LCR Meter Comparison TH2830 vs LCR-6100

[strahd_von_zarovich]

Hi everyone,
I am planing to buy an LCR meter. Most of the time, I will use it to measure small capacitances like 1pf to 100nF. (Also, I am planning to buy smd text fixture.)
I narrowed down my options to two models, one of them is Tonghui TH2830 and the other one is GWInstek LCR-6100. I can buy them for almost the same prices.
Which option should I go with?

Thanks in advance.

[KungFuJosh]

I have no experience with the LCR-6100, but I do like the TH2830 I recently purchased. The fixtures that come with the TH2830 are likely better. The Instek only comes with the LCR-06B, which (to me) looks like the knockoffs of the Tonghui version. The TH2830 comes with TH26010, TH26048A, TH26011CS. Take a look at those fixtures and the others available.

The only thing I would say against the Tonghui (and I don't know that Instek is any better), is that Tonghui's support seems mediocre. They don't release the firmware updates publicly, and they aren't good about responding via email either. I haven't had any issues with it so far, but I still want access to the firmware files.

I'd also recommend watching some videos of them both in operation. One thing that led me to the TH2830 was the user interface appeared to have a better workflow than the other LCRs I was considering. It turns out the interface was actually better than I expected with fewer steps needed to change parameters.

[mawyatt]

We've had the TH2830 almost 3 years now and no complaints, it's quite good, stable, quiet and we've written some Python code to allow plotting. Very nice instrument, well designed, quality constructed and overall good value IMO.

If you check the specs the LCR-6100 goes to 10Hz, where the TH is 50Hz, the TH2830 has no DC Bias (however the more expensive TH2832 does) while the LCR-6100 has DC Bias to +-2.5V.

Here is US the LCR-6100 is ~$1700 whereas the TH2830 is ~$900, so for us the choice was the TH2830, however in your case they are equal priced, so that's worth considering!!

Best,

[KungFuJosh]

Yeah, price is a good question. How much would the TH2832 cost you? From what I've seen the price is about $1200 USD.

[strahd_von_zarovich]

I got a quotation from the distributer in Turkey  ,
 TH2830 => 1.699$+Taxes
 TH2832 => 2099$+Taxes

I didn't know that it has such a low price in other countries.

I can buy LCR-6100 for 1.654,88 $ + Taxes.

[KungFuJosh]

I got a quotation from the distributer in Turkey  ,
 TH2830 => 1.699$+Taxes
 TH2832 => 2099$+Taxes

I didn't know that it has such a low price in other countries.

I can buy LCR-6100 for 1.654,88 $ + Taxes.

Yikes. You could try aliexpress, but make sure the seller has been around a long time with good feedback, and preferably has already sold them before. I've seen the TH2832 going for $1100 to $1600 on there.

My experience getting the TH2830 there was a mixed bag, but the end result was good for a really good price.