Der EE DE-5000 Unboxing and Teardown

[Trader]

You can replace the "Alligator test lead case" with a real 4 wire leads.

[adriten]

thanks Hydrons, yes, they seem to be split banana jack (very expensive, though)
https://www.tek.com/accessory/tl725-manual/tl725-test-leads

[adriten]

yes but you either buy a second TL-21 (expensive) or you have to hack the one that comes with the instrument (a bit crappy but I'd prefer to leave it untouched)

[JDW]

You can buy gold-plated Kelvin clips on Amazon (USA) for a very reasonable price right now:

https://amzn.to/2Xf1lXC

(Amazon Affiliate paid link)

It really won't hurt removing the stock alligator clips because if for some reason you ever wanted them back, you simply need to solder.  Desoldering a later desoldering (at up to 350°C with 3s or less on each wire) won't harm the original leads.

With that said, I've yet to do that mod on my kit yet because I'm not sure if the relatively large size of those handles would be too big in some applications where the smaller and lighter weight stock alligator clips might be better suited. 

I have watched many YouTube videos on the subject though.  It seems that the biggest reason for doing the Kelvin Clip mod is to get longer leads and a different shaped clip end.  According to this video, there isn't much of an accuracy difference between calibrated Kelvin Clips and the stock alligator clips for resistance measurements above 10mΩ.

[Trader]

I bought this one, works very well (check the picture I posted):  https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_A226qr

[BravoV]

Above Kelvin clips, the weak spot is the plastic, I had 2 pairs where the grayish plastic gets brittle over time and cracked at normal used. Also their jaw biting power is not strong when measuring big DUT with big terminals like power resistor, big inductor and etc.

Better one is the one made by GWInstek, as its has better precision mechanic and built.



We have member reviewed it while ago -> GWInstek Kelvin clips review

Also another model, below photo, is my fav and mostly grabbed clips as it has powerful jaw that made measurement process not fiddly at big DUTs or big leaded components, especially when we moved alot and sometimes bumped on the clips or even the wires can fluctuate the reading as the teeth moved abit. The metal and the clips teeth are quite strong and wont chipped easily when clipped on hard metal terminals. Also it has very simple mechanism is almost fail and fool proof, and the jaw biting power can be enhanced too if needed.



Both models are available at AliExpress.

[thaistatos]

Is there a way to add reverse polarity protection by using some of the unpopulated spaces? D3, D5?

[kripton2035]

there is no needed polarity on the DE5000's probes

[thaistatos]

Soryy, I was talking about the reverse polarity of the inserted battery.

[Martin72]

Hi,

Interesting, it got no reverse polarity protection - Didn´t noticed it so far...

On some board revisions it seems, D5 was placed:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/der-ee-de-5000-unboxing-and-teardown/msg482389/#msg482389

So it would be no problem if you solder a diode on the place.
Me, I´m thinking about to solder a diode in series to the + rail:
Reverse polarity, D5 protect the meter but current will flow, could damage the battery.

[Hexley]

You can buy gold-plated Kelvin clips on Amazon (USA) for a very reasonable price right now:

https://amzn.to/2Xf1lXC

(Amazon Affiliate paid link)

I used those "Atoplee" probes from Amazon on a recent rework of my DE-5000's TL-21 leads. Worked well. One note, though, is that one of the BNC connectors was a dead short from signal to shield. If you were planning to use these leads for a BNC-connected LCR meter, that could pose a problem.

It did not affect my DE-5000 mod, since the BNCs were removed when the Kelvin leads were soldered into the TL21 housing. But when I used those removed BNCs for other purposes, I discovered the issue. Probably not a common fault, but maybe worth checking if you buy a set.

[Yuriy V.]

Has anyone done replacing the blue LED backlight with orange or yellow? What size LEDs is needed for this?

[ranchero]

I'm using DE-5000 for measuring relatively small smd inductors (~40nH - 200 nH), always used 100kHz for that. Using TL-21 clip and soldering component to the small test board (getting old so hard for me to measure 0402 smd without soldering it first). Had mixed feelings as measured inductance was quite off (higher) comparing to nominal value of known inductors. Yesterday I've noticed that if I change frequency  to 10kHz, reading is by far more accurate even though less stable. For example, 0402 smd inductor with 150 nH nominal value measured as ~220...225nH at 100kHz, but at 10kHz it's measured as 0.14...0.17uH (not stable). Same result with MANY other inductors tested.

Can anyone explain? My DE-5000 is faulty? Or there's other reason for that?
What are other inexpensive options (if any) accurate measuring of small inductors?

[Martin72]

Hi,

For example, 0402 smd inductor with 150 nH nominal value measured as ~220...225nH at 100kHz, but at 10kHz it's measured as 0.14...0.17uH (not stable).

The testfrequencies are ways off from that what the inductance are used for.
Check the datasheet, on which frequency the value refers.

[ranchero]

The testfrequencies are ways off from that what the inductance are used for.
Check the datasheet, on which frequency the value refers.

Hmmm...Maybe I'm getting too old and started to lose what I've learned in university decades ago. But I found this and it's kind of correlates with what I was thinking. I need to measure inductance, not inductive reactance.

 

[Martin72]

Yes, but see this here...A randomly taken datasheet...

[enisal]

I don t have so much luck as you all i guess.
My Der EE DE-5000 is completely out of spec. I only have a Brymen 869s and those cheap lcr meter from ebay.
Every cap on my DE-5000 always give me value under those specified by alot.
For example i test a brand new cap 22uf 16v with the Brymen it gave me a value of 22.59 uf, Der EE DE-5000 gave me a value of 17.67 uf at 100hz freq. The Cheap ebay lcr gave a value of 23.21 uf.
And it is always like that.

So my question is how do i even calibrate this thing?

[masterx81]

Maybe your deere is telling the truth. Cheap lcr that i've tested were simply too inaccurate. While my fluke always measure more capacitance due to really slow frequency (it measure capacitance charging and discharging che cap between 2 voltage levels and measuring the time taken. This can go as slow as few hz).
You need to measure a cap that you have the dstasheet, and check the capacitance at a given frequency. You will be surprised that the deere is spot on.

[Martin72]

Every cap on my DE-5000 always give me value under those specified by alot.

So the DE-5000 must be wrong ?

No...
For example, the brymen measures with DC only, while the DE-5000 measure with AC.
Plus you don´t know how the cheap LCR meter are measuring.
Plus you need to know, how the specs of the cap manufacturer where measured.

[ROMUZ]

My DER 5000 seems quite accurate, at least for Rs.

[TimFox]

My DE-5000 is very accurate on non-polarized capacitors, including General Radio lab standards (air, mica, or polystyrene).  Since it applies AC across the device under test, your polarized electrolytic capacitor is not under normal conditions.  The non-sinusoidal meters presumably have a positive-definite waveform across the capacitor.  One of my back-burner projects is an accessory box that will apply a DC bias, using an old -hp- circuit.

[Martin72]

My DER 5000 seems quite accurate

You can judge about it, when you got a reference meter for comparision.

[TimFox]

My DER 5000 seems quite accurate

You can judge about it, when you got a reference meter for comparision.

Or measure lab standards.

[Martin72]

Yepp, I´ve forgot it..

[J_in_MN]

Does anyone have a DE-5000 with a board revision later than Ver 8?