EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: Stephen Hill on July 24, 2013, 02:09:03 pm
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Hi,
I'm after a really cheap LCR meter for hobby use so I know roughly what value a component is. (For example, find the value of a salvaged unmarked inductor). So on eBay I've found this incredibly cheap no-name LCR meter that looks terrible, but, it looks like it would do for my needs of simply getting a ballpark measurement.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140968592347 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140968592347)
Has anyone used one of these cheap LCR meters? Are there any safety concerns I'm not aware of?
Many Thanks
Stephen
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I wouldn't use that if you gave it to me. Why buy an instrument you can't trust, even if only for hobby use?
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I wouldn't use that if you gave it to me. Why buy an instrument you can't trust, even if only for hobby use?
Like I said, I only want a ballpark figure, however, what would you recommend as the cheapest LCR meter you would use?
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Unfortunately these post tend to invite the wrath of the 'Fluke' brigade
As documented else where - these type of meters are probably quite adequate for low voltage / current (battery) hobby use, and where accuracy to the Nth degree isn't required.
I have used various cheap meters over a number of years without a problem.
Paul
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The cheapest I'd probably recommend (DISCLAIMER: I've never used it) is:
http://qsradio.com/test%20equipment.htm (http://qsradio.com/test%20equipment.htm)
These are fairly popular, probably not too bad.
Otherwise you can get an Agilent for $350, and know it's good for many many years to come.
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Unfortunately these post tend to invite the wrath of the 'Fluke' brigade
As documented else where - these type of meters are probably quite adequate for low voltage / current (battery) hobby use, and where accuracy to the Nth degree isn't required.
I have used various cheap meters over a number of years without a problem.
Paul
Thanks for your encouraging comments :)
Can you recall any cheap LCR meters you've used in the past?
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Unfortunately these post tend to invite the wrath of the 'Fluke' brigade
That would surprise me, since Fluke doesn't make any LCR meters, and their past LCR meters are not very popular.
Safety is generally not a huge concern for LCR meters. They are generally not designed for in-circuit measurements, but you should make sure to discharge any charged caps before measuring them. This applies to most LCR meters.
I would mostly be worried about a crap built quality, performance with non-ideal components (eg. cap with high ESR or leakage) and its poor specs specs. 2000 pF lowest range makes it of limited value for RF, and 200 uF max is not great for electrolytics. 20 mH lowest inductance range is also quite high, plenty of inductors are in the uH range, even without going to high frequencies.
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I bought one of this LCFesR (http://members.upc.hu/lethanh.hung/LCFESRmero/en/index.htm) meters about a year ago and have been happy with it's performance. If i recall correctly I paid about 50€ for it including shipment.
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http://www.peakelec.co.uk/acatalog/jz_lcr40.html (http://www.peakelec.co.uk/acatalog/jz_lcr40.html)
I like these, we have a couple in work and they seem to do the job quite well. Not "ultra-cheap", but not ridiculous money either.
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I'm going to incite the wrath here, but if you just want to get in the ballpark, those super cheap LCR meters work fine. Keep in mind that inductance can change significantly with frequency and they have a single fixed frequency for each range, but otherwise give you a ballpark figure. Is it better than nothing, and maybe good enough? Ya probably, especially at under 30 bucks USD. Understand what your needs are and what the capabilities and quality of the equipment are, and if they are a match I say go for it. Not everyone needs 0.001% and 11 frequency ranges.
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I wouldn't use that if you gave it to me. Why buy an instrument you can't trust, even if only for hobby use?
I'd say the same of pretty much any LCR meter (at any price) if the hobby was mainly RF. eg CB/ham or comms radio based.
For general hobby use (eg audio, PSU and MCU related) I can't see the point of spending more than £50 on such a meter. At my place of work we have some fabulous test equipment but in the 23yrs I've worked there I think I can safely say no one has ever bought or hired an LCR meter. Obviously some people must have a use for them because you can spend over £1000 on an LCR meter and plenty of companies make them. But I suspect the expensive ones will be used by component manufacturers to help them draw component specs on a datasheet or some may use them to check custom components are in spec.
For home or professional design you should be able to get all the component info you need from the component datasheet. If you can't then ask the manufacturer for the answer for ESR or parasitics etc.
For hobby repairs then the £50 meter should be fine. If you want ESR as an extra function then maybe spend £80- £100 if you want to check the ESR of a suspect component reasonably accurately at typical test frequencies.
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I have a Uni-T UT602 meter, it's about 30$ on ebay. Just L, R and transistor socket and manual ranging, but it works well.
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For hobby repairs then the £50 meter should be fine. If you want ESR as an extra function then maybe spend £80- £100 if you want to check the ESR of a suspect component reasonably accurately at typical test frequencies.
I don't totally disagree, but the unit he linked to was £11!
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Yes, for hobby use I think it's worth spending a little more to get something with a wider range but also with a reasonable ESR capability to help with repair work.
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this one is the best ratio for price/performance : (costs some EUR 80, there are similars more or less)
you can trust the measures it gives.
http://www.gme.cz/digitalni-multimetry-s-funkci-rlc/multifunkcni-rlc-metr-cem-dt-9935-p722-436/ (http://www.gme.cz/digitalni-multimetry-s-funkci-rlc/multifunkcni-rlc-metr-cem-dt-9935-p722-436/)
(http://www.gme.cz/dokumentace/722/722-436/pct.722-436.1.jpg)
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Can you recall any cheap LCR meters you've used in the past?
As with many cheaper meters, particularly the chinese variety the names / models no.s are not always relevant. I purchased an LCR from ebay probably 18 months ago - a Vichy DM4070. I think it was £20. I have no complaints with it. It isnt the finest meter, but it is adequate for the vast majority of my needs. I bought it as backup for a Peak Atlas meter i purchased some years back.
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We use a cheap one in work for testing pump capacitors. It was around the same price £11 or thereabouts. Fine for checking whether a 16uF capacitor is 10% out or not. Those caps tend not to be 'good or bad' but just slowly drift to a lower value. We've had it about 5 years and it's fine, as long as you have something else to check it against.
For electronics though I'd be tempted to get something a bit more upmarket, although not every meter needs to be Agilent or better.
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Hi,
I'm after a really cheap LCR meter for hobby use so I know roughly what value a component is. (For example, find the value of a salvaged unmarked inductor). So on eBay I've found this incredibly cheap no-name LCR meter that looks terrible, but, it looks like it would do for my needs of simply getting a ballpark measurement.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140968592347 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140968592347)
Has anyone used one of these cheap LCR meters? Are there any safety concerns I'm not aware of?
Many Thanks
Stephen
That meter is made by Uyigao in China.
Here is a similar one I reviewed a while ago:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/uyigao-ua4070l-lcr-meter-review-and-tear-down/msg191838/#msg191838 (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/uyigao-ua4070l-lcr-meter-review-and-tear-down/msg191838/#msg191838)
http://www.uyigao.net/en/cp1.asp?page=4&order=&bid=&tid=&sid=&keyword= (http://www.uyigao.net/en/cp1.asp?page=4&order=&bid=&tid=&sid=&keyword=)
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I would like to thank everyone for their feedback, comments and suggestions - I really appreciate it. When I get paid at the end of the month I'll go shopping and will let you know what I chose.
Many Thanks :)
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Hi,
..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140968592347 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140968592347)
Has anyone used one of these cheap LCR meters? Are there any safety concerns I'm not aware of?
I have a similar one. It is pretty much unusable for me due to two major flaws:
- No zero button, thus you cannot eliminate the effect of the cables from your measurement. That is a very big issue.
- The minimal ranges make it unusable for much of my needs. 20mH is *huge* if you are working on anything RF or e.g. switching power regulators (likely where you are going to need an LCR meter most often), where the common inductances are in microhenries and even nanohenries. However you do get 20H range :palm: That is probably for measuring the stator of that hydroelectric generator in your backyard ... The same for the capacitor and resistance ranges - probably your normal multimeter is more capable already.
If you want a really cheap meter for ballpark measurements, I have this one:
LC200A China L/C Meter Review and Teardown (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q-epdC1nf4#ws)
They are plentiful on eBay and work OK. It is not a high-end instrument, both build quality and accuracy-wise, but good value for the price.
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I have a similar one. It is pretty much unusable for me due to two major flaws:
- No zero button, thus you cannot eliminate the effect of the cables from your measurement. That is a very big issue.
- The minimal ranges make it unusable for much of my needs. 20mH is *huge* if you are working on anything RF or e.g. switching power regulators (likely where you are going to need an LCR meter most often), where the common inductances are in microhenries and even nanohenries. However you do get 20H range :palm: That is probably for measuring the stator of that hydroelectric generator in your backyard ... The same for the capacitor and resistance ranges - probably your normal multimeter is more capable already.
If you want a really cheap meter for ballpark measurements, I have this one: LC200A China L/C Meter Review and Teardown
They are plentiful on eBay and work OK. It is not a high-end instrument, both build quality and accuracy-wise, but good value for the price.
I watched that very video last night and I'm seriously considering getting that one too.