FNIRSI LCR-P1 Component Tester?

[CapLeaker]

I wonder if anyone has this tester and if it's any good or if it's just a half @$$ed job?

[Stefan Steff]

Take a look here:

https://youtu.be/f2apzGGOU-Q?si=78C5tdOORQ1bXv1A

[redbaron1007]

I've got one coming in the mail on the 23rd so I can let you know when it gets here. I'm only going to be able to compare it to my cheapo component tester that cost nothing 5 years ago.

I needed a second one and the LCR-P1 looks nicer at least. I'll report back on Monday or Tuesday when I've had a chance to try out the LCR-P1.

[CapLeaker]

Sweet. I've got a couple of component testers. One is good and the other one is so so.

[redbaron1007]

I got a chance to play around with it at work today and it works pretty well over all. It's accurate and unlike my other cheapo tester this one can tell identify a jfet (j111 in my case). It definitely takes longer to read things than the cheap one I pictured in my previous post though. That one is able to read in about 2 seconds for most components and maybe 5 if they are bad, but the LCR-P1 averages around 10 seconds per component and in some cases with some bad 47uf caps that were reading 2pf it took about 30 seconds.

Not sure what it tells you about the thing but if I put a bad transistor in my cheapo it'll read something like a resistor between the legs, but in the LCR-P1 it would read either a pf cap or a set of inductors. It still was able to tel me the component was blown, but interesting how it was different than my old one.

I did really like the additional tester platform for smd components it's really easy to hold a diode or transistor on there to test. I suppose I could use it for smd caps or resistors, but so much of what I do involves is the cap shorted and does the resistor read anything at all. I wasn't expecting it to come with three of the little clip to attach to component legs though and that was a really nice surprise. Especially since I've almost worn out my cheapo ones socket from testing transistors. Unlike the cheap one the socket is broken into four sets of three pins that all work as pins 1,2,3 unlike my cheapo one that only lets the left two sets of three work as 1,2,3 while the other side only works as 1,1,1.

It pretty well reads good components as well as the cheap one overall and it's readings are pretty consistent with what the cheap one reads and that things been reliable and trust worthy enough for at least 5+ years. I don't trust either one with ESR readings, but I've also got a blue esr meter so I don't have to rely on either one to much. That being said both will tell me if something is wildly out of spec, they just aren't great for close calls.

In regards to it's miscellaneous features like the IR decoder and zener setting I don't have to much to say. I don't really understand what the difference between the regular test and the zener test are since both will tell me if it's a zener or not when I tested it and what the voltage drop is so I'll have to play around with that one more or RTFM at some point when I'm bored. The IR decode is a nice feature to have since I occasionally repair old remote controls for DVD players and VCR's on occasion and it's nice to have something other than the camera on my phone to see if they're working.

Overall I like it, but I'll have to see how much I use it compared to my old one I'm used to reaching for. especially in regards to battery life and what they do when the battery dies. The old ones uses a 9V battery and I have it in a case with a charge port to charge a rechargeable 9V that I'm using with it. The LCR-P1 uses an integrated rechargeable that's easy to get to if I ever needed to change it, but I don't know yet if it won't turn on when the battery is dead or on the charger or how long the battery will stay charged for.

I'm not sure if it's a huge improvement from the cheapo one, but it's not bad by any means just different and different to what I'm used to using, but it's not bad by any means, just can't say much other than first impressions at the moment.

If I remember tomorrow at work I'll take some pictures of the board and the rest of the internals as well as a size comparison.

[stj]

zener mode will use a boost convertor to find the zener voltage - usually such stuff is limited to about 30v for safety.
i built my own that ramps up to about 350v limited to 5mA

[CapLeaker]

zener mode will use a boost convertor to find the zener voltage - usually such stuff is limited to about 30v for safety.
i built my own that ramps up to about 350v limited to 5mA

I am actually surprised it's only 350v and not 350kv.

[stj]

the highest diode i needed to test was just under 200v so 350 was playing safe

[CapLeaker]

redbaron1007
I am curious on JFET, the capacitance range, the ESR range, battery life, transistors, voltage regulators, MOSFET, IGBT. Zener diodes are a plus, but most likely limited to a low “safe” voltage.

On one of the ESR meters I got and if the ESR is too high, it just shows open. So sometimes this thing is useless.
A different component tester I got, chews batteries like there is no tomorrow, but it accepts SMD. The capacitance reading is limited on that. It doesn’t like caps in circuit so much either.
Another LCR meter from Agilent / Keysight I got is the best for handheld LCR, but it doesn’t do SMD, or transistors, MOSFETs or diodes.

I guess you have to use it for a while and the what it does and how good it is.

[CapLeaker]

the highest diode i needed to test was just under 200v so 350 was playing safe

Ha! Playing it safe… sure…

[redbaron1007]

I've had some more time using the FNIRSI component tester and I ran into my first major negative today when I was fixing an Atari 2600 with what I thought was a bulging 2200uf 16V cap. I tested it in the FNIRSI and it read at 700uf and thought ok that's to low so I grabbed a new kemet cap with the proper ratings. I decided to check it just out of habit and I got a reading of 62uf which I thought was a little weird. So I retested and got basically the same reading +- 3uf. I popped another one from my bin into the tester and got approximately the same reading again. I pulled out my old tester and tested all three caps, the original atari one, the first one I took out of my bin, and the second one. It read the Atari one almost exactly the same as the FNIRSI tester, but was able to read the new kemet ones properly at around 2070-2100uf.

At this point I can't say I trust it for my usual workload for it just off not being able to read new higher value capacitors. I still like it so far for smd transistors, but I'm not sure how much I trust that now either. Probably going to stick with my tried and true cheapo one for now.

[CapLeaker]

I've had some more time using the FNIRSI component tester and I ran into my first major negative today when I was fixing an Atari 2600 with what I thought was a bulging 2200uf 16V cap. I tested it in the FNIRSI and it read at 700uf and thought ok that's to low so I grabbed a new kemet cap with the proper ratings. I decided to check it just out of habit and I got a reading of 62uf which I thought was a little weird. So I retested and got basically the same reading +- 3uf. I popped another one from my bin into the tester and got approximately the same reading again. I pulled out my old tester and tested all three caps, the original atari one, the first one I took out of my bin, and the second one. It read the Atari one almost exactly the same as the FNIRSI tester, but was able to read the new kemet ones properly at around 2070-2100uf.

At this point I can't say I trust it for my usual workload for it just off not being able to read new higher value capacitors. I still like it so far for smd transistors, but I'm not sure how much I trust that now either. Probably going to stick with my tried and true cheapo one for now.

This is exactly what I was looking for, nags, quirks and this! Unfortunately it makes it untrustworthy for me. I have a few ESR meters and there is only one of them that works as it should and I expect to be. Problem is by now this thing lost like USD$ 800.00! I wonder what it does if you get to a cap that has like 100Ohm or more ESR on it?

Thank you for the update, it is greatly appreciated!

[lotas]

This is because its measurement range is 25 pF-100 µF

[CapLeaker]

That sux if you can’t measure anything higher than 100uF.

[harp]

Declarated range 25pF - 100mF, and it is not micro "u" like in inductors range. It will be odd that measure only uF range today...

[CapLeaker]

Declarated range 25pF - 100mF, and it is not micro "u" like in inductors range. It will be odd that measure only uF range today...

So it is a quirk then…

[stj]

i wonder whats in those units?
maybe an atmel and we could build new firmware for it

FNIRSI does make nice stuff,
i ordered the "battery tester" to hunt shorts on pcb's!
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007138201986.html

[lotas]

i wonder whats in those units?
maybe an atmel and we could build new firmware for it

Internal...The controller's name has been erased...

[lotas]

It has native firmware, which they update with improvements...
"The tester must be switched to update mode and the COM port must be selected correctly in the program itself.
We hold down the "zener" button on the switched off TT and while holding it, briefly press the "Test" button. The tester is ready to accept the firmware.
Next, connect to the computer and look at the port number..."

[CapLeaker]

Internal...The controller's name has been erased...

I wonder what that chip is?