The evolution of the Electronic Component Tester (Multi-function Tester TC1 review)

Testing and reviewing the 2020 Multi-function Tester TC1 and comparing it to the 2014 MK-168 Transistor Tester.
Video about the MK-168 Transistor Tester: • Chinese MK-168 Electro...
KZbin user Paul Rogalinski has compiled a detailed manual for the firmware used in these cheap component testers:
English: drive.google.c...
German: drive.google.c...
Follow me on Instagram:
/ drcassette
Check out my KZbin channel:
/ drcassette
Also check out my other KZbin channels:
/ vistavox
/ plustotal

[@zxprojects]

Thank you for such a clear voice and spelling. English is not my mother tongue and I've been able to follow all your explanations without a single line of subtitles.

[@AB-yu2tj]

Ya the slow talking help you but for the rest of us who speak it, listening to a slow talker like this causes respiratory problems to flare up,

[@dykodesigns]

The IR test is neat, great for reverse engineering remote controls of unknown devices or replicating existing ones.

[@antraciet]

Thanks for the demonstration. I need a new one when i see this :-)

[@NaderGator]

The new one is much better .. the old one , there's an Arduino project for it already (open source) that you can DIY ..

[@DrCassette]

Actually the old one is based on that Open Source project, it was there first, then the Chinese started making it into a finished product...

[@edgeeffect]

I've had some PCBs to build the Open Source version of these for years. Always meaning to build one with serial text out so I can save the results in my network. Still haven't built it.

[@spankysmp]

I didn't know you could do transistors on them. I had some faulty AF117s I replaced in a radio - I'll have to dig them out and try them on my tester

[@keithpetherick3425]

Af117 transistors grow internal wiskers with age. The shield shorts out with one of the other connectrions. Can't remember which. A trick to get a radio with a shorted transistor to work, is just to cut the shield connection to the earth. This meter might show a good transistor, which has a short, because you do not connect the shield to the meter - as far as I know.

[@TobiEstosWorld]

what I miss about the new one is the ability to press 'SMD components to the test points, these are missing. I had to workout a selfmade cable to test smd components.

[@djsherz]

Great little tester. A little mod that I made to mine - I drilled three holes in the top and mounted three push terminal sockets, soldered to the board inside. There's *just* room enough inside to make it fit!

[@jp040759]

Saw your vid on this as soon as it come out. I immediately ordered it after watching your video.. Got it today. Will be playing with it later today. Thanx for the review. Have you tested it to see if it has over discharge protection???

[@DrCassette]

I have not yet tested the battery yet, all I can say is if the charge gets too low, the tester will still try to turn on, but will crash in the process.

[@jp040759]

@@DrCassette I have found that the unit acts really quirky when battery gets low. Battery life is pretty poor in my opinion also. I think I will be changing the lithium battery with a higher capacity cell phone battery pack at some point BUT!!!!!!! I have noticed one issue with the device. When testing triacs mine identifies the pins incorrectly. It reverses the identity of T1 and T2 pins on Triacs. I was wondering if yours does the same thing. Please advise. I wrote a note on the enclosure of my device with a sharpie marker reminding me of this error. Otherwise this unit has been a great addition to my test tool inventory. The zener diode tester is a fantastic feature. Great time saver capability.

[@jomjom1207]

One word of caution.. I have both of these and the first one was bought because of your video reviewing it. The other one was bought one year ago. This new one does seem to have some kind of a software bug where it charges up a capacitor and then sometimes gives you an error reading but does not discharge it.. Found this out the hard way when i put it back in to the tester and got one hell of a spark when it discharged....... Its something to be wary of....

[@DrCassette]

Very odd, I can't see how this device could charge up a capacitor to a voltage sufficiently high to cause sparks, even when defective...

[@mauromartinoli7582]

I killed my TC1 not long ago. I absentmindedly inserted a 470uF electrolytic capacitor into the Zener diode test position and got no results. Not thinking much of it, I moved the capacitor into the 1/2/3 test positions so I could run the test again, that was when I heard a spark and the TC1 went blank and wouldn't turn back on. After a few minutes I realized the TC1 actually charged up the capacitor to a very high voltage when inserted into the zener position. So I ended up zapping and killing the TC1 with it's own generated high voltage!

[@ThermalWorld_]

The wrong pF on the old Led is the low resolution and sensitivity of the tester... TC1 can't measure very lo pF..

[@chrisnelson2057]

Thanks, great video and info !.......From China, you can get the TC1 and also a model T7 which is about $7 more !....The specs seem to be the same including the colour display....Anyone know any different ?

[@jp040759]

These are great. I use it when building final circuits on perf boards. When I grab a component out of my stock drawers I test them on this before soldering onto the boards so I know I didn't grab a part that is NOT an out of the box failure. Great tool for ESR also.

[@DrCassette]

I like to test even known good components before using them, just to double check the pinout.

[@dominicokelly9160]

Great review- thanks for sharing. There seems to be a newer version of this tester available called the TCR-2. I wonder what the differences are? Perhaps just firmware? If so I wonder if the TCR-1 can be upgraded?

[@pow9606]

Thought I would point out that it is a TFT graphical LCD display. It's not OLED technology. OLED's are expensive.

[@Hr.0ldenberg]

Thank you for this great Report. Greatings from Germany, Bremen, the Home of Beck's Beer 👍👍👊👊

[@themanwhostolethetone]

diode must be placed in the K A A sockets for right measurements

[@markanthonyelo]

Do you know how the Tc1 compares to a Peak Atlas Meter when measuring diode forward voltage drop?

[@____________________________.x]

That was interesting, thanks. The IR function looks neat, I’d probably swap out that bubble click button though

[@leonid6221]

Симистор BT139 600E, TC-1 не может определить правильно выводы!!! Почему то именно этот симистор, с другими всё нормально.

[@mauromartinoli7582]

I own one of these, and it definitely doesn't have an OLED display. I took mine apart and can confirm it only has a normal LCD panel. The prices at which these are sold cannot possibly justify the use of OLED.

[@DrCassette]

The black background tricked me into believing that the display was OLED...

[@bobsoft]

@@DrCassette 1.8" TFT LCD Display

[@68pishta68]

mine seems to ask to be calibrated if no component is found in about 5 seconds. Not sure why. Mine also asks for a capacitor for calibration routine. I find mine strange also in the fact that with the shorting bar (or strapped leads) mine still shows variances between the leads? Maybe it is the correction factor, Dont know. I did have both styles at one time and the older one did have more features and didnt give me the test routine nag if no component was found. I found the signal generator was useful in playing with my new oscilloscope. My color version had a screen that allowed you to change the color scheme. Great bit of kit for

[@johnnytacokleinschmidt515]

I just got the new one and it was shipped with a small 10 microFarad electrolytic capacitor and an LED with the shorting bar. It did not seem to cue the capacitor during the self-test mode which initiated with the shorting bar pins installed.

[@paulharbison3515]

multi function tester T7H thinks it's a resistor ( bt134 triac)

[@jasejj]

Thanks, the IR reader made my mind up on this one as I'd been meaning to build one to use with Linux for years and never got round to it. I managed to get mine for £8 (not much more than €8 these days thanks to stupid Brexit) from AliExpress which I can't complain about.

[@DrCassette]

I bought only one item off AliExpress so far, it was a rather odd experience, so I prefer to stick with Ebay :)

[@bobsoft]

I decide to upgrade from a non working MK-328 to a TC-7 . One thing I forgot about is the new tester does not accommodate surface mount components ☹

[@DoubleMonoLR]

It's unfortunate but I suppose you could hook up a little pcb with pads, to some probes.

[@zunkrock]

I have stuck a copper strip onto the face of mine with a few spots of superglue. Now I can discharge capacitors quickly before insertion.

[@DrCassette]

Good idea! Unfortunately the older one of my two testers must have fallen victim to a charged capacitor. It does not work right anymore, and this is the only explanation I have for the fault.

[@baruchben-david4196]

As I recall, the newer tester doesn't do well with capacitance below about 25 pF. This may explain why the red LED didn't register capacitance on that tester.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

Measure a larger one first, then measure them together and subtract the 1st value.

[@saarike]

Nice review for these testers. I have the old MK-168 tester and it's very useful. Those 3 individual test leads have broken yellow, and green, but they are quite easy to repair with soldering iron. Thanks a lot.

[@DrCassette]

My test leads break from time to time too, no surprise as the cables have no strain relief. But they are indeed easy to fix.

[@cfb33774]

The reason I watched this was for the IR test

[@babumanikuttan2258]

Nice video

[@gowonscrunchyscalp]

TC1,T4 or T7?

[@GumbyPW]

The 1 I just bought (02/2023) A long press after on changes languages

[@DoubleMonoLR]

I'd guess there's probably different manufacturers making the same thing, and putting different firmware on.

[@moabdulhamid6839]

Thank you ,i have the tc7 how do you rate it

[@Edmilho]

The TC-1 is a very practical device, but it is sensitive. Mine was spoiled simply by placing a lightly charged capacitor. You have to be very careful.

[@DrCassette]

They mean it when they tell you to discharge components before testing them. The tester can apparently "measure" voltages up to 4 Volts, but no more than that.

[@jacek7178]

But TC1 IR sensor works with only Hitachi protocol. Not with NEC.

[@assaissa]

These chinese TC1 testers in 2024 made not with Atmega chip, but with some unnamed chinese replacement. And who nows how to reflash or calibrate them. And they lie about parameters too much, very low accuracy.

[@DrCassette]

I guess that has to be expected, as these testers are getting more and more popular, there is more incentive to re-design them to make them cheaper, unfortunately...

[@michaellundsrensen2292]

How do I change from Chinese text in display to English?

[@deleteduser3749]

Looking forward to the TC2 review

[@AttilaTheHun333333]

Great video and review. One correction (not that it matters that much)...it’s not an OLED display.

[@DrCassette]

How do you know? (Genuine question)

[@AttilaTheHun333333]

I have one and you can see the backlight shining through. Also the Banggood description says TFT display.

[@DrCassette]

I didn't notice that, I'll have to take a closer look then...

[@DubDado]

deine aussprache ist super

Did you calibrate the new tester? I have one that forgets the calibration whenever I change the battery

[@DrCassette]

I did calibrate the new tester using the selftest routine, as seen in the video. The battery is a permanently installed rechargeable lithium battery, so there will always be a power supply as long as the lithium battery doesn't deep discharge.

@@DrCassette one of the calibration steps require a small value capacitor. This step is easy to miss on the old interface (with test names), I guess it is easier to miss on the new interface (w/progress bar)

[@DrCassette]

@ The old test routine indeed demanded a small value capacitor, but it stopped until you connected one. The new test routine seems to skip the part with the capacitor, it certainly doesn't stop. Maybe that's why all the capacitance measurements weren't very precise?

@@DrCassette I suspect the capacitor step is there, but the new interface does not stop... Hard to know without the firmware source code. BTW, this testers are based on a German open source project, maybe there is alternative for ware for your unit.

[@Budro4764]

I have one and I can say I do like it a lot.... I think this was brought up already but I can't read German , @13:37 that ESR TP 1-3 might be that it can read ESR with Test pins 1 and 3 if in that mode..... I'm not sure since I don't have that one.....

[@DrCassette]

I have since tried this feature. The tester measures ESR between connections 1 and 3 continuously without you having to push the test button first. This mode is designed for measuring capacitors in circuit.

[@uher-audio]

Bitte informiere uns, wenn das Display dunkel bleibt, und keine Funktion mehr sichtbar wird. Symptom bei OELD Display.

[@MrCacciLLo]

Does anyone know at which Frequency is Inductance tested with this unit? thank you so much

[@rockyvlog4087]

It's show diagram/schematic symbol of component s

[@martinda7446]

Capacitance and ESR using test points 1&3

[@robischrott923]

Really nice video, thank you! Do you know whether it tests BJT darlington transistors correctly?

[@DrCassette]

If I recall correctly, it does not specifically say that the device under test is a darlington transistor, but you can always tell by the extremely high current amplification factor.

[@schorse1000]

Die große Abweichung beim 4700µF Elko liegt warscheinlich an der zu hohen Frequenz des Meßsignals, welches warscheinlich im kHz-Bereich liegt. Solche Elkos misst man aber eigentlich bei 100Hz, maximal 1kHz. Beim DT-9935 z.B. ist die Meßfrequenz einstellbar (100Hz, 1, 10, 100kHz). Auch der ESR-Wert ändert sich mit der Frequenz erheblich. Trotzdem sind diese Komponententester das genialste seit Erfindung des Multimeters.

[@DrCassette]

Ja, da hast du recht. Diese Komponententester verwende ich am zweithäufigsten, nach dem Multimeter.

[@khoosk62]

the new tester can only measure capacitance more than 25pF

[@DubDado]

super! dankeeee

[@samaEX1]

NICE

[@SBS113]

Gibt es dieses Video auch in deutsch? Danke.

[@DrCassette]

Nein, von dem Video gibt es nur diese Version.

[@casaalta1]

hi bought the new type absolutely loved it. Only lasted a month, any ideas??

[@DoubleMonoLR]

Seems likely it was the same issue as many others, inadvertently not ensuring a capacitor was discharged before measuring.

[@augustlim6767]

Which is better, this one TC1 or the T7?

[@DrCassette]

They look like they were exactly the same...

[@kabitaniasaas3368]

Good news we can get it in Uganda?

[@tengelgeer]

I like those testers, I have one version older which still does SMD. I don't think it's OLED though.

[@DrCassette]

If the display is colour and has a black background, it's most likely OLED.

[@mauromartinoli7582]

I think the firmware authors made the background dark so it could be used with OLED panels, however due to manufacturing costs, they went with a normal backlit LCD TFT panel instead.

[@rockyvlog4087]

It's clear to see and understand.

[@stereomann83]

i bought the new tester but it's not working right anymore it's gives a cell reading. i only used it a few times.

[@DrCassette]

Seems like you tried to measure a capacitor that still had a charge in it. The cell reading indicates that the tester is damaged.

[@stereomann83]

@@DrCassette oh that's probably what happened I thought I discharged it though but maybe it didn't.

[@robertedwards3147]

everything from china takes forever I have stoped buyng stuff from china for now

[@DrCassette]

You have to check the shipping method in advance. Some providers take forever, others take only a week or two.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

@@DrCassette Indeed, and personally I've found much of the delays being in my country - some shippers seem to leave items in the local warehouse for an eternity (possibly understaffed) To NZ at least, I've found: Large packages almost always get through faster(and far less likely to go missing), so I try to get multiple items/orders together (it also seems more efficient/less wasteful to me). The automatic combining, with stores that support it, is very handy. It also means you can choose a cheaper shipping option for many(the seller is effectively only sending them to a Chinese warehouse anyway), but have them all sent together via a better method. Due to still paying individual shipping charges, I assume aliexpress still makes a profit even when they use a more expensive shipping method of the single package. I've found China Post or Aliexpress shipping the most reliable, and generally quickest. Albeit even Yanwen(the seller didn't send using the method paid for, as happens a lot, though perhaps this one was equivalent) only took 9 days with the last package, and they were terrible before - several never arrived at all. Somewhat counterintuitively the cheap '$1.99' deals available on the phone app also always seem to arrive within a few weeks, presumably due to aliexpress shipping & that it's seemingly effectively aliexpress themselves in control of the store that fills the orders.

[@tacticalsavage]

i have this, sad to see that its accuracy is off in some cases.

[@DrCassette]

These devices are not as accurate as dedicated pieces of test equipment, but they generally give you a pretty good idea of what you are dealing with.

[@miguelrichartmellado2834]

El TC-1 tiene una tolerancia enorme. No sirve tan desviado. No he tirado el mio a la basura...de milagro. Perdida de dinero...

[@sham1234567891]

Hi. I checked an electrolytic cap and the Tester went dead. Can it be repaired? Thanks for quick suggestion.

[@markharrisllb]

Was the cap discharged. I have one of the cheap yellow testers and I was thinking it’s time for an upgrade as I get strange readings as the battery loses power. With what I’ve seen here, your comment and at least one other I’m not too sure now.

[@DrCassette]

If the electrolytic capacitor was not discharged before testing, the tester was likely damaged by the charge in the capacitor. Unfortunately this can not be repaired.

[@shyleshtv3287]

👏👏👏👌👌👍👍

[@sidahmedguemra9139]

👍♥️

[@dovpauzner5093]

Thank you !

[@benbaselet2026]

No look inside? How disappointing.

[@DrCassette]

The video is too long already, isn't it? ;) I might make another video looking inside, but only if I can find something interesting in there.

[@Futschikatores]

Der C+ESR Modus dient dazu Kondensatoren am Fliessband zu testen, d.h. die Anzeige aktualisiert sich selbstständig, sobald ein neues Teil eingelegt wird. Sehr nützlich wenn man ein paar Teststrippen anklemmt und nun eine ganze Platine mit Elkos durchtesten will.

[@DrCassette]

Danke für die Info! Das muss ich bei Gelegenheit mal ausprobieren!