Might I inquire what bench LCR meter you use?
Also to clarify - does the ST42 do well for identifying bad caps?
I’m most likely to be working on through hole parts and larger filter caps…. Sounds like the ST42 is better suited to smaller components? Though I get the impression they are valuable all around…
My bench meter is an ST2832 (an
improved TongHui unit, but it's an understatement to say SourceTronic is WAY better at support than TongHui).
Yes, you can use the ST42 to identify bad caps. You do that by measuring capacitance and ESR. If either are out of spec, you know it's probably bad. That's the extent of what you'll usually get out of LCR meters to test whether a cap is good or not.
For axial leaded caps, if they have long enough leads, I fold them inwards so I can still use the ST42 if I don't feel like turning on the bench meter.
As tautech mentioned, there are ways around the size limitations. Whether or not that's convenient for you really depends on the frequency you need to test larger stuff with short leads.
The DE-5000 is a well respected tool, and you can't really go wrong between that and the ST42. I think it's better to own both of them instead of just one if you aren't also getting a bench LCR. ST42 + bench LCR is perfect for my needs.