[UK] ESR Meter - is this ok or is there better?

[kripton2035]

the capanalyzer is a nice tool but it is way overpriced. they would sell a lot around $80-100 but come on .. $229 !
I dont think there are more than $40 of components inside.
even the optional tweezers are $29 you can find the same for $2 on ebay...

[shotgun25]

Id didn't get chance to call Peak today either.

Looking at the new responses I'm tempted to try the Chinese based tester like here - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131254208134 if someone can confirm it is suitable to test capacitor ESR in-circuit. The lower price is better for me, means I can spend elsewhere getting some more equipment, I only need to know if they are bad, not how bad - just replace yes or no, the measurement being somewhat accurate is fine, doesn't need to be a precision part.

[atferrari]

Id didn't get chance to call Peak today either.

Still eating? Please stop and call.   

[Shock]

Looking at the new responses I'm tempted to try the Chinese based tester like here - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131254208134 if someone can confirm it is suitable to test capacitor ESR in-circuit. The lower price is better for me, means I can spend elsewhere getting some more equipment, I only need to know if they are bad, not how bad - just replace yes or no, the measurement being somewhat accurate is fine, doesn't need to be a precision part.

That looks good to me, it has a crystal and looks the ATmega328 is a dipp which means easy to replace or upgrade. Seems to have external power as well. According to Madires as he mentioned both the lastest K and M firmware supports in circuit testing.

In order to update the firmware you will need to add an ISP header and get a USB to ISP programmer, or program an ATmega328 externally then drop it in, if doing this a socket will help.
All these parts are dirt cheap on ebay (as well as other replacement parts), you should be able to get both for around £10 delivered, then use them to program other arduino projects as well.

In circuit testing isn't 100% conclusive as you have parallel caps and resistors and it will throw your measurements off. But if you see a few of the same caps in parallel you can make an estimate from the cumulative ESR.

The AVR/Chinese testers will not discharge the caps (if they have a charge). The Peak Atlas will only discharge to about +/-50v as well. So any larger caps you will need to check and discharge manually.

One other thing is auto operation, (afaik) AVR/Chinese testers will require you to press a button while the Peak Atlas seems automatic.

You can probably build your own AVR tester on a prototype board for about £10
Download this GNU tarball and take a read of ttester.pdf it also has info on the Chinese clones.
http://www.mikrocontroller.net/svnbrowser/transistortester/Doku/trunk/pdftex/english/

I have 2 of the Chinese ones I picked up for about £20 (without a case) and also a bench LCR meter that was about £50.

You may have already seen this. Not sure why he ran into problems but without inspecting and updating the firmware you could be buying into a Chinese issue rather the a problem with the original AVR design, anyway it's a very simple circuit.

[Stefan .]

Did you have a look at these ones?

http://www.elv.de/esr-messgeraet-esr-1-inkl-messleitungen-komplettbausatz.html

http://www.elv.de/elv-komponententester-esr-meter-mit-oled-display-kt200-bausatz.html

Sorry, content may be in german.

I own both and they do exactly what I need them for: ESR testing in and out of circuit. The second instrument also does component testing.

[shotgun25]

Hi Stefan,

Those both look interesting, so does the KT200 measure ESR and test components? I love the display on it.

How would I get the KT200 delivered to UK? Does that or another german website have that option?

EDIT: Looks like this is a kit, not a ready made product. Also found that shipping to UK is only EUR10.95 inc VAT which is good. Think I like the idea of this better than the Peak Atlas ESR meter so far.

Stefan - can you confirm that there is some option to have English language on the device, I notice that the screenshot on the ELV website has German wording and I don't speak German.

[shotgun25]

I've ordered the ELV KT200 - looks like it is a kit, I'll know more when it arrives.

I'll let you know about it more if I succeed in building it.

[shotgun25]

Well the ELV KT200 Component Tester and ESR meter with OLED screen has arrived and as suspected it is a kit. Great shipping - €10.95 from Germany to South Yorkshire, England order placed evening 28/03/15 and received morning 01/04/15. I think that's quite acceptable and it was overly well packaged.

All the SMD work has been done in the factory so that's a relief since I want this to work at the end of building it. The probe tips feel sharp, but wouldn't draw blood unless I pressed in, but were sharp enough to draw an imprinted line in the skin of my finger.

There's quite a few parts and for any German speaking potential buyers, there is a nice 16 page technical booklet with schematics, part listings with ratings and general use instructions.
I don't speak German so I am assuming from pictures and tables that is what it all relates to.

I found a if you are interested. I'd make my own video but I'm not technically knowledgeable so it would probably be a waste of time unless someone supplied me information.

I am thinking of photographing the kit and build process and making a quick guide in English, but I would need someone smarter to sanity check it.

I know Stefan has some information on the product and says the menu is not complex and that the options should be easy to use with the help of Google Translate.

There are 3 main settings: Power off - settings - Buzzer
Under settings you can set auto power off with some timings, pivot for the display, calibration for the esr and CT and reset to factory defaults.
...
If you buy it as a kit, you have to solder some parts (through hole)

[ErikTheNorwegian]

I tried to buy a  kt200 from ELV.
https://de.elv.com/elv-komponententesteresr-meter-mit-oled-display-kt200-komplettbausatz-132237
But they refused to sell to Norway, or any country except to Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Østerrike, Netherlands and Luxembourg..

Even their add on Amazon.de refuse to ship outside Germany...

Strange way of "not" doing business...Well, I guess it's their way of "looking down" on some countries!
So I searched and found another instrument from some who wants to do business! 
Found a nice one from Turkey! 
https://www.ucore-electronics.com/product/uce-ct220l-tracer/