Advice on ESR meter, I've seen all chinese stuff on ebay..

[linux-works]

a guard, in general, is sort of a reference point.  it may or may not be a ground.  its a way of getting some common-mode cancellation (things that hit both the hot wire and the guard wire gets cancelled out).

[robrenz]

The guard is the common of the measuring circuit and the shields of the tweezers and alligator clips are connected to it

[AllanMN]

OK. I think I understand. If you don't have or use this accessory, it must be internally connected.

The clips and tweezers, yes. But for less precise measurements, I'm thinking I don't need to spend the $25 to get the guard?  

I'm curious why it only measures up to 20 mF, no higher, but up to 2000 Henrys!

Honestly, it looks like too good a deal to be true.

Allan

[Pasky]

It's the real deal.  I just bought one off ebay from a Japanese seller as well about 2 weeks ago.  Works great.

[BravoV]

These Cyrustek chip based handheld LCR meter currently are the best value/performance in the market, its proven and quite versatile.

Get one if you really need a decent LCR meter, of course a bit too expensive if its just for ESR measurement alone.

[apelly]

Just to add my 2c: I bought one a few months ago and it works a treat. Couldn't be happier.

[mos6502]

OK. I think I understand. If you don't have or use this accessory, it must be internally connected.

The clips and tweezers, yes. But for less precise measurements, I'm thinking I don't need to spend the $25 to get the guard?  

I'm curious why it only measures up to 20 mF, no higher, but up to 2000 Henrys!

Honestly, it looks like too good a deal to be true.

Allan

The guard line is just a wire with two 4mm plugs. If you ever need one, you can just use a standard test lead.

As for the test range - high C = low Xc, high L = high Xl. 20mF ~ 80 milliohms at 100Hz, 2000H ~ 1.26 megohms at 100Hz. Outside of these ranges it's difficult to do precise measurements. The Agilent U1733C has exactly the same range limits.

[jpb]

I recently purchased a DER EE DE-5000 and so-far I'm very pleased with it. I ordered it on a Thursday from a Japanese seller advertising express shipment. They shipped it on Friday and it was at my door (in NJ) at 10:30 am on Monday - WOW!!!.
This meter has been shown to be accurate in several reviews and, like mos6502, I've heard no horror stories regarding it. I'd be curious to hear if anyone has gotten a dud.
I agree that a seller in Japan who peddles LCR meters and stuffed animals is not likely to be much help if the unit fails (except for DOA's). I was willing to take that chance, but the risk-adverse could purchase the same unit under the IET brand. Even at their $335 retail, it's probably still the best unit for the price and there should be no issue with IET standing behind it in the event of failure.

This Taiwanese unit from Japan is tempting. I would like to buy the IET version but it is not sold in the UK or Europe as far as I know. I got an e-mail quote from IET for a direct sale about a year ago and the cost of postage was $140 which brings the price up to $475 + VAT(Tax/Import duty) which is over 4 times the cost of the one from Japan - it also makes it much more expensive than the Agilent unit (Agilent 1733C is £284 inc VAT from Conrad, buying the IET unit would cost around £350).

I was hoping that IET would make some dealership arrangement with someone in Europe but they've not done so.

[robrenz]

OK. I think I understand. If you don't have or use this accessory, it must be internally connected.

The clips and tweezers, yes. But for less precise measurements, I'm thinking I don't need to spend the $25 to get the guard?  

I'm curious why it only measures up to 20 mF, no higher, but up to 2000 Henrys!

Honestly, it looks like too good a deal to be true.

Allan

20mF = 20000µF

[dfmischler]

Besides, I haven't read a single report about anyone having a problem with the DE-5000, but a bunch about the U1733C.

How about this one?  At least it was fixable so I didn't have to send it back.

[eKretz]

I recently picked up a DER EE DE-5000 also, it is a great little LCR so far. Very happy with it.

[Electro Fan]

+1 on the DER EE DE-5000 LCR Meter

Arrived in good condition with accessories in just under two weeks after ordering on eBay from "japanesiana".

[cs.dk]

Just for learning - I've got a DE-5000 meter, and this particular cap are bulged, and looks terrible, so i know it's dead.
I'm just wondering, what to look for, while measuring caps. What frequency do i wanna use? Ie. What is the "golden pointer" on a dead cap?

The cap is a Samxon 1000 uF, 16V, 105C. GK (M) series,

Tests;
1 KHz; D = 0,799, 7,646 uF, Q = 1,251, ESR = 16,62
10 KHz; D = 1,296, 3,416 uF, Q = 0,771, ESR = 6,02
100 KHz; D = 1,780, 872,0 nF, Q= 0,561, ESR = 3,23

This is a SMPS 9V DC powersupply for a creditcard-device, the DUT did not boot up, did not even turn the back-light on. Hooked up the scope to the PSU, and it looks like an EKG-monitor, with ~4V P-P - Will this PSU work again, if i replace the cap?
It did work, when it was stored away - Can other things go wrong in a PSU?

[jpb]

+1 on the DER EE DE-5000 LCR Meter

Arrived in good condition with accessories in just under two weeks after ordering on eBay from "japanesiana".

Just got mine from :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DER-EE-DE-5000-Handheld-LCR-Multi-Meter-with-TL-21-TL-22-/171260782793?ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:GB:1120

I had to pay £8 handling fee on top of the VAT/import duty but it was still a bargain compared to other options.

It seems to work very well but I've only tried it on one C and one R.

[kripton2035]

Just for learning - I've got a DE-5000 meter, and this particular cap are bulged, and looks terrible, so i know it's dead.
I'm just wondering, what to look for, while measuring caps. What frequency do i wanna use? Ie. What is the "golden pointer" on a dead cap?

The cap is a Samxon 1000 uF, 16V, 105C. GK (M) series,

Tests;
1 KHz; D = 0,799, 7,646 uF, Q = 1,251, ESR = 16,62
10 KHz; D = 1,296, 3,416 uF, Q = 0,771, ESR = 6,02
100 KHz; D = 1,780, 872,0 nF, Q= 0,561, ESR = 3,23

This is a SMPS 9V DC powersupply for a creditcard-device, the DUT did not boot up, did not even turn the back-light on. Hooked up the scope to the PSU, and it looks like an EKG-monitor, with ~4V P-P - Will this PSU work again, if i replace the cap?
It did work, when it was stored away - Can other things go wrong in a PSU?

I use the first auto lcr mode of the de5000 at 1KHz
look at caps with D>0.2, and if they are not far from a heatsink, then change them
samxon brand = change with no regret
if in doubt, compare with a new cap same capacity/voltage.

also sometime D is good but the capacity is very low compared to what it should be
to be sure you must desoldier the cap.

[kripton2035]

yes the readouts are repeatable with deree de5000 -
I dont have the precisions instruments robrenz has, but the demo he made with the IET DE5000 it looks almost the same with deree DE5000 I have.

[PedroDaGr8]

yes the readouts are repeatable with deree de5000 -
I dont have the precisions instruments robrenz has, but the demo he made with the IET DE5000 it looks almost the same with deree DE5000 I have.

Its been 95% established that Der EE makes the DE-5000 for IET labs. The IET labs ones are supposedly a slightly earlier revision (Rev. E or F if I remember correctly) of the board than what is currently being sold (I think Rev. H).

[cs.dk]

Just for learning - I've got a DE-5000 meter, and this particular cap are bulged, and looks terrible, so i know it's dead.
I'm just wondering, what to look for, while measuring caps. What frequency do i wanna use? Ie. What is the "golden pointer" on a dead cap?

The cap is a Samxon 1000 uF, 16V, 105C. GK (M) series,

Tests;
1 KHz; D = 0,799, 7,646 uF, Q = 1,251, ESR = 16,62
10 KHz; D = 1,296, 3,416 uF, Q = 0,771, ESR = 6,02
100 KHz; D = 1,780, 872,0 nF, Q= 0,561, ESR = 3,23

This is a SMPS 9V DC powersupply for a creditcard-device, the DUT did not boot up, did not even turn the back-light on. Hooked up the scope to the PSU, and it looks like an EKG-monitor, with ~4V P-P - Will this PSU work again, if i replace the cap?
It did work, when it was stored away - Can other things go wrong in a PSU?

Thank you for answers,
Another question - Any problem in replacing this 16V 1000 uF with a 25V 1000 uF? I guess it's not a problem, everyone says the capacitance is most important.
What if i replace it with a 16V 2200 uF? Will the PSU fail?

[Savetheday]

here on my repository you can see almost all available esr meters, for DIY or buy
there are some nice one that are made by eevblog members

http://kripton2035.free.fr/esr-repository.html

if you have the money, get a DER EE 5000 LCR meter (that has an esr meter) for some $90 it's a real bargain.

Hi

Did you see those ESR meters you can also add to your list if you like to.

This is from Holland

http://smdking.com/hikashop-menu-for-categories-listing/product/8-lcr-esr-auto-detecting-ranging-multimeter

This is from Germany

http://www.elv.de/KT200-%E2%80%93-zwei-Ger%C3%A4te-in-einem-Komponententester-und-ESR-Messger%C3%A4t/x.aspx/cid_726/detail_47290

Thanks.