Handheld LCR Meter

[Legion]

I'm looking for a decent handheld LCR meter for under $500. How does the BK Precision 879B compare to Agilent's U1733C? U1733C seems to have wider measurement range, but 20000 counts to BK's 40000. Any other models I should look at?

[Pasky]

DE-5000:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DER-EE-DE-5000-High-Accuracy-Handheld-LCR-Meter-with-TL-21-TL-22-New-Japan-/161104294237

Great meter, been using it a lot since Ive bought it.

[AutomationDude]

DE-5000:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DER-EE-DE-5000-High-Accuracy-Handheld-LCR-Meter-with-TL-21-TL-22-New-Japan-/161104294237

Great meter, been using it a lot since Ive bought it.

I can second this meter.  Recently bought one from this seller as well and haven't put it down much since.

[rstoer]

I also have a DER EE DE-5000 and it works great. It has everything you would want in an LCR meter (including 100kHz). Plus, even if you buy one with all the bells and whistles, you'll still have $300 to spend on something else!

[robrenz]

From a quick glance at the 879B specs it is not half as good as the DE-5000.  The extra resolution on the 1733C is of no value when you look at the number of counts added in those ranges.  The DE-5000 and the 1733C are basically equivalent accuracy meaning each has ranges that are better than the other and visa versa.  The 1733C is not 4 wire measurement.

Buy a DE-5000 and be happy

[Carrington]

Buy a DE-5000 and be happy

Hi Robrenz.
What do you think about of these two AT825 and U822C compared with the DE-5000?
Thanks. 

Spec:
http://www.applent.com/products/detail.aspx?familyid=lcr&model=AT825
http://www.gilwoo.co.kr/product/APPLENT/Applent%20Manual-ENGLISH/AT824%20825%20826%20User%27s%20Guide%20RevA.pdf
http://www.eucol.com.cn/html/en/index.php?ac=article&at=read&did=250
http://www.eucol.com.cn/upfile/2012/09/02/20120902132419_640.pdf

Edit: Added full spec. for AT825 (pag 47, pdf) and U822C (pag 27 pdf).

• AT826 -> 100KHz 3%+10 @ 5pF.
• U822C -> The same @ 4pF.   
• DE-5000 -> @ 4pF or 5pF, no idea, but probably very similar.

[rstoer]

The DE-5000 isn't in the same league for resolution. The OP clearly wants something a bit more precision than that.

I don't think that's true. The Agilent he's considering is the same resolution and although the B&K has twice the resolution, the accuracy is slightly worse; plus it doesn't have the 100kHz mode that the DE-5000 does.
I shopped around quite a bit before buying one, including used units. I found the DE-5000 is hard to beat at anywhere near the money.

[robrenz]

No clue    The DE-5000 can be had very cheap and performs more than adequately for all practical use. It has pretty good cred on the forum.

[kripton2035]

The DE-5000 isn't in the same league for resolution. The OP clearly wants something a bit more precision than that.

the OP first sentance is : lcr meter for under $500
I dont think he will find something better than a der ee 5000 for less than $500 !

[Carrington]

I dont think he will find something better than a der ee 5000 for less than $500 !

Well, I'm looking for the better LCR with a price < 300€ (USD 415).
And for now I like more the U822C, but the DE-5000 is not bad, and it's cheap.

[kripton2035]

AT82x, UT82x and de5000 all share the same cyrustek specialized lcr meter chip inside
they almost have the same display, they are basically the same meters
but I think the de5000 is the cheapest of them (?)
take care to get good probes with the meter, it will be very difficult (and expensive) to get them after.

[mainman]

How about the LCR200, unlike the de5000 the LCR200 goes down to the 20 picofarads range which is vital when working with SMD caps that more than often fall within the 10 to 150 pico range. The lowest value the De5000 will measure is 200 pico.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006WBTZ0W/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[The Electrician]

How about the LCR200, unlike the de5000 the LCR200 goes down to the 20 picofarads range which is vital when working with SMD caps that more than often fall within the 10 to 150 pico range. The lowest value the De5000 will measure is 200 pico.

200 pF is the lowest range, not the lowest value the DE-5000 can measure.

[The Electrician]

I did some measurements on the DE-5000 with small capacitors.  I don't have any very small SMD caps, so I used leaded ceramic and silver mica caps.  The measurements were made at 100 kHz, after performing the open/short cal procedure.  The caps were inserted into the DE-5000 blade connections.

I compared the results with measurements made on a Wayne-Kerr 6440B.

Code: [Select]

W-K             DE-5000

31.28 pF       31.36 pF
15.24 pF       15.26 pF
3.969 pF       4.01 pF
I did try using the SMD tweezers, but I couldn't get equally good results.  It's difficult to do the open cal procedure consistent with the tweezer opening when the caps are leaded caps.

A person can't complain too much about this performance.

[kripton2035]

I suppose you're talking about the DerEE-5000 from taiwanese company ?
please make a difference, for me the DE-5000 is the one from IET Labs and the two meters surely don't have the same accuracy.

[The Electrician]

This is the one I have:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DER-EE-DE-5000-High-Accuracy-Handheld-LCR-Meter-with-TL-21-TL-22-NEW-/141232095225?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20e216bff9

It took less than a week to get it.  I paid the extra US$5 to get faster shipping with a tracking number.

[rsjsouza]

One thing that intrigues me between the DER DE-5000 and the IET DE-5000 is the difference in price. Looking closer at their spec sheets, I can see the IET mentions 4-wire Kelvin measurements, while the DER does not. For the owners of the DER, do you know if this is possible with this meter?

The reason is that I have a Reed R5001 that has the same outputs of the DER/IET (guard, minus and plus) but it does not allow for Kelvin measurements.

[BravoV]

I suppose you're talking about the DerEE-5000 from taiwanese company ?
please make a difference, for me the DE-5000 is the one from IET Labs and the two meters surely don't have the same accuracy.

Simple question, did you compare both side by side already ?

[kripton2035]

I suppose you're talking about the DerEE-5000 from taiwanese company ?
please make a difference, for me the DE-5000 is the one from IET Labs and the two meters surely don't have the same accuracy.

Simple question, did you compare both side by side already ?

no but I would like to see a comparaison.
also someone who buys the de5000 will surely not buy also the deree5000 and vice versa.

[kripton2035]

One thing that intrigues me between the DER DE-5000 and the IET DE-5000 is the difference in price. Looking closer at their spec sheets, I can see the IET mentions 4-wire Kelvin measurements, while the DER does not. For the owners of the DER, do you know if this is possible with this meter?

yes the deree has 4 wires kelvin probes (tweezers)
I opened the TL21 croc probes and they are connected with 4 wires + ground inside

[Wytnucls]

Just to throw a spanner in the works, here the VA520B:
(I have no idea of how much it costs or if it does proper 4-wire measurements yet)
update: best price so far 138$.



http://www.mastech.com.cn/html/en/products-va520.htm

[Wytnucls]

This version of the VA520 has a 4-wire set-up with the proper Kelvin clips, also for 138$, but may not have the USB connection:

[BravoV]

I suppose you're talking about the DerEE-5000 from taiwanese company ?
please make a difference, for me the DE-5000 is the one from IET Labs and the two meters surely don't have the same accuracy.

Simple question, did you compare both side by side already ?

no but I would like to see a comparaison.
also someone who buys the de5000 will surely not buy also the deree5000 and vice versa.

Just curious, which or what kind of differences of accuracies between those two as you claimed ?

Are you saying IET's version has better accuracy ?

[BravoV]

Wytnucls, thanks for the updates on Mastech LCRs, look interesting, new "case"  for MS5308 ?

Looking at the buttons and the lcd display, I guess they're still using the popular Cyrustek chipset, aren't they ?

Ok, maybe minor updates like 4 wires setup & probe, and from IR to USB interface, but thats not a big deal.

[Wytnucls]

Yi Hua in Shanghai has split up from Mastech (on friendly terms it seems) and are now producing their own meters.
Cyrustek chips of course, same as Sanwa and many others.