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I review and teardown the East Tester ET4401 LCR Meter. Use the discount code provided to save 15% on Banggood, visit using the links below!
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Boonton
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4220.
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Fluke
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8842A:
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343A: defs.link/?u=13c93d
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A90.
HP/Agilent/Keysight
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5005A.
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Marconi
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2022D.
2955.
TF2103: defs.link/?u=61baaa
Rohde & Schwarz
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Polarad SPN: defs.link/?u=2ead82
Siglent
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SDS2102 (hacked to 340MHz): defs.link/?u=1ed0fe defs.link/?u=12d498
SPL-1008.
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S-993A: defs.link/?u=079677 defs.link/?u=e855a0
EEVBlog BM235: defs.link/?u=12d498
YR1030 Battery ESR: defs.link/?u=c56527
Heathkit IT-12 Signal Tracer.
Racal Dana 1992: defs.link/?u=8eeeba
Bird 43: defs.link/?u=4b18f7
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Audio Control SA-3050A RTA: defs.link/?u=a04df2
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Valhalla 2703: defs.link/?u=06bcfc
Feeltech FY6800: defs.link/?u=8b98cd defs.link/?u=34d101
Eakins Microscope: defs.link/?u=b0278b defs.link/?u=262327
Mustool G600: defs.link/?u=b8bc26 defs.link/?u=33f0aa
Handheld Equipment
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Uni-T UT210E: defs.link/?u=391ce3 defs.link/?u=ea4edc
DER DE-5000: defs.link/?u=0d9160 defs.link/?u=12d498
MK-328: defs.link/?u=0d9160 defs.link/?u=739ee7
MESR-100: defs.link/?u=0d9160 defs.link/?u=009419
ESR Meter: defs.link/?u=0d9160
HOPI: defs.link/?u=7fab55
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HS1010: defs.link/?u=10c699
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[@johncunningham5435]

The calibration of the Kelvin test leads require open and shorting your test leads to complete the calibration procedure, this will help stabilize readings, got one myself, love it.

[@wa4aos]

Good video with actual narration... You covered all of the key points well... Thanks !

[@hullinstruments]

Man I’ve been waiting and waiting for someone to get a hold of one of these! From what I’ve experienced… These are great and such a wonderful asset to have on the bench! The first real affordable high quality LCR meter!!! They might have to work out a few bugs and have a few revisions in the near future, but most of these companies seem to listen to the complaints of the online community… And for the most part put an effort into improving their product.…

[@jwrtiger]

Just an FYI. I just got the ET4410 and seems to be working well. I know you have the 10 kHz max test frequency model while I have the 100 kHz test frequency model. I would assume the boards are the same in all versions with just firmware and/or a couple of component differences. The date on your main board is 9/17/2018 and the date on my board is 7/31/2020. It is interesting to note they changed the power supply layout and there is now an extra heatsink and regulator. Still the same Sanoon brand smoothing capacitors. The AC cable that is zip tied to the ribbon cable is a shield cable on mine. I also have two multiturn trim pots on the main board probably for factory calibration. It looks like you have three relays while I only have the one K300, maybe a new circuit design or solid-state switching. They also beefed up the input protection and now the BNC connectors are directly soldered to the pc board. Looks like much of the analog circuitry is different or at least laid out differently. I also do not have the white residue on the main board. In your video you indicated being off by some 70 Hz on the 10 kHz frequency but it looks to be around 0.070 of a Hertz. Thank you for posting this review because it helped me make my decision to order one.

[@wiedapp]

The reason the box for this meter is so large would probably be the stackability with other meters on the bench. Make it shorter and it is the odd one out, causing headaches to the customer on how to place it in the stack of already acquired test gear. Just my guesss, though.

[@youtuuba]

wiedapp, I think you are 100% correct, and I had the same thought when Defpom was going on about how he disapproves of the long case. Bench equipment in this form factor almost always has pretty much the same width and depth, so that A) they have a more stable footprint, B) can be stacked with other equipment, C) they don't fall over backwards, or slide backwards, when you try to push buttons or plug in cables, etc. I was appalled that Defpom did not know or realize this fairly basic concept.

[@Daveyk021]

Nice review; very good camera.

[@redresistor1330]

They raised the price $50 of each model as soon as this video dropped. The $180 version is now $230. At 180 I would be in, at 230 I'm out. Available for $203 on Aliexpress. Even then I feel like it's not worth it.

[@jacek7178]

Good video! And comparison with DE 5000 was the hit!

[@cathywu6282]

yes its nice product which manufactured by EAST TESTER , contact email: [e-mail]

[@JohnDoe-ce2wl]

Just bought one of those LCR meters - my thoughts on the enclosure size: 1) standard for stackability 2) may be repurposed from another product already in production. Basically free tooling.

[@tablatronix]

Now thats a review

[@Victor_Nsk]

BIAS 1.5 V for measuring the capacitance of electrolytic capacitors. Instructions are sometimes useful to read. It is recommended to connect electrolytic capacitors with respect to polarity

[@Jmpguitars]

Both of those have Hold buttons, might be helpful in comparisons.

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

Thanks for the great review but better not to ask about the QC sticker. As you say bench space is a premium so would probably rather have a small LCR meter like a litte Peak Atlas. I would find space for your HP LCR meter LOL. Thanks best regards Chris

[@markuskeller9734]

Very nice review. Thanks for that. In fact I already looked at this instrument some time ago but wasn't sure about its built quality and precision. I couldn't find much information that was really helpful. Your review is, indeed. I decided 3 weeks ago to purchase one of the DER EE DE-5000 via ebay which is currently pending in German customs since 2 weeks ... however, considering what you've reviewed and what your conclusion is about this test gear, I little bit regret to have already purchased the DER EE device too quick... even though it's much cheaper than the ET4401 ;) Missed the precision/resolution thing ... damned. At least the DER EE ultimately requires much less space on the workbench :)

[@TheDefpom]

The DE-5000 is still a good meter so you haven't really made a mistake there, it really just comes down to how much resolution you need, and until now I was happy with the DE-5000, apart from the occasional time I wished it had more resolution, this meter fills that gap, I just wish I had been sent the 100KHz version.

[@hullinstruments]

I could be wrong… But there are other versions offered on Banggood and elsewhere that have selectable frequency up to 100 kHz? They may cost a bit more but not too extremely much more expensive.

[@tomgeorge3726]

Did you try the BNC that you suspect as being non spec on the Rohde & Schwarz? Have you tried a BNC plug from the Rohde & Schwarzr on the EastTester? I notice it doesn't have a SMPS, they may need the case size to keep the transformer away from the PCB? QC sticker ha ha ha.. It maybe better built because there was no QC test, no pressure on the assembler.

[@hullinstruments]

Sorry to comment again… But that residue is always left behind after I wash a board in alcohol. Or other solvents to remove flux and any other residue. Some of it drains down to the bottom of the board (whichever way the board is tilted)… And gets in between parts just like those reed relays… So they probably only washed this board once or maybe quickly twice. Sometimes I have to wash mine several times to get all of that residue off. Because some of the flux and search mixes with the solvent… And always drains down and leaves those white marks when the solvent evaporates.

[@ChazzDerby]

Can you measure cable capacitanse on this?

[@stevenspmd]

Interesting, I picked up a ET3240 and it seems to show mains (120V 60Hz) noise; wonder if separating the cabling would have any effect.

[@MyMcMichael]

The biggest problem i see on this device is safety. The mains cable is touching the voltage regulators heatsink. Chinese are often undersizing the heatsinks, so they get damn hot

[@allanwind295]

Can you use it to test ESR of capacitors in circuit? I understand from the eevblog forum that the DE-5000 is borderline in this respect (600 mV).

[@KeiJazz]

The ET4510 has an Electrolytic capacitor test mode with 600 mV test level, but the regular C measurement goes down to 100mV test levels. That should be low enough. In circuit ESR tests can be tricky. Discharge electrolytic caps very long or else the residual charge may destroy the LCR meter input.

[@TheTinkerDad]

Cool stuff, looks like a nice and useful tool! Did Banggood choose this to send it to you for review on their own or you've asked for it?

[@TheDefpom]

The Tinker Dad - I asked for it, but didn’t specify which version.

[@kc4cvh]

The item shown here is available for $235 on E-Bay.

[@mikeburch2998]

I want mine to display in pf. It shows it in the manual but maybe I'm missing something.

[@TheDefpom]

Mine shows in pF, maybe it is to do with the ranges ? Anything less than 1nF displayed as pF on my unit.

[@kaganarisut]

Hi. Do you know what is the main difference between ET44 series and ET45?

[@jacek7178]

here is the difference: www.easttester.com/m/view.php?aid=78 see the table.

[@Daveyk021]

Oh, no Calibration sticker? Usually, it is not important to keep an instrument like that certified in a service/calibration shop when it is an instrument used for trouble-shooting. If you were using it in a MFG environment (such as making ultrasonic transducers for non-destructive testing), then having it certified would be important, especially of measuring the capacitance of the probe and crystal before and after tuning is part of the MFG procedure. I was wondering the important of dissipation factor that you were so keen on in this video? I look for capacitance/ECR and leakage (which you can not do with an LCR meter like this). I haven't seen the dissipation factor discussed before when trouble-shooting.

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

We would buy an instrument and a day after it arrived it would have a company asset number put on it and then straightaway out for calibration. A but a bugger if you want to use it asap.

[@KeiJazz]

Clearly this low cost device does not try to compete with NIST traceable calibrated equipment, and is not aimed at high tech manufacturing situations. However. My meter was shipped with a small 'Quality Certificate', where the model, serial number and date of manufacture were all hand written. And a little red stamp indicating that it was inspected by '05' . They state compliance with GB/13978, which appears to be a Chinese standard for digital multimeters.

[@outsideworld76]

The residu is probably flux residu dissolved in the cleaning liquid used during manufacturing. Not the best cleaning I have seen but probably sufficient. They did remove some of the part numbers, maybe because of Chinese parts only intended for the domestic market? Who knows...

[@Bodragon]

(6:45) - But aren't your leads already shorted ? I mean, not to each other, but those kelvin clips are closed, right, meaning that they are shorted ? In any case, surely the meter can easily calibrate each individual lead without shorting any of the together, no ? >

[@TheDefpom]

Often when doing the cal on a LCR meter it requires all four leads to be shorted together, they normally do a short and an open.

[@youtuuba]

Bodragon, I think you miss the point of Kelvin connections. The Kelvin alligator clips, when closed, or when clipped onto a component lead, are connecting together the Source/Current test lead (where the signal comes from) and the Sense test lead (where the device under test is being measured from). So, a closed Kelvin alligator clip is NOT shorting the INPUTS, it is just connecting together the Source & Sense leads for ONE side of the component under test, while the other Kelvin alligator clip is doing the same thing for the other side of the component under test.

[@e42_channel]

Thanks for your teardown. I was wondering that there is no AC Line Filter or did I missed something. Just ordered my ET4410 from banggood for 248€ Promo.

[@TheDefpom]

Correct no line filter, it will have filtering on the switch mode power supply PCB though.

[@pscn8078]

I have the same model, purchased in China for 106€

[@zx8401ztv]

I would snip that cable tie and move the mains cable to the side panal where the transformer is, just the right length of cable to go there :-D. Im with you on the 100khz, thats a standard. Frequency with a "G", was that a mistake?. They make it the full size to give the effect that you have a lot for the money. I have an old maplin mf100 frequency counter that plays that trick, plenty of space for storing sandwiches lol :-D. it uses a intersil 7226 chip to produce an 8 digit display, i'm sure you have seen one in the distant past millions of years ago :-D

[@eko653]

Can you test a battery internal resistance with this?

[@TheDefpom]

No I don’t think so

[@HowardJohnstone]

Yes, this is an LCR-bridge. You must use a serial cap for DC block. This can then be subtracted using the special function this instrument have.

[@KeiJazz]

I just received my ET4510 LCR Meter. It works great and the test frequency can be set at random frequencies up to 100kHz. Does anybody know more about the RS232 and USB host interfaces on the back side? I'ld really like to automate a frequency sweep. The manual has no details on this.

[@KeiJazz]

Update: after asking the seller on banggood, they mailed the SCPI manual. They have no up to date software but with the manual you can write your own scripts.

[@AmauryJacquot]

they use the same case for other instruments...

[@greenspider3664]

Could I test the ESR of a lithium ion battery with this?

[@TheDefpom]

Green Spider - probably not, usually any voltages being present will damage an ESR meter. Some I purchased a couple of years ago was a battery esr tester, so you can get an instrument that is designed to do it, I will see if I can find a link.

[@greenspider3664]

@Defpom's Electronics & Repair cheers I’v been searching for one of them for the past year that doesn’t cost a arm and a leg, a link would be much appreciated!

[@MrRobbyvent]

any info about hack this ET4401 to become an ET4410?

[@TheDefpom]

I asked East Tester if there were a way to upgrade, they said there wasn’t... but I suspect that it is more likely a firmware change so too hard for most people to do.

[@MrRobbyvent]

@@TheDefpom Well.... yeah.... they were quite not the first source where to ask for....

[@unodos1821]

Will this replace my DER EE DE-5000?

[@TheDefpom]

uno dos - I think it will, it seemed to compare pretty well in all of my tests, in fact as I mentioned it has much better resolution.

[@unodos1821]

@@TheDefpom Did you zero out the DR EE? Are the frequecies the same or is one greater than the other? Sorry but I didn't see it in the video. Also, did it come with software?

[@TheDefpom]

uno dos - yes I did a cal on the der, and I did comparisons on the same frequencies.

[@unodos1821]

@@TheDefpom I guess I need to get a bigger phone.

[@wafiullah-shafia]

This device is product of which contrary?

[@TheDefpom]

It comes from China, like a lot of things these days.

[@Bodragon]

Can you not see the Chinese writing on it ? Also, it came from BangGood, a Chinese marketplace website. >

[@stareclipse2001]

I have the ET4401 PCB-version 2020.07.31. Much better organised, BNC on the pcb, good cable management,... They really corrected all the bad stuff. Anyone knows where I can find new firmware and is it possible to hack the 4401 to 4410?

[@hateercenor]

Looks rather similar to BK precision.

[@youtuuba]

hateercenor, probably because what B+K Precision does these days (I don't think they ALWAYS used to do it), is find some popular product like this, get the factory to make it in a different color scheme and put the B+K logo on it, then sell it for several times the cost, usually WITHOUT even bothering to add value by studying the product and writing a decent English user's manual. I can see some value, worth paying for, if they authored a better manual and had knowledgeable tech support people and provided proper product support and repairs. But in my experience with B+K products over the last 20 years or so, they do NOT improve on the manual, their tech support people know little more than what the user can learn by reading the Chinglish manual, and when a customer sends in a faulty product for repair, then just send a different one and charge nearly the price of a new one for the 'repair fee'. For that kind of situation, people should just buy the more truthful 'Chinese junk' for a lot price, use it until it fails, and then buy another one for a low price.

[@TheChipburner]

The very obvious problems of that meters is that they have to substract large cable capacitance from measurement results, making impossible to precisely measure small values.

[@TheDefpom]

Yes that is true, the smaller the capacitance the more critical the connections become.

[@adamalterman6657]

Too bad the "fregging" Frequency button is named "FREG"

[@TheDefpom]

Adam Alterman - I really wish I had noticed that when I did the video.

[@7emezzo]

Hi, its possibile to measure in circuit?

[@TheDefpom]

it depends on the circuit, it is not as good for in circuit testing compared with meters that are designed to do it, like the Peak ESR70 Gold for example.

[@Chris-hy6jy]

Did they ever fix the "FREG" button? 🤦‍♂️

[@TheDefpom]

Lol, I don’t know, probably not.

[@thetechgenie7374]

Chinese gear and electrical safety always a death trap to questionable at best? You figured they would have learned by now?

[@KeiJazz]

You would be the first person I'ld meet that has no chinese manufactured gear in the house. The Defpom's main factual remark about safety was the 'switching the neutral' instead of the live. Well, given the insulation, this is no problem at all. In Europe the IEC cable has a Euro connector on the other side that can be plugged in in reverse into the wall outlet. Both neutral and live have similar isolation requirements.

[@cjh0751]

Dude i love your videos but i find how you speak a challenge. You seem to speak Australian really fast. Don't be offended. I would just like to know what your talking about.

[@insanelydigitalvids]

It's a New Zealand accent.

[@thomasleerriem6872]

I gave up buying this Chinese junk. I got rid of all my Owon stuff and invested in Rohde&Schwartz. 10 times the price, but 100 times more enjoyable to use.

[@thomasleerriem6872]

@@kmi964 When I started my electronics hobby 30 years ago -when I was 16 yo-, I worked 1 month during the summer holidays in a sausage factory to be able to buy my first Fluke 87 (the original series 1). I'm still using that device now , although I have a whole collection of Fluke multimeters now. That Fluke 87 probably saved my life a couple of times and has forgiven me many mistakes I made hooking it up incorrectly. Afterwards I got tempted to buy Owon equipment because... well who doesn't want to have a fully equipped electronics lab, including oscilloscope, for the price of Fluke 289? That was my biggest mistake. This Chinese junk caused lots of frustration and is worth diddly squat if you sell it second hand. So I've returned to the basics, to what I've been doing at the age of 16: I select the device I want to buy and save money until I can buy it, regardless the price. Keysight, Agilent, R&S, Tektronix, Fluke,... their devices are almost bulletproof and you will enjoy using them for a lifetime. Please don't let these dangerous chinese toys take away your appetite for electronics... or your life. We share a passion for electronics and if we respect ourselves, we should buy the right tools for that.

[@thomasleerriem6872]

@@kmi964 Haha no my sausage factory job wasn't a fluke, it was a deliberate choice since these kinds of dirty jobs pay good money as a student. In Belgium young people and students are used to work for a month during the summer holidays. It's tax free so it pays good money (please note that faxes in Belgium are as high as 45%, so we're not talking Texas tax rates ^^). So you actually earn double of what full time employers would earn on a monthly basis. Obviously as you get older and more educated, the level of "holiday jobs" also increases. I wasn't working in a sausage factory anymore when I was doing my PhD ;) But regardless, I'm happy I've done dozens of these "holidays jobs" in different sectors and at different levels. The best way of understanding how hard life can be for some people that work in factories is actually trying it yourself for a month. I'm wishing you all the best as well with this wonderful hobby called electronics.

[@kaybhee6]

@@thomasleerriem6872 got both,,, real vs these toys

[@boonedockjourneyman7979]

Good video. Crap product.

[@TheDefpom]

Boonedock Journeyman - I disagree, it impressed me enough to be placed on my bench shelving instead of tucked in a drawer.

[@astronola]

BS i use mine daily.....spot on

[@51nw]

i have a question that i cant find an answer too. i have a bench lcr meter and it has 4 connections for the kelvin clip test leads. the meter's test lead connections are marked Lcur, Lpot and Hcur, Hpot. which two connections does the positive test lead connect to? i cant find which test lead goes to which two terminals anywhere.

[@TheDefpom]

Usually the manual for device will tell you, but H is positive side L is negative side. The information on the meaning for Hcur and Hpot etc. is out there as it is pretty common terminology, I know I have read detailed descriptions of each connection functionality as part of the theory of operation of various LCR meters.

[@51nw]

@@TheDefpom great, thank you