capacitor failure modes that raise the esr
HI DEAR
ESR Defined
ESR is the sum of in-phase AC resistance. It includes resistance of the dielectric, plate material, electrolytic solution, and terminal leads at a particular frequency. ESR acts like a resistor in series with a capacitor (thus the name Equivalent Series Resistance). This resister can cause circuits to fail that look just fine on paper and is often the failure mode of capacitors.
To charge the dielectric material current needs to flow down the leads, through the lead plate junction, through the plates themselves - and even through the dielectric material. The dielectric losses can be thought of as friction of aligning dipoles and thus appear as an increase (or a reduction of the rate of decrease -- this increase is what makes the resistance vs freq line to go flat.) of measured ESR as frequency increases.
As the dielectric thickness increases so does the ESR. As the plate area increases, the ESR will go down if the plate thickness remains the same.
To test a Capacitors ESR (see the Cap Wizard) requires something other than a standard capacitor meter. While a capacitor value meter is a handy device, it will not detect capacitor failure modes that raise the ESR. As the years go by, more and more designs rely on low ESR capacitors to function properly. ESR failed caps can present circuit symptoms that are difficult to diagnose.