LC Meter comparison | Electronics

[@dandypoint]

The Peak meter sure looked good.

[@TheSmokinApe]

I've always liked those Peak meters

[@labcat73]

Yes, i like it very much. Simple to use and works.

[@Aimsport-video]

Someone with an LC Meter always knows the Capacitance. Someone with more than one LC Meter is never certain.

[@labcat73]

You should definitely own an odd number of LC meters ;)

[@grahamluscombememories9897]

The PEAK website states that the ESR can be used in circuit for ESR measurement, but must be out of circuit for capacitance testing. Is this your experience? Is this a technicality?

[@labcat73]

I think as a rule of thumb the statement is correct. I am not an electronics engineer, so my "wisdom" comes from stuff i have read and dubious internet sources. :P There might be rare cases where you cannot measure ESR in-circuit and there might be also rare cases where you can measure C in-circuit. If you are trying to find a bad capacitor, a bad ESR measurement is a strong hint to lift one leg of the capacitor or remove it from the circuit and test ESR and capacitance out-of-circuit. Measuring capacitance usually means it will be part of a measurement circuit, and if you try this in-circuit ANYTHING connected to the capacitor can impact that measurement. Just think of multiple capacitors connected in parallel - you will measure the total capacitance of all capacitors. There might be resistors that discharge the capacitor while your LCR meter tries to charge it and measure the time it takes to fully charge and calculate the capacitance from that and/or there might be components connected that impact its impedance in series or parallel. So yes measuring C in-circuit can easily give you wrong results. Also capacitor values go over a wide range from pF to F. Different measurement methods are used for different value ranges and it depends what exactly is connected to the capacitor in-circuit how badly that will impact your measurement. If you have the schematic of the circuit you can sometimes see if measuring in-circuit might work. Most of the time it won't. (For really really really exact measurements you might want a meter that supports four point measurement with kelvin leads that take the inductance of the connecting leads between meter and capacitor out of the equation.) Sorry another "it depends" answer.

[@jamespurser357]

Showing an chart with data throughout the video would be helpful

[@labcat73]

Results in a table come at 21:24. Should have cut down the measuring bit or ran it at 800% speed ;)

[@allisterbullock213]

That Voltcraft device looks worryingly enough a lot like a Maplin Electronics (a now defunct UK electronics shop) Gold meter that I own, with its' similar case design but in a different colour. I wonder where they were all sourced from. Personally I like all of the unscripted stuff; cursing and so on but hey, it's not to everyone's taste. Nice video, but beware the overhead lighting reflecting off the instrument displays.

[@labcat73]

I think the Voltcraft device was a present for my dad when he retired or for a round birthday given by his work colleagues. So a few years old already and i never really trusted it. The LCR45 is definitely the better device, made in the UK, with calibration service and nice support. Still trying to find my style. Rambling and cursing is great for live streams and kit building. If i try to show something maybe a more structured approach is better. Alas it all comes out of my precious sparetime budget, so i guess i focus on things that give me fun and hope the audience likes it as well. 🤗