Review/Teardown of a East Tester ET431 LCR Meter

In this video I did a review and teardown of a ET431 handheld LCR meter. Besides the typical LCR meter functions, this meter also supports both AC/DC resistance measurement modes and also has a dedicated mode for electrolytic capacitor capacitance measurement. The meter also comes with Kelvin clips for 4-wire/5-wire measurements. Product link: ban.ggood.vip/13XY0
00:00 Introduction, specifications and accessories
02:55 Powering on, overview
04:48 Impedance measurement mode
06:23 DCR mode
09:58 Capacitance measurement mode
14:06 Electrolytic capacitor mode
18:04 Inductance measurement mode
19:00 Teardown, conclusions

[@AIexanderHartdegen]

Hello sir, I have now the East tester ET433. This LCR meter is absolutely incredible. Thanks for all your videos.

[@vytautasslenderis2702]

I have the ET432. And the hardware seems to be different. The microprocessor in my unit is a Nuvoton chip. I do like this LCR meter, very functional. Especially, the ability to perform measurements at 0.1Vrms levels, which does not turn on any semiconductors and therefore in-board measurement of caps, for example, is a treat.

[@romancharak3675]

Thanks for the review, Kerry! I have been needing an LCR meter for some time now, and today, your review helped me take the plunge !

[@pault6533]

Thank you, I like your understandable and organized delivery of information!

[@grerlab2777]

Always interesting videos... Thanks for the review of this LCR... ✌

[@alia.salman4815]

Very nice review ❤

[@kenjikawakami8033]

Great content. Subscribed.

[@lalzova4487]

Hi ! I lke your video, your naration is very good to follow. Please add review on ET 433 also.

[@pault6533]

Today the ET431 arrived. I found the slots in the front of the unit convenient to use for radial lead components or axial ones with the leads bent, no need to use the clips - the manual lists the notches as the first option. I was wondering why you hadn't used this method? Perhaps just for the way you wanted to demonstrate in the demo. I messed around with the setting including "use last" for "Power on set" and proceeded to make my first DCR measurement. I pressed the SPEED button to change from SLOW to MED and THE UNIT FROZE ON ME! No button presses seemed to be recognized. I could not figure out how to reboot or factory reset the unit, but I could turn it on and off, returning to the same screen in a locked-up state. After an hour or so in futility trying to find how to factory reset from the soft keys, I was able to figure that the buttons did work, but the response to a keypress was about 1 minute each press. With patience, I eventually got back to the setting menu and turned it back to "Default value", left the menu, and cycled the power. My unit was unbricked *whew*. So I strongly advise against having the last mode remembered to avoid this endless lockup loop, unless it's really necessary. I found out how to use the record feature and display the running average. This is extremely useful for getting past the constantly changing value on the screen. The tolerance value is also somewhat useful at seeing how much in % the current reading varies from the average or target value. I could see myself using this when tuning a circuit. As for measurement accuracy, I was surprised to find the bathtub curve is rather steep at higher capacitances. My inexpensive meters do much better at high capacitances. Perhaps those meters are able to measure by integration or by having a built-in compensation table. This is my first LCR meter and I bought it for a reasonable price compared to others on the market, but wonder how much more versatile another brand meter would be, or is it the accuracy bathtub limitation true for all of them? For personal use this is adequate, but I think I would tend to use some other device for high or low ranges, such as millohms or higher capacitances. Why is 120 Hz one of the presets when 100 Hz isn't far away? Is it due to some standardized frequency, or due to differences between mains frequency? Should a bias voltage be applied to tantalum capacitors as well as electrolytics? I have been doing so.

[@tiagoferreira086]

Typical software issues and bugs on cheap chinese instruments, i have the ET5410+ dc load (same brand as this lcr) and its full of software issues and bugs not to mention the poor hardware assembly and quality, and completely erroneous readings, very negative experience to me, its pure garbage, i won't buy anything else from "east test" (or rebranded) ever again. Fnirsi dpox180h is another trash with completely buggy software. And the list goes on...

[@marvinmartian8746]

Just curious if you ever tested your ET431 in DCR mode, but using all the ranges. There is a recent thread over on the eevBlog testing forum about the ET432 (not much different) and two people had the same weird symptoms - oddly varying (orders of magnitude) DCR readings from a 10K resistor. Was wondering if yours had the same symptoms. Auto range usually chooses the correct (accurate) range but there are usually a couple of the manual ranges that will return crazy results.

[@TradeWorks_Construction]

If you’re paying for a dedicated LCR why wouldn’t manufacturers build these devices to do capacitor tests in ranges they are designed to operate in? (i.e. 1-50V or have a handful of switchable values that are commonly found on aluminum caps) I might be wrong but I thought electrolytic aluminum caps (that have reason to be suspect) often can still give passable values when tested at lower voltages.

[@ioanginsca2330]

Hi, do you the standby/ operating current for this LCR meter ?

[@glasslinger]

While this is a better value than the Keysight 1733 it still is expensive considering that a Chinese LCR meter for under 20 bucks on ebay will do as good! For serious work a meter like the HP 4275 LCR meter (oldie but goodie!) is much more accurate.

[@dhphuckts]

Compare the ET431 LCR with the Hantek 1833c you reviewed before (excluding 10kHz vs 100kHz), which is more stable, accurate and functional? Thanks

[@KerryWongBlog]

The readings are fairly comparable. One thing stood up is the DCR mode in the ET431.

[@jspencerg]

Hello, I got the ET432 last year and have been using it mostly for capacitors. A few questions, maybe you have some perspective: Should one just use the 100Hz frequency when in the electrolytic mode for determining esr? I'm thinking maybe since electrolytic cap's are not for large frequencies. I don't always have data sheets for ref. Perhaps I'll study sheets for similar caps. I understand kelvin leads should be used for low resistance values, they are not helpful if resistance is high. Is there a similar impedance and/or frequency guidance for inductance and capacitance measurement? I would think using the unit's socket for components, eliminating all wire length, would be best for measuring capacitance. When would using the alligator clips be best practice? There are so many selectable parameters. Almost need a check list as one switches components! Thanks.

[@KerryWongBlog]

In this case it's 5-wire (4-wire plus guard) measurements. So it's suitable for both low impedance and high impedance measurements. I had made a video a few years back explaining why you'd need guarding when measuring high impedance component (e.g. caps in the pF range): kzbin.info/www/bejne/d561kKujqZh0eKs. If the footprint of the component can fit into the socket obviously it would be the most accurate way to do the measurement as the sockets are also using 4-wire measurements (without the guard, but guard would not be needed since there's no excessive connections in between). ESR for larger capacitors are usually measured at 120 Hz as they are mainly used for mains frequency filtering. You shouldn't see much difference when using 100 Hz or 120 Hz. But if the manufacturer has a specified frequency then that is the frequency you should use.

[@jspencerg]

@KerryWongBlog @KerryWongBlog Thanks Kerry. I just watched the review of the agilent lcr meter. I was struck by how full the pcb was compared to the ET meter. That one chip on ET lcr replaces so many. I have learned about kelvin leads using my dmm. I'm learning about using guarded lines using my keithley 236. I had not considered the implications of having both on my et432. I'm used to thinking of a DC guard voltage. I found the 5-wire guarded-kelvin layout in the Keysight Impedance Measurement Handbook. I opened the ET's kelvin plug and verified that the guard wire is the outer shield for the 4 coaxial wires bundled in the kelvin 🔌. I'm going to need to think about the different voltage arrangements a bit. Thanks again for your great videos for repair and review.

[@ganrot]

I live in Europe, the mains voltage is: 230 v 50 Hz, when designing power supplies it is important for me to have at least 50 Hz, and preferably from 10 Hz > 100 kz in 1 Hz steps (when designing audio structures).

[@TYGAMatt]

Great review. Will the 4 wire adapter fit the Hantek 1832 LCR meter? I was going to make one for my Hantek but just found the ET adapter on Aliexpress so figured that if it fits then maybe just buy that one

[@KerryWongBlog]

Thanks! Yes, the adapter fits. I have tested the adapter with my Hantek LCR meter as well.

[@TYGAMatt]

@@KerryWongBlog Many thanks for your reply. That's great news. I'll grab one off Ali and save myself some time.

[@TYGAMatt]

@@KerryWongBlog I'm extremely impatient, and as I bought some cheapo Kelvin clips some time ago, and I have some 28awg 2 core shielded cable, I just knocked up a very basic setup. Chopped up three bits of double sided copper clad and soldered the connections. Looks Neanderthal but the first thing I checked after calibrating was a 0.1 ohm resistor that I was struggling with before.... Bang on the money. Then checked a cap and an inductor. Woohoo... What a great result! Just need to tidy things up now. Took 25 mins start to finish. Thanks Kerry. You inspired me to do this and it was definitely worth doing. Now I'll have to make some 4 wire tweezers :-)

[@TYGAMatt]

@@KerryWongBlog What a great day. Couldn't resist it. Pulled my $2, two wire tweezers apart and made them 4 wire. Gotta be happy with that.

[@nbthanhbk2600]

Et 430b thì tốt ko

[@neodimium]

How it compares to DER EE DE 5000?

[@KerryWongBlog]

I don't have a DE 5000 to compare it to but judging by the spec sheets they are not exactly the same in terms of ranges. Some of the specs are better on the DE and some are better on the ET.

[@neodimium]

@@KerryWongBlog That's interesting. Thanks for reply.

[@alien8r33d]

17:14 Looks like the clips are incorrectly connected to the cap here, red and black are connected to the incorrect pins, assuming red is positive.

[@KerryWongBlog]

Here the measurement is done using unbiased AC signal so the polarity doesn't matter. When measuring using the electrolytic mode the polarity will be important as I explained the voltage at the tips will have a DC bias.

[@alien8r33d]

@@KerryWongBlog I thought you said you were going to use electrolytic mode at that point. The screen shows no bias.

[@KerryWongBlog]

@@alien8r33d I first measured using the electrolytic mode (check around 14:35, bias is at 500mV) and later on used the standard mode as a comparison.

[@alien8r33d]

@@KerryWongBlog I meant to say standard LCR mode, not electrolytic mode. At 16:58, you switched to LCR mode, after testing in electrolytic mode, so no AC or DC bias. Surely RED should be connected to cap + at this point. You connected red to + at 17:04, then removed it at 17:08 and connected it to the negative side of the cap.

[@KerryWongBlog]

@@alien8r33d Check out 16:26 I was testing in electrolytic mode and the Kelvin clips polarity was correct. I had to adjust the clips afterwards and when in standard LCR mode the polarity really doesn't matter.

[@orfeytrue1704]

У меня ET432 и процессор и все детали на плате те же, что и в видео у ET431.

[@dipakbhalodia7155]

Component test in pcb others wise out side test

[@s_amoku]

DER-EE DE-5000 LCR meter 100 KHz

[@KerryWongBlog]

ET432, 433 also go up to 100 kHz.

[@s_amoku]

@@KerryWongBlog DE-5000 is better and cheaper. ET432 is Chinese rubbish, it does not even specify its accuracy!

[@jspencerg]

​@s_amoku Have you read it's manual?

[@alklapaxida850]

i am gonna get me one cleedus..

[@R50_J0]

Infomercial.

[@waitmetherell6664]

"Promo sm"

[@egseysfv8976]

7m26s you showed that you have no idea what you are talking about. do you know why one meassures 4 wire?

[@KerryWongBlog]

Sure, 4-wire measurement should produce exact 0 Ohm when Kelvin clips are shorted. But what's wrong with confirming it?

[@stevenbliss989]

10kHz may be best bang for buck, UNLES you ARE testing switching power supply components, ...i.e. USELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 100kHZ is MINIMUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@egseysfv8976]

he has no clue about the instrument and the abilitys i think

[@KerryWongBlog]

@stevenbliss989 this is a valid statement. Other models in the series (432, 433) do support up to 100 kHz measurement frequency.