LCR meter opinion

[Crambone]

As a newbie in the electronics hobby I’m looking at the DE-5000 and wanted opinions and maybe suggestions for other type LCR meter?

[AJ3G]

I too had been looking at the DE-5000. I ultimately decided on the Applent AT826, which can be purchased for very reasonable prices on sites such as Alliexpress. I have never owned a DE-5000, so I cannot offer a personal comparison, but I watched a lot of videos and product reviews on the DE-5000. All reviews of the DE-5000 have been very positive, so either way you go, I am sure you will be happy.

Rich

[nctnico]

First question: what do you want to do with it?

[Martin72]

Hi,

I’m looking at the DE-5000 and wanted opinions

I own this since over a year and I´m confident with it.
Took it to work and compared it with some of our yearly calibrated LCRs (Keysight, GenRad for example) and the results were very close to the other ones, nice.
Like the compared ones, you can use it for the most common coils, for power coils other measuring methods are better.

Martin

[kripton2035]

the Applent AT826 has better specifications than the de5000, but it's 4x the price ...
for hobby, the de5000 is more than enough.

[AJ3G]

I just took a look. The AT826 is listed on AlliExpress for $296.00. I think after discounts I had with Alliexpress, I paid closer to $220.00 for it a year ago. On Amazon the DE-5000 is running between $129.00 - $138.00USD.

Rich

[Andrew_Debbie]

As a newbie in the electronics hobby I’m looking at the DE-5000 and wanted opinions and maybe suggestions for other type LCR meter?

My very old Tenma (GW Instek?) LCR meter died.

I've got a Uni-T UT622A on the way.

622A 

100Hz, 120Hz, 1KHz, 10KHz    99999 Count
0.00pF~99.999mF
0.00μH~99.999H
ESR 0.0000Ω~999.99Ω

Uni-T do not specify accuracy on the various ranges  It could be dreadful at 1pF and 1μH. 



There are big differences in maximum ranges.  For example the UT-622 series max out at 99.999H while the DE-5000 can go all the way to 2.0KH.   That is a very big inductor.


If 100kHz is important, the ~$300 UT-622E adds a 100kHz test freq and DC resistance with .01milliOhm resolution.

https://www.uni-trend.com/meters/html/product/tyyq/ComponentTesting/UT622%20Series/

https://www.deree.com.tw/de-5000-lcr-meter.html

[Martin72]

the Applent AT826 has better specifications than the de5000

At826 got a "basic accuracy" of 0.2%, whatever this means - At any range...?
DE 5000 got "worser" accuracy, but listed for every range separately.

for hobby, the de5000 is more than enough.

Absolutely.

[indman]

As a newbie in the electronics hobby I’m looking at the DE-5000 and wanted opinions and maybe suggestions for other type LCR meter?

The DE-5000's agnalogue, the Mastech MS5308, may be considered. The DE-5000 is a good instrument, but it has problems at 100kHz that the MS5308 doesn't have.

[Wallace Gasiewicz]

Pardon me for butting in .
I have old HP LCRs HP4332 Analog (KHz ) and 4271B 1MHz (1MHz)digital
Neither reads high impedances, I use a cheapo for this.

How do these new LCRs do at very low impedances. Like nanoHenrys and less than one pF

Wally

[Martin72]

but it has problems at 100kHz that the MS5308 doesn't have.

Which problems?

[coromonadalix]

the mastech and de-5000 are based on the same ic's ??

[indman]

the mastech and de-5000 are based on the same ic's ??

Yes, but nevertheless there is a difference in work and not in favor of DE-5000 
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/any-one-mod-the-de-5000-for-1mhz-frequency/msg2626974/#msg2626974

[Martin72]

Testing 2µF with 100khz and wondering why it won´t work proper.

[coromonadalix]

you dont test a 2uf at 100 khz   you test it at 50-60 100 and 120 hz

snipet taken from a web page

Virtually all electrolytic capacitors will cease being capacitive at all before 100kHz, and beyond that, will be inductive.
This is universal to all electrolytic capacitors. Generally, an electrolytic capacitor will gain about 10% capacitance if the DC capacitance is measured.
It will lose about 10% by 1kHz (or more in the case of your capacitors - but they say they are designed for DC and ripple applications, so they are probably not optimized for anything above 120Hz).


And this link

https://forum.digikey.com/t/measuring-a-capacitor/4265

and this one,  a 4.5 meg pdf
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi39bT_1pv0AhUNzYUKHd6UCnEQFnoECBIQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.venkel.com%2Fmedia%2Fwysiwyg%2Ftechnical%2Fdocs%2Ftechnical-papers%2FTesting_and_Measurement_Practices_of_High_Capacitance_Capacitors.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3NmsPp_o7DinutdRxvwplk

[masterx81]

Sorry for the stupid question, but how they work in a ripple application, if the frequency of the ripple is quite high? Most of the times after the rectfier stage of an smps (working anywhere from 10khz to 100khz) there are only low esr electrolytic caps...

[indman]

you dont test a 2uf at 100 khz   you test it at 50-60 100 and 120 hz
Virtually all electrolytic capacitors will cease being capacitive at all before 100kHz, and beyond that, will be inductive.

You're talking about the truths that everyone knows. But what do electrolytic capacitors and their properties have to do with the measurement of high quality Films capacitors? The link I provided compares the D and ESR readings of 2 units at 10 and 100kHz for Films Capacitors. No electrolytes or ceramics! Explain to me why MS5308 shows adequate results at these frequencies, while DE-5000 overestimates them by 100 times?
Here is more links to such measurements https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/esr-meter-adapter-design-and-construction/msg425088/#msg425088
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/esr-meter-adapter-design-and-construction/msg425012/#msg425012

[orzel]

Sorry for the stupid question, but how they work in a ripple application, if the frequency of the ripple is quite high? Most of the times after the rectfy stage of an smps (working anywhere from 10khz to 100khz) there are only low esr electrolytic caps...

I was wondereing too. Anyone ?

[Trader]

For the DE-5000 you can transform the probes in a real 4-wire measurement, which improves the accuracy.

[Ungolian]

Hi all, after going through the threads for the DE-5000 and the Hantek 1833c, I haven't really seen anything about how these two compare head-to-head.  They both seem to do the same tests, similar accuracy, and the only real differences seem to be price, the Hantek has more bells and whistles, and is fancier overall.  The DE-5000 is more minimal, but basically does the same thing.  Not sure if any owners care to chime in on their experiences with long term use, issues, durability, etc.  I'm looking to purchase one of the two.  The Hantek is obviously sexier.  The DE-5000 is more bare-bones, and a part of me is wondering how many corners they cut to get it to that price point.  I'd mainly be using it for diagnosing older audio through-hole equipment, to speed up the process, triage what really needs to be replaced.  Thanks!     

[kripton2035]

it seems you have one more digit on the hantek vs de5000, and more test frequencies (will you ever use them ?)
not sure if it's worth twice the price for hobby use ?
for me you need a $1000+ device to get something really better than a de5000.

[AJ3G]

Hello:

You may want to review the following video from “Kiss Analog”:

https://youtu.be/6_6KMnD4f0E

In this video he discusses both models and compares, so I think you may find this useful.

I am still pretty happy with the Applent AT826, which I use now at the office. It can be bought for the low two hundred dollar range if you look around.

Rich

[TERRA Operative]

I have a DE-5000 and I like it. I also did the kelvin clip mod. youtube.com/watch?v=PxCG-p-D9vI

It reads close enough to my HP 4276A to keep me happy.

[Vojtech]

Consider also ET432, I am very satisfied with it, I think it is a better choice than DE5000

[Ungolian]

Thank you all for the feedback and video link.  The ET432 seems really interesting.  Not sure how I feel about an unknown Chinese brand though (never heard of East Tester).  Hantek will definitely have better support, and probably better QC.  I'm always a little cautious about that stuff.  Honestly, the DE-5000 is probably the right one for what I need.  It doesn't need to be high precision, I just need it to reliably test high voltage electrolytics, small caps down to 100pf, resistors, and various transformers (power, output, and chokes) in circuit.