DIY transformer, inductor and capacitor in-circuit ring tester

Building a ring tester that can test transformers and inductors for short turns, even in a circuitboard. It can easily identify shorted windings, including just 1 short turn. Irreplaceable, especially when fixing switching power supplies and inverters, but also for vintage CRT television and monitor high voltage transformers and deflection coils. It's a simple ring tester, testing the winding based on the number of damped oscillations it can make with a resonant capacitor. An internal short will turn a high Q factor transformer or inductor into a very low Q one, resulting in way less damped oscillations (rings). The Q factor is affected by the internal short turns way more than the inductance is. This tester can also ring test capacitors to estimate their dissipation factor.
The previous episode:
• DIY transformer/induct...
The tester and program on my website:
danyk.cz/avr_ri...
Please support me on Patreon:
/ diodegonewild
My Instagram:
/ savage_danyk

[@sortofsmarter]

I love watching a master at his craft. This guy can just make whatever he needs anytime. We are just observers of this greatness. I'm glad for the opportunity he provides us to watch and learn...

[@jstro-hobbytech]

I'd like to see the code explained as well. Great video Dany

[@casper2501]

You can get the code on his website, the link is in the description of the video

[@jstro-hobbytech]

@@casper2501 seriously? Are you sure?

[@jstro-hobbytech]

@@casper2501 haha jk brother. I'd like to show why he did what that way. He's an interesting man. You should match my 10 dollar thanks on this video for being guilty of stating the obvious lol

[@অৰি]

@@jstro-hobbytech Yep. But it's written in Assembly language 😵‍💫

[@michaelseitz8938]

Wow, this is some really impressive engineering 😊 I don't need an inductor tester, but your video made me want to have one 😂 Just because the working principle is so interesting and ingenious.

[@electronicengineer]

Dany is an engineer's engineer. I have not come across another electrical engineer (in my 57 years) that not only completely understands all angles of the various topics he covers, but is also so inclined as to easily teach the principle(s) as well and as effortlessly as Dany obviously does. This man is, in my humble opinion, a real genius. Fred

[@buidelrat132]

Thanks!

[@jimadams7765]

The best explanation about "in circuit testing" I have ever seen. Thank you.

[@amkp40technology]

*Congratulations!🎉 For 200K Subscribers ❤️🙏🏻👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼*

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Thank you!!

[@Speeder84XL]

Nice work! That tester is awesome. Shorted turns on inductors can otherwise be a pain in the ass (hard to discover using ordinary meters - especially on inductors where the inductance is not known)

[@rilosvideos877]

You are a real genius! Maybe you could add this to an universal component tester or to improve the existing ones 🙂 We really can learn so much from listening to your videos - i think you are the best teacher in electronics i ever found on YT! This is really rare today. I only know of 2 - 3 that come a little close - but are still behind.

[@electronicengineer]

I completely agree with you. Dany is absolutely amazing and has no equal that I know of on KZbin. Fred

[@smickar1]

Hvala.

[@piclife1178]

Very good. I used the exact same effect and very similar circuit to make a pin-pointer metal detector. The coil on a ferrite rod is heavily effected by metal within about 60mm distance. I drive the coil/cap a few times a second and read the ringing pulse count. My circuit worked by self calibrating at power up, reading the count with the probe away from any metal and then comparing this value each reading with less pulses being proportional to the size and distance from the metal object. The cap is really critical, you want really high Q to get lots of ringing, think I used a polystyrene type. I think I made it resonate about 40kHz and used a FET input fairly fast comparator with low input offset voltage specification.

[@adrian.parano]

Awesome! Good job!

[@ThirdPer3on]

Built it! Well just the mosfet part with 555 timer. Awesome seeing the ringing!

[@fir3w4lk3r]

I would love to see an episode of you writing/explaining the asm code.

[@nikkopt]

Thanks for not forgetting the cat 😋

[@keithking1985]

This looks like it could be a very handy thing to have in your arsenal of tools.

[@godfreypoon5148]

Quite a well performing little circuit.

[@t1d100]

A very clever application of electronic principles. Kudos!

[@unclepecos5426]

No fancy, expensive tools. But great knowledge and great results. Thanks for sharing.

[@pirelli77]

Nice work Dany. Thank you for show us! God bless you!

[@stevenbliss989]

Much better design that the commercial all CMOS design! :)

[@jeffbluejets2626]

Still having problem unit does not work same as yours. I get the usual " -" bar in the right digit with nothing connected, and I might get 1 or maybe 2 rings at most when connected to the primary of out of circuit several different small power transformer. So I made up a version of your original unit where it is used for "out of circuit" and similar result. Best I can get is around 1 ring registering. Thought maybe it was because I used IRLZ44 mosfet so changed it to IRL3803 thinking maybe lower on resistance would change things ....however it made no difference.....same time I have ordered some IRLB8743 to be sure. Could it be that I am using the ATtiny24A-SSU SOIC14 chip..?? Bit lost for why it refuses to work as in your videos and could use some guidance here....used 100nF polypropylene as you advised......Thanks Jeff

[@dangatby]

Hello , Did you find the problem ?, because I have exactly the same problem as you describe and am using IRLB8743

[@jeffbluejets2626]

@@dangatby No sadly....just came to the conclusion that the project was iffy at best and chucked the bits in the bin. Idea was ok but just doesn't work.

[@ScienceLab760]

Great work, very interesting how apply principle of resonance in this circuit for fast analysis of inductors

[@dangatby]

Have tried building this and ver1 without any success. It gives a max 4 to 5 rings on display. Testing many Coils,transformers. Has polypropylene capacitor of high quality and the mosfet specified. Friends of mine have the same problem, pretty useless. Now everything goes in the bin. Just ordered a Bob's Blue2 Ring Tester instead.

[@dimitarnikolov3527]

If you had 1 more free pin left on the microcontroller, could you have used the internal analog comparator instead of the external one?

[@michvod]

Veeery nice. This is a very nicely designed device, and now I want to make one. Also I saw some Iskra (ex Yugoslavian) capacitors in your bin, which made the video even better :) I didn't know you had them up there

[@windshield11]

And we have Tesla stuff over here in yugo land as well!

[@michvod]

​@@windshield11 Yes, there was also some cooperation with Tesla and Iskra and some other companies. But in general Tesla stuff is wasn't that common in Yugoslavia

[@windshield11]

@@michvod I agree fully about the consumer market, however as I've been working in industry, their stuff is much more common there.

[@deepblueskyshine]

МЛТ (Металлизованные Лакированные Теплостойкие) were soviet made metal film high temperature resistant resistors that stay stable untill protective lacquer, even when it was slightly burned is intact and covers metal film over the ceramic tube. In case it was burned to the point of darkening, but not chacoaling it will change resistance and this new changed resistance will not drift untill the resistor isn't overloaded again or totally burned.

[@objection_your_honor]

I want to make one but only have a bunch of pro mini clones. Haven't used ASM since IBM PC of the 80s. It looks simple enough to code in C. Let me see if I have this right. So, you produce a pulse to power the mosfet, read the number of pulses back from the comparator and display the counts on the LEDs?

[@worroSfOretsevraH]

Hi. A few questions: Where do you buy the golden alligator clips and the comparator? I like that comparator because of the fast reponse time and low power. What is a reliable way to measure shorted windings in a motor? (stator and rotor) I guess this ring tester is not really suited for that, just like low frequency iron transformers. Thanks.

[@kd5byb]

Loving it! I'm laying out a PCB for it as I watch your video. :)

[@adrian.parano]

Great job!! I vote for more videos like this!! ☺️

[@josealfredobh]

What would be the maximum switching time reasonable for the operator? LM311 has a switching time of 150-200 ns. Are the rings shorter than this?

[@HPD1171]

I am a little confused on why the internal comparator on the ATTINY24A was not sufficient for this? based on the data sheet it would be perfect for this or am I reading something wrong?

[@sioux22]

I wonder If I can make one with off the shelf ics instead of the microcontroller

[@Jyaazu]

Wooh, Your TEK Scope are nice, Your Scope are Fastest Scope you've ever got, she got a 300Mhz bandwidth, and that scope are super expensive, so keep that 👍

[@hukkabukka]

Sir, why dont you start making lectures about electronic basic so that more people can learn from you. I would love to learn from you and guarantee that many more like me..

[@artursmihelsons415]

Great video, again and cool project! This is very useful tool in toolbox and is worth to duplicate.. 👍😉

[@acoustic61]

Cool project! Will this test iron core power transformers and audio output transformers? How about making a PCB and a kit for this? Thanks.

[@douro20]

It's true that carbon resistors often drift with age, but metal film and wirewound types often get more stable with age. I wonder what kinds of aging characteristics metal oxide resistors have?

[@sanjikaneki6226]

nice tho i see a few odd things like the reset pin is floating didnt this add some odd resets? 1 since you used all pins programing can only be done outside the circuit so i was thinking of making this circuit with a larger IC so that it can have 2 free pins for programing 2 you said that you want Rdson to be low so why not use multiple mosfet in parallel ? 3 why not use a few jumpers as switches for the cap, i think you get better resistance this way

[@petermikus2363]

is the schmatic show in the link for the in circuit version? i assume right?

[@medienmond]

Can it also brew Beer? That's the only thing missing now ..

[@adarshsingh7749]

Can you make a video on toroid transformer 300w 220v to 12 and how to wind it.

[@thepcmaniaccc]

@DiodeGoneWild Do you have some gerber files for this so i can use them to order a pcb?

[@jmanatee]

I think you should offer a kit with pcb and all parts I would be interested

[@WolfgangMahringer]

Question: Is that FET even needed? The software can switch the input from active GND to Hi-Z....the voltages are quite low now.

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Couple tens of miliohms already skew the measurement. The resistance of atmel outputs is about 20 ohms. The on state resistance of the MOSFET is more then 3 orders of magnitude lower.

[@WolfgangMahringer]

@@DiodeGoneWild I thought the ringing occurs after the FET is turned *off*. The higher on-resistance of the port pin only affects time charging up the cap, so this takes a few microseconds longer...no problem.

[@Rooth9056]

Great job Mr , thank you a lot

[@fay296k]

it is possible to test 50 hz transformer or statore and armature?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

50Hz transformers are better tested by measuring the power they draw from mains with no load using a wattmeter. Short turns cause excessive own power consuption. The stator and armature - I never tried it, but iron cores are generally a bit lossier. I might try it, but maybe there are better suitable tools to test motors. Like armature growlers.

[@LutzSchafer]

You could give the comparator a small hysteresis which may help keeping it more stable.

[@DiodeGoneWild]

That's right, but it seems to be stable enough as it is. Even if there was some fast bouncing in the comparator, it won't go through, because the microcontroller samples the input for the counter. Anything shorted than 1 cycle of the 8MHz oscillator is ignored.

[@smoothjamie4046]

Could youcalibrate the measurement using two capacitors with a known dissipation factor (high and low) ? Then the arbitrary number would represent an actual measurement.

[@KomiyanVT]

That's funny, I was looking at an old DSE kit schematic which used the same principle, it featured a twin comparator which acted as a LF pulse oscillator and threshold detector - this fed into a shift register which procedurally filled a bargraph to count up to 8 'rings'. Also, you can probably run this device from a 3V line instead of 5V, might save a battery!

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Most of it could run at 3V, but I use 4.8 or 5V to have more voltage on the MOSFET gate to ensure it has a very low on state resistance.

[@KomiyanVT]

@@DiodeGoneWild Would this work with the low Vgs mosfets? The 'Si2302DS' MOSFET has a 1V threshold, and an extremely low gate charge, I think it'd work quite well from 3V - need to build one now and find out!

[@kolinevans9127]

I feel like u have some ALIExpress royalties coming. Nice video.

[@siavasharash5448]

The attiny cheap needs to be programed? Or it works without. 8 month ago i were build that circuit but it just shows (B @ D) in each of seven segments digit. More than 10 times i checked connections but still not working i dont know whats hapenning

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Of course it needs to be programmed. It's a microcontroller.

[@siavasharash5448]

@@DiodeGoneWild thanck's But may be you forgot to mention that in your last video and i become so confused regurding that why my circuit dose not working at all.

[@siavasharash5448]

@@DiodeGoneWild and show me a refrence in youtube to how program that pls

[@pepsodentpasta]

Do you think this device could measure short winding on stator and rotor winding on grinding machine ?

[@passioneelettronica]

very nice circuits , compliments !

[@opposites-369]

Can it measure the lowest level like pico farad capacitor?

[@satishkumar-gg5fm]

Equivalent components please Like attiny24a or tlv3201

[@cm1111]

Hello, where can I get this case? Thanks in advance.

[@emanuilsirakov2079]

How about for the patreons you explain the code?

[@other_things_OT]

good, now where cani buy this :)

[@domtom128]

Great video! What program do you use to draw the schematics which are on your website?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Do you really expect me to use a program that's intended for it? :)

[@domtom128]

@@DiodeGoneWild No Mr. Diode, I expect you to go wild! :D

[@PreetPal2107]

@@domtom128 he doesn't need any software to make circuit diagram he knows everything how components works ❤️

[@potassiumchloride6968]

@@domtom128 with mrs. diode and rectify her💀💀

[@douro20]

@@PreetPal2107 Not everything, but he does have an enormous amount of engineering insight.

[@piconano]

You coded it in Assembly or is that an .asm dump from the compiler? I google translated the source code and got your comment in English. Well done. May build one to play with.

[@DiodeGoneWild]

of course I coded it in assembly ;)

[@electronics-by-practice]

@@DiodeGoneWild nice project you can use tow cd4026 and count the number of oscillation only for one time.

[@piconano]

@@DiodeGoneWild Silly me...

[@dipakbhalodia7155]

How to pogram in New micro controller ic please explain steps New tester my mecking intrest you sem meter help ya video ples you tube

[@dpvng.dpvng.]

this could be done much easily on the microcontroller with adc input. no comparator, no filters needed. also i beleve this feature is present on cheap esr tester that you featured not long ago. more advanced firmware one. it can measure small inductances in parallel with capacitors, and it shows Q in this mode. also green resistor may be inductor. check it with esr meter in this mode)

[@HPD1171]

You would not need the ADC just the internal comp for his application. I am not sure why he thought the internal one was not good enough.

[@dpvng.dpvng.]

@@HPD1171 because if it is not adc then it can't detect 0.2V

[@HPD1171]

@@dpvng.dpvng. you just set the reference voltage to 200mV then. as long as the common mode input range goes all the to GND which it does. You do realize this is exactly what he did in the video but just using an external Comp instead of the internal one.

[@dpvng.dpvng.]

@@HPD1171 you can't set reference voltage to pin prorammed as digital input. digital input can't detect 0.2v. so you nothing to compare with internal comparator. it will always be logical zero on this input

[@HPD1171]

@@dpvng.dpvng. I never said to send the reference voltage into a digital input. where did I say that? I said he should have just used the internal comparator in the ATTINY24A. in the datasheet ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/ATtiny24A-44A-84A-DataSheet-DS40002269A.pdf on page 134/135 you can see exactly the block diagram of the comparator, what pins can be used and what registers to set accordingly

[@salomejaya7745]

Sir, could you review and draw the schematic of ULTRASONIC CLEANER in the next episode ??? Thanks... a lot

[@Badgii]

As for the capacitor switch.. Not sure if worth the components.. but.. You can duplicate the divider and have one mosfet just for the internal capacitor and one mosfet just for the external one. Connect the switch to the MCU and just let the MCU connect either the external or the internal capacitor.

[@pettypavlow8330]

Is there any problem with hex file?. I could upload hex file successfully.But did not work.Is there anyone did that? I my need to compile from assembly file.

[@hankaajindrich8622]

Děkuji za schema, byl jsem i na webu. Jen to chci ovládat s ESP32, takže program si budu muset udělat. ESP proto, že chci dělat komplexnejší pomucku pro bastlíře. Takže by to mohlo měřit i jakost kondenzátoru, ESR, jakost cívky, dělat umělou zátěž, generátor pulsů, 4 kanálový osciloskop na pomalé průběhy, analýza křivky nabíjení a vybíjení aku, prostě samé drobnosti na jedné desce.

[@TriodeTetrode]

Which enclosure you are using?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

I think it's Z77RD

[@ChrisHalden007]

Great video. Thanks

[@jp040759]

Very cool idea and great engineering.

[@md.mostafakhan4529]

Loved it.

[@dipakbhalodia7155]

Circuit diagram and pogram code give me and how to pogram in microcontroller ic please explain

[@pettypavlow8330]

Instead of TLV3201-2 what can we use?

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Why not just use TLV3201? You could replace it with for example TS3021 (I tested it, it works), or any other low voltage fast rail-to-rail comparator, but it leaves the same problem - it doesn't grow on trees. Don't expect it to be available in some small local shop with electronic components (if such thing still even exists in 2020s). You just have to order it from somewhere.

[@pettypavlow8330]

@DiodeGoneWild Can be salvage from any other devices like a computer motherboard etc.?

[@ivanbenca2742]

Zdravím nerobíte pcb kit tohto testeru?

[@therealjammit]

If the false reading with the leads shorted is always the same you could have had the micro just ignore the first few readings. If the shorted leads always gives you a 3, then have the micro subtract 3 from readings.

[@Basement-Science]

This only happens with very low inductances, which result in high oscillation frequency. You would have to detect the frequency, which is not that easy with a simple MCU like this. If you just subtracted it, a shorted inductor would be showing -2 or -3 which is nonsense. What he's measuring are real oscillations.

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Subtracting 3 isn't the best solution. It's better to use the low pass filter that only affects the highest frequencies - the frequencies the shorted leads oscillate at.

[@windshield11]

It's better to use coax cable that is shielded.

[@PreetPal2107]

please make a video about signal pwm push button dc motor rotation control circuit that changes left to right by pressing the button

[@lenslens7379]

Always genius 👍 Can be used to find motor winding short circuit??

[@Speeder84XL]

Yes, most likely. A motor winding is pretty much an inductor. The only thing is if it's a high voltage motor (that runs on for example mains voltage) if the short is caused by an insulation fault. That fault might only apphear once a certain voltage is exceeded (which may not show up, since this tester only test at very low voltage). But on the other hand - if it's only one shorted turn (which is the hardest to find using ordinary instruments and may just show up as slightly reduced efficiency of the motor and slightly increased vibrations), the fault vill not get high voltage over it anyway, so it will most likely show up on this tester. If it's a bigger part of the winding that get "bypassed", it's quite easy to find anyway (since the motor will vibrate significantly, heat up and draw more current - the faulty part of the winding may also get burned)

[@Basement-Science]

@@Speeder84XL I think at least an asynchronous motor would show a very low value even in good condition because the rotor would act like a shorted turn while it's not spinning at the oscillation frequency. You could remove the rotor though, then it should measure much better, at least if you also increase the capacitance of the resonant capacitor (to get closer to the operating frequency of the motor).

[@Speeder84XL]

@@Basement-Science Yes, I forgot about the effect of the rotor. You are probably right.

[@lmwlmw4468]

Nice.

[@pakandi9287]

Can you activate the subtitle for all of your videos for any language? I want to learn from your videos.

[@ruimvp]

Another good one. Thank you. Wich high frequency opamp is used? I could not see the marks. How old are you Mr. DGWild?

[@johncoops6897]

The components and everything about this project are listed on his website. Link is in the video description. His birth year is also on his website, on the Home > About Me page. So, maybe you should go and check.

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Thanks :) It's not an OpAmp, it's a comparator. It's TLV3201. I'm definitely older than I'd like to be...

[@ruimvp]

@@DiodeGoneWildok. thank you. I normally use LM311P.

[@johncoops6897]

@@DiodeGoneWild - you are a young child. I left high school 10 years before you were born!

[@kooan112]

amazing! good job, love your videos man :D

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

Nice!

[@Γιωργος-ι3ξ]

Hello diode gone wild. Good job!

[@jeffbluejets2626]

Found problem...... hex did not download properly....re-downloaded and checked in notepad, all ok, so programmed once more and the file uploaded,,,,says 390 bytes ..all ok...cheers

[@159357ahmed]

you are awesome as usual , thanks alot

[@rabihnasr7228]

Wonderful

[@adhikary9695]

My need it.Please help me.

[@James_Ryan]

Genius! 👍

[@elmnaoirfer3751]

Dobrý den, můžete si stáhnout videa o výrobě elektronického obvodu pro řezání železa pomocí drátu (edm), které budou exkluzivní pro váš kanál, děkuji Hello, can you download videos about making an electronic circuit for cutting iron using a wire(edm) which will be exclusive to your channel, thank you

[@celsoneves2368]

Great good!.

[@sri198904]

dont you want to add an hystersis to the comparator ? nice video and love all of your videos...much better than going out and getting a date lol

[@DiodeGoneWild]

It works well with no hysteresis, and if there's any bouncing at a very high frequency, it doesn't go through, as the input of the counter is sampled at 8MHz. It ignores pulses below 125ns. Thanks :). But better go on dates when you still can. You can watch videos when you're old.

[@PlutoniumJesus]

DiodeGoneWild's permanent marker looks highly dangerous! :p

[@beamer.electronics]

Superb :)

[@atdzsny]

0:05 Previous episode? :O Oh, I see: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3PFdoyPjM51f5o

[@16BITMEME]

Amazing Diode gone wild (DANYk) is Best ❤️🇷🇺💖

[@alexluz7023]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZ3bp3admchjbK8 at 4:00 hes saying in your schematic the mosfet does not go to ground... is this true?? i would like to build this one thx

[@srikrishnajana7665]

What program do you use to draw the schematics which are on your website?(2)

[@AllLoudNation365]

Imagine if the resistance was zero...

[@miftosaurus]

... good job! :D and thanks for a lesson in... ehm... plain english! :))))))))))

[@mad_circuits]

Produce it! Make a solder kit from it! Sell it!

[@fumthings]

brilliant design... chinese clone in 3...2...1...

[@DiodeGoneWild]

Thanks :). That's quite possible. It already happened to my 7 digit frequency meter.

[@309electronic5]

I bet the chinese people are like: your idea? Nope my idea now! I am gonna sell it on aliexpress. Its easy to copy cause you put your scehmatics on your website i do like that but other people could profit from it

[@mandalenterprise509]

Aar you from Russia

[@mathtone]

He's not

[@windshield11]

Czech