LC Meter comparison | Electronics

Quick & Dirty comparison between the
- Voltcraft 4092
- Peak atlas LCR45 (www.peakelec.co.uk/acatalog/l...)
- Ascel AE20204 (www.ascel-electronic.de/kits/...)
This video is a few weeks late and took way longer than anticipated when editing, but hey family has priority over Christmas and the tree is still decorated, so i hope you don't mind the music.
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays!
Timestamps:
00:00 LC Meter comparison | Electronics
00:05 Intro
01:18 Used components
02:49 Preparation
05:53 Measuring the components
21:24 Results
27:09 Summary
28:04 Next Video & Outro
28:42 CC Attribution
Music:
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Admiral Bob
(c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license.
dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiral... Ft: javolenus
Carol of the Bells by MC Jack in the Box
(c) copyright 2010 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
dig.ccmixter.org/files/mcjacki... Ft: Jacinda Espinosa
#electronics #lcmeter #hamradio

[@dandypoint]

The Peak meter sure looked good.

[@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 ;)

[@TheSmokinApe]

I've always liked those Peak meters

[@labcat73]

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

[@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. 🤗