Just ordered one of these...

[Mick Bailey]

On the basis of 'you can't have too much test gear' I ordered one of these component testers;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Br3L1B80ow

I got mine for Ģ4.48. That's shipped from China. Insane, and worth it just for the novelty. My Sunday newspaper costs Ģ2.50.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Kool gadget, rock bottom price, must get one or maybe more. How did they get Alvin the Chipmunk to do the voiceover?

[rjb]

Same gizmo at Tayda for $12(?)
LCR-T4 ESR Meter Transistor Tester Diode Triode Capacitance SCR Inductance LCD Backlight

The only problem I've found with similar eBay bargains is when they are literally shipped by slow boat from China....
When it arrives, please report your own impressions.

-rb

[g1]

I thought the test time might be a bit of a drawback (1 minute for large capacitors), then I saw it will do up to 100,000uF. So if that's what they call 'large', it probably won't be an issue.

[Enzo]

I would have bought that just to play with.

We had a little box 30-40 years ago that identified ICs. It was meant for logic, like the TTL and CMOS serieses. But stick any logic IC in ther and it told you what it was.

[Mick Bailey]

I could really do with one of those to identify a couple of CMOS ICs in a Bel Flanger that have had the markings removed. The company no longer has records of what was fitted back in '79 and only has part numbers for a later model.

[Enzo]

I don't know if the ones I remember are still around, but they make current models cheap, for example:
https://www.ebay.com/p/IC-Tester-Dig...d=301671631872

[Mick Bailey]

Thanks for the heads-up. Your link led me onto finding a few of these units cased up that (if they work correctly) test and identify a large range of ICS, transistors and other stuff. Plus tests zeners to 50v. Here's one where the listing includes the spec. The same model can be got for under $30 shipped.

http://http://www.ebay.com/itm/Transistor-Tester-Detect-IC-Meter-Maintenance-Digital-led-Tester-MOS-PNP-NPN-/271718397385?hash=item3f43adb5c9:gAIAAOSwyZ5Umoxu

[Enzo]

I found a whole lot of people all selling that same unit. They were most all asking $30-35.

[Mick Bailey]

The little tester turned up today. It's pretty impressive both in quality and performance. The construction is as good as anything you see commercially. Low-pf caps are not detected - anything lower than 33pf is unknown. The ESR measurements are good and it can be used just as it is as an ESR meter. I've yet to test in on an in-circuit cap to see what it makes of it, but there's no input protection so it's essential any cap is discharged, or a protection circuit rigged up. I like the way it immediately identifies a transistor pinout and type. I sat throwing different parts at it and spent too much time playing with this and need to get some real work done. It's a really nice module to case-up and maybe add some banana sockets.

Edit: just had another play. Rather pleased to find that the upper limit for cap testing is 100,000 uf.

[Randall]

I just ordered one. I got one in a clear plastic case for $11.35 shipped. They are all over ebay.

[bob p]

... there's no input protection so it's essential any cap is discharged, or a protection circuit rigged up.

My expensive B&K LCR meter is the same way -- you have to discharge caps before testing them because the input is not protected. It's not a problem once you get into the habit of discharging caps before you use it, but I did see an EE who knew better blow up his meter because he wasn't thinking about it.

It might be a good idea to permanently attach a set of discharge leads to the case so it's impossible to forget to discharge the cap. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Tom Phillips]

...you have to discharge caps before testing them because the input is not protected...

Yep. I blew up my B&K in an instant with one moment of distraction. The trouble is that you can make tens of thousands of tests but one mistake due to a moment of distraction and the B&K is toast. There is no service information and the B&K factory repair is fixed price at about 50% of MSLP. I keep hoping to run across a newsgroup discussion somewhere that discloses how to fix a B&K 885 that has been damaged by a capacitor discharge. I looked inside the beast. It has a sandwich of three dense CCAs and they abraded the PNs off the ICs. Put it back together and it's been sitting in a drawer for a long time.

[J M Fahey]

Loved the gadget, will probably also order one, but, sorry, canīt stand th guy talking.

Even when I learnt/practiced "Australian" as my main English language when I was a kid (think 6 to 10 y.o.)
Later, when at the mature age of 10/11 on I studied formal English at a Cambridge recognized school, teachers were both impressed and horrified at my language skill level combined with pronunciation and entonation basically same as in this video.
Ouch!!!!
I had to "unlearn" a lot to be able to go on

[bob p]

Yep. I blew up my B&K in an instant with one moment of distraction...

the first time I used an B&K LCR I had to borrow it. When I borrowed it, my friend pounded it into me -- "Don't ever test the caps without discharging them first or you'll be buying me a new $300 meter." He must have said that ten times. I took him seriously, discharged all of the caps, never had a problem.

I gave it back to him in perfect working order. He started using it and later that same day HE blew it up by testing an AC motor start cap without discharging it first. He felt like an idiot, especially after beating it into me that I should always discharge the caps so I wouldn't blow up his meter. It was just one moment of inattention, where he was worrying about the UUT instead of the meter, and in that moment of inattention he blew the meter.

Like you, he disassembled it looking for a fuse. IIRC it was silicon that got fried, and it was a return to manufacturer type of repair. Like you he didn't want to pay $150 so he threw it in a drawer and has been living without it. I feel lucky that it wasn't me that blew it up.

I had velcro'd a discharge lead to the meter, so that it would always be hanging in the way as a constant reminder to discharge before measurement. He took off the lead, saying that only an idiot needed it... and then he blew up his meter only moments later.

Realizing that I'd never be able to borrow it again, I bought my own. And I velcro'd a discharge lead to my meter, like I did with his. So far so good...

I might buy one of those little $30 boxes.