DE-5000 Handheld LCR Meter

I believe this meter is the absolute best you can buy to test capacitors, particularly SMD ceramic capacitors. I've tried just about every other LCR meter out there and they just can't deliver. They can usually test larger capacitors, but have problems testing smaller SMD ones. I learned from an excellent YouTube video that the reason is many meters don't have the proper frequency injected into the capacitors and with most LCR meters you cannot change the frequency setting, especially on a handheld tester. This wonderful little tester allows you to change the Hz of the frequency that you'll be using to test your caps. All you have to do is look up the datasheet for the component you want to test and see what the datasheet says about the specific frequency to test at. With this wonderful meter you then set your frequency and you can go to town accurately testing your caps. On a particular piece of electronics I was repairing I had several very small SMD ceramic caps that most LCR meters could not read or would read "0." Not with this meter. So long as you don't have a short of course, you'll get a super accurate measurement.This LCR meter is built like a tank. It is strong and bulky which I like as it's easy to hold and feels that it won't easily break apart. It is definitely constructed in a way that will last for years. I love that this kit comes with SMD style tweezers that make it very simple to use for testing those small SMD components. My only nitpick is I wish the calibration process was a bit shorter (takes 1 minute), but not really an issue since I tend to stick with one set of test leads. It also comes with standard clip leads and the tweezers as mentioned.This is a phenomenal package that is surprisingly affordable considered how great of a meter this is and the accessories that it comes with. One of the best electronic test tool purchases I have ever made. My recommendation is that if you testing caps and need an LCR then this is the best one on the market. A very strong recommendation to any fellow electronic enthusiast or professional.

I bought this to replace a cheap and rather inaccurate Chinese LC meter that broke. This one is far, far better.It measures inductance from nanohenries to kilohenries with very good re-retest reliability.It measures capacitors from picofarads (calibrate first!) to at least high millifarads, also reliably.It measures resistors from single digit milliohms to at least tens of megohms with excellent accuracy-- and it works much better than any of my multimeters for this purpose, though I still prefer to use my high voltage insulation tester and megohmmeter for anything above about 20M.Measurement frequencies are 100/120/1000/10000/100000 Hz, selectable. I have not yet encountered any situation in which the device refused to enable a given frequency for a given component value, no matter how large or small, which is somewhat remarkable given the implications.In particular, this means you can use this device for estimating coupling factors in transformers up to 100kHz or so. Just measure the primary inductance with the secondary open, then with the secondary shorted, and compute sqrt(1-L_short/L_open). No more guessing about SPICE parameters.My SPICE sims actually match reality now. This has already helped enormously with a large induction furnace, an electron beam forge, and various other more minor use cases on various control boards.This has immediately become one of my most useful electrical testing tools.

Got tired of those cheap cap/transistor checkers with differing repetitive readings and that don't really measure inductance well. So, I sprung for one of these. This unit seems to be accurate enough in measuring a few hand-wound inductors for my audio use. I like the ability to select different test frequencies of 100/120/1K/10K/100KHz when testing caps and checking ESR (similar for inductance). Good test equipment typically isn't cheap and this is not a $1K (or more) LCZ meter, but works well enough for my use at it's lower price point by providing sufficient control and measurement capacity. One star off for the cheesy little manual and the detailed instructions not being in English (only the headings). But, the user interface is reasonable and I get by (boots into AUTO mode, and you must take it out of AUTO to make other selections). I'm satisfied with the purchase.