sponzorb
Active member
What LCR meters are everyone using to measure inductance and capacitance of their transformers? I’m using a cheap-o meter and think it’s time to upgrade considering I’m only getting measurements at 1kHz or higher.
LCR meters!
- Thread starter sponzorb
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Brian Roth
Well-known member
I briefly looked at this:
https://www.peakelec.co.uk/acatalog/lcr45-lcr-impedance-meter.html
But.....meh....2 H and lowest frequency 1 kHz.
Bri
https://www.peakelec.co.uk/acatalog/lcr45-lcr-impedance-meter.html
But.....meh....2 H and lowest frequency 1 kHz.
Bri
sahib
Well-known member
I use a Philips/Fluke PM6304 bench type.
I've had a blast with the cheap XJW01 - https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-xjw01.html - works really well
/Jakob E.
/Jakob E.
Brian Roth
Well-known member
100, 1k & 7k iirc..
thomasdf
Well-known member
I didn't know that one and now I want it haha. I've watched reviews and it looks like a great bang for the buck
ruffrecords
Well-known member
Agilent U1731C. Not cheap but rugged, reliable and accurate. Mine cost about £180 a few years ago. Now they sell for that much on eBay second hand. New ones are over $400.
Cheers
Ian
Cheers
Ian
I have an XJW01 for years now , I swapped out all the coloured buttons to grey , makes it look much less like a toy . .
The first thing I did was make myself up a decent set of cables ,using the supplied Kelvin clips , new cable and new BNC plugs ,that reduced the tollerances of the cables a lot , which means the device has less work compensating for any difference ,which it does when you short the probes and press test .
Its a great bit of kit and if anything ever breaks down in it ,its an easy fix ,
The manual may have had a proper English revision at this stage , rather than a translation from Chinese ,
where the designer try to explain the theory of opperation .
One of the great things is the size of the screen , its displays all the rellevent data in one go without paging through menus ,
Its a bit clunky in the metal box and it needs either 3 laptop cells nearby or an external adapter .
Theres also the possibillity of calibrating it against a better standard .
This thing holds it own alongside the fluke handheld on medium and high resistances ,,
the LCR beats it hands down on low ohms range . On capacitance also the LCR can measure components down to a few PF ,
It wont measure an input transformer secondarys inductance if its thousands of Henries , but anything else it will .
Only issue Ive had was the button labels on the faceplate arent very well printed , Ive been meaning to stamp out a new set on the dymotap . As it is the buttons are misslabled , for instance the auto/manual select switch is called 'Hand' meaning manual as the unit defaults to auto at switch on ,
The user interface is actually a pleasure once you get used to it .
I have also have few of the Atlas LCR auto testers around which are handy if a reading at 200khz is needed .
The first thing I did was make myself up a decent set of cables ,using the supplied Kelvin clips , new cable and new BNC plugs ,that reduced the tollerances of the cables a lot , which means the device has less work compensating for any difference ,which it does when you short the probes and press test .
Its a great bit of kit and if anything ever breaks down in it ,its an easy fix ,
The manual may have had a proper English revision at this stage , rather than a translation from Chinese ,
where the designer try to explain the theory of opperation .
One of the great things is the size of the screen , its displays all the rellevent data in one go without paging through menus ,
Its a bit clunky in the metal box and it needs either 3 laptop cells nearby or an external adapter .
Theres also the possibillity of calibrating it against a better standard .
This thing holds it own alongside the fluke handheld on medium and high resistances ,,
the LCR beats it hands down on low ohms range . On capacitance also the LCR can measure components down to a few PF ,
It wont measure an input transformer secondarys inductance if its thousands of Henries , but anything else it will .
Only issue Ive had was the button labels on the faceplate arent very well printed , Ive been meaning to stamp out a new set on the dymotap . As it is the buttons are misslabled , for instance the auto/manual select switch is called 'Hand' meaning manual as the unit defaults to auto at switch on ,
The user interface is actually a pleasure once you get used to it .
I have also have few of the Atlas LCR auto testers around which are handy if a reading at 200khz is needed .
thomasdf
Well-known member
I am having serious gas about that XJW01 now 
sponzorb
Active member
I did some searching to find something that can go down to 20Hz and I just got an HP 4192A off ebay for $450. It can do 5Hz to 13MHz!! Cant wait to create some impedance vs frequency charts for the whole audio range… and below. If anyone wants measurements down that low let me know
thomasdf
Well-known member
Impressive ! Are you building space rockets ? haha ! Congrats
sponzorb
Active member
Haha! The deal came along and I couldn’t pass it up. I’m building transformers and I want to have them accurately specified. I’m constrained on power, so I need to make sure the inductance is high enough at low frequencies to reduce excitation current to a minimum.
sahib
Well-known member
You got yourself a steal there. Congrats.
One I've had for a long time, but never got the hang of, a ZM11-A/U bridge.
One of these days I'll give it a good going over.
What I like the most about it is being able to apply variable DC voltages to caps.
One of these days I'll give it a good going over.
What I like the most about it is being able to apply variable DC voltages to caps.
Disco Volante
Well-known member
Just got a Uni-T 612. 5 frequencies to choose from and it looks like a multimeter, sort of (red?!). I need to measure coils at various f's and it was only 120Eur from a belgian dealer eleshop.
Works great;-)
Works great;-)
I bought a RuoShui 4091C (20Hz to 100K Hz) after my HP4263 died. I really like it.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...t_main.75.5c6218020DV62B&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...t_main.75.5c6218020DV62B&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
sponzorb
Active member
Well the HP 4192A turned out to be a dud. I’m going to try out the RuoShui 4091C.
NOON
Well-known member
I've had one of these for a couple of years now and it's been great.
https://www.deree.com.tw/de-5000-lcr-meter.html
https://www.deree.com.tw/de-5000-lcr-meter.html
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