Recommendation: Good value-for-money LCR meter?

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tvr2500m

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Joined 2003
#1
Hello:

I'm looking for recommendation for a good value-for-money LCR meter. Should have had one of these a zillion years ago, but don't. Right now what's prompting the need are a couple of speaker repairs/restoration. Most specifically I need to measure capacitor values. Inductance measurement would be handy, too. Of course I already have some good meters to measure resistance, voltage...

Could be new or used. Something smaller, more compact would probably be preferred to a big lab/bench tester.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks,

- SJ
 
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#3
tvr2500m said:
Hello:

I'm looking for recommendation for a good value-for-money LCR meter. Should have had one of these a zillion years ago, but don't. Right now what's prompting the need are a couple of speaker repairs/restoration. Most specifically I need to measure capacitor values. Inductance measurement would be handy, too. Of course I already have some good meters to measure resistance, voltage...

Any suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks,

- SJ
Click to expand...

If you want a real LCR and not a toy, I recommend the Der EE DE-5000. Around $90-160 depending on the included options (USB logging, SMD tweezers, aligator clips, etc). With the most common option combination (everything but the USB adapter and guard adapter) coming in at $112 shipped. The reason I say this is a TRUE LCR meter is that its able to measure things like ESR, D (a better indicator of capacitor health), Q, theta, inductanc, etc It has DC/100/120/1k/10k/100k Hz test frequencies (unlike others which give you a single point measurement at best). It can do series/parallel measurements. You can measure resistance at various frequencies, it has up to 0.2% precision on resistance. 20,000 count display.

L: 20.000uH ~ 2.000 KH
C: 200.00pF ~ 20.00mF
R: 20.000 Ohms ~ 200.0 MOhms
DCR: 200.00Ohms~200.0MOhms

It also has automated sorting capabilities with bins as small as +/-0.25%

http://akizukidenshi.com/download/ds/deree/DE-5000_manu_en2p.pdf
 
#10
For loudspeaker impedance measurement, you might want to consider the development board of the Analog Devices AD5934 -- http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/eval_boards/3221601EVAL_AD5934EB.pdf

I think that the price is $50 to $60. You can also use it to measure R, C and L. I believe the software will allow you to measure gain and phase too, so you could use it in analyzing crossover networks.

(The purpose of the AD5934 was to measure corrosion (potential structural weakness) in aircraft, fuel cell impedance, spectroscopy etc., etc.)

There are enough audiophiles at Analog Devices that one of the fellows wrote this application note:
How to measure speaker impedance:
http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/application_notes/236037846AN_843.pdf
 
#12
One cauveat for the DER - it's likely not supported service wise in this country.
I suppose does that really matter?
At the price, if it breaks, throw it away and buy another one.
I own two examples of overseas test equipment pieces like this, A Hantek DSO8060 handheld scope and V97+ Volt/Ohm meter both with issues within a year of owning. Hantek offered to fix it for free as long as I paid the sipping both ways which was a 1/3 of the value of a new scope. The $.50 relay that went bad has no equivalent available in this county The V97+ was so inexpensive its not worth my time removing the case screws. We live in a throw away world now and it drives me nuts.
 
#13
campsquire said:
One cauveat for the DER EE- it's likely not supported service wise in this country.
...
We live in a throw away world now and it drives me nuts.
Click to expand...

It depends on what you mean by supported.

If you mean it has a warranty and/or warranty service, then no. On the other hand, if you mean repairable, then yes it is actually moderately repairable.

Most of the components are basic off-the-shelf parts. In particular, it doesn't use any proprietary chipsets. The chipsets Cyrustek ES51919/ES51920 are used in a number of meters 100kHz LCR meters. Truthfully, they can be hard to source but not impossible. It can take a few emails to Cyrustek and their suppliers to find a source. Plus the simplistic design of the adapters makes it very easy to modify.

Also, because IET Labs resold this meter under their brand name as the DE-5000 and DE-6000, you can easily find places which will calibrate it (if necessary).

I agree with you about the throw away society. I try to repair and fix as much as I can. I have found a number of things like handheld meters can be repaired if you search around enough (though sometimes it isn't econonomical).
 
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#14
Although I already own
  • Mega328 component tester and LCR meter
  • AADE L/C meter
  • Agilent U1731C LCR meter
  • DER EE DE-5000 LCR meter
  • HP4800A Vector Impedance meter
I recently bought a new, higher capability, LCR meter: the ET4510. It's sold on Amazon but Ali Express offers it for a lot less money. Here's the page that I purchased from:

Meter Digital Bridge Inductance measure Impedance Benchtop ET4501/ET4502/ET4510 LCR Tester Continuously Adjustable Frequency|Capacitance Meters| - AliExpress

The sales page contains a link to the user manual on the web; I've extracted the first 7 pages (to stay within attachment file size limits on DIYA) and attached them below. They contain the specification tables for the instrument.
 

Attachments

#17
I found it instructive (eons ago) to build the Reactance Measurement Set from Popular Electronics. Used a bunch of CMOS counters and clocks, measure dI/dt or dV/dt, demodulate and derive a voltage proportionate to L or C. You could build it today for under $20.

Mark certainly has me beat. First was the Heath IB-5281 -- on the used market it goes for multiples of the original cost.

For quick measurement, I have a Genrad 1658, also an EIC250 Bridge.
 
#18
There are hazards-you could get hooked and have too many: I have 3 ESI videobridges and a GR digibridge. One Videobridge ESI 2150 for Sale|LCR Bridges / Meters|LCR / Impedance Products|Test Equipment Center is really all I could ever need. And while these are great for passive components they are less useful for drivers and semiconductors. A simple fixture using the headphone/microphone connection of a laptop + ARTA or REW or ?? could be enough for many applications. Here is one that can be done with an Android phone: LCR Meter Demo - Apps on Google Play
 
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