground wire to the piece of wire that grounds the caps.

That article is a bit overdue for an update. I don't actually use that long skinny ghetto load tester anymore. I have also tested it with the two capacitors connected directly to the output connector (without the switch in between), and the probes straight on to the caps. It makes no difference compared to how I have it on the load tester.

Well, here's the difference:


I suppose the inlet shown in photo #2 wouldn't be nearly as bad as non-safety-rated capacitors on the mains (although they usually appear in tandem…) — or counterfeit cords for that matter. Nonetheless, I don't find the lack of approvals (other than the apparently lax Chinese one) encouraging. If you see one of those not in tandem with non-mains-rated caps, I guess half a point off would be fair enough.

(As far as I'm concerned, the C13 [and all other odd C-numbered "connectors"] qualifies as a socket — as its contacts are female, mating with the male pins of the C14 inlet [or E-type plug]. The "gender" of the connector body is cosmetic, so doesn't matter to me — unlike the contact gender, which is a matter of life and death — so I find references to the C13 [or any other odd C-number] as a "plug", or an inlet as a "socket", quite awkward. The IEC itself goes neither way when referring to the cord-end connectors with female contacts, but are clear about the naming of the other three categories.)