| Products > Test Equipment |
| Best CHEAP LCR meter for small capacitors and inductors? |
| (1/13) > >> |
| ranchero:
I periodically need to measure small capacitors (under 20pF, sometimes under 5pf) and small inductors (under 150NH). I currently have DE-5000 which has 100kHz range and should theoretically measure these small L and C just fine. But readings on these small L and C are very unstable even though I'm using TL-21 adapter with very short leads (like 4cm). Since it's more like a hobby I can't justify purchasing real good LCR meter (like PM6304). Do you guys think any less expensive LCR meter (let's say, under $200) will do any better than DE-5000? I would be totally happy with 10%-15% tolerance on these small L and C. Funny fact - every review on Youtube shows tests of electrolytic capacitors and big inductors, which almost any rectangular box with gauge on it able to measure, but never - very small values. Question#2 - what would be best setup to measure small SMD L and C (like 0402, 0603)? Currently I'm using small board with 2 pins, just soldering SMD elements to the board for measuring. |
| tautech:
What's cheap ? :-// Splash out on a pair of decent smart tweezers and never look back. See here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/smart-tweezers/ |
| 2N3055:
under $200 ? No, you cannot get better LCR than DE-5000 for that money. But your problem is not the meter. Such small capacities are measured by using mechanically stable measurement adapters and 4wire setup. Tl-21 is not stable enough for this. Such adapters can be very expensive to buy... Other option to measure small L/C is a VNA. You would also need a measurement fixture for that... Also what Tautech said, some tweezers (quality ones, that cost 200-300€) are much better at measuring small L/C because there are no cables and is more mechanically compact setup. Measuring such small values is all about dealing with parasitics in measurement setup. |
| ranchero:
Smart Tweezers only have 10kHz frequency max, specs say that they will measure inductance from 0.5uH which is useless for me. What if I will create fixture which will fit directly into DE-5000 slots, with little board on top, and solder SMD part directly to that board? Virtually - no wires. Will it make measurements any more stable? Actually, stable readings even more important for me than actual values (but actual values would be nice of course). |
| coromonadalix:
your "cheapest" will be the avr component tester project here loll |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |