Fluke or uni-t Capacitors ESR Test capability via custom firmware - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Atiehzaqzouq
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 04:04:46 pm
content: Hi all, new member hereI'm a hobbyist but not professional.I got few multimeter which all fall in the midrange category, however always wanted something new ( you can never get enough multimeter can you )!!One functionality in particular I always see it absence from multimeters from all brands is the capability of measuring capacitors ESR Which is quite important in the field of electronics repair.I got myself two transistors tester with ESR functionality but the ESR Reading disentangle always work especially with lower capacity capacitors.Aside from the inconvenience of switching back and forth between instruments just to make certain reading.I recall watching a YouTube video of someone who repaid something using a multimeter that read and shows the capacity and ESR On the multimeter display, only the multimeter display was visible in the video and not the actual multimeter.Reviewing the video comments section I found numerous comments asking the video poster of what multimeter is he using but his reply to everyone that it was proprietary!!I can tell 99% it's either fluke 287 or 289 because of the light bluish dot matrix LCD Display, however the actual fluke 287 and 289 both doesn't measure ESR.Which lead to the main question which I dont think that I'm alone out there wondering about.Is it possible to write a custom firmware to fluke multimeters to enable them to measure ESR Along with the capacitor capacitance at the same time and is it available amd how did the video poster was able to achieve it??Unit-t ut181 which is basically almost a copy of bothe the 2 flukes has a hacked firmware out there that changes the display colors??Is it possible to enable this functionality on it as well via hacked firmware?I'm interested in one of those 3 multimeters to add to my equipments if it's possible to enable the ESR Functionality on one of them via a custom or hacked firmware.Again the idea of switching equipment just to do one particular test is not practical and it's will make the diagnostic process way much easier.I know that ESR multimeter leads has to be short but in the video the guy was just using regular probs.If someone have an idea or another multimeter that can measure both capacity amd ESR At the same time kindly advise.I got a great price on a used fluke 287 and would love to get it if its possible to install that custom firmware to enable ESR Reading.Thanks all in advance.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 04:38:10 pm
content: Quoteit's called a LCR meter . take a look at the DE5000 for example.also the peak esr meter does this.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 04:39:18 pm
content: Quotedo you have a link to this video ?

author: Atiehzaqzouq
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 04:49:35 pm
content: Thanks for the replyHowever I can't recall the video, I watched it quite while ago.The reason I didn't ask about his (proprietary) multimeter is that the guy gave the same answer to everyone who asked about it, which indicates that there's many people want that feature.I'm familiar with dedicated ESR Meters, it will still be the same case scenario, switching instruments back and forth.I'm almost 100% certain its fluke 287 or 289 which somehow been flashed with a custom ( proprietary ) firmware that added the ESR Functionality to itIf anyone familiar with digital multimeter that can do all the aspects of higher midrange and the ESR All in one instrument kindly advise

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 05:16:32 pm
content: to be honest, I'm quite surprised that dave eevblog multimeter does not incorporate an esr meter.and this meter is firmware upgradable, so someone could add this feature eventually.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 05:19:02 pm
content: I bought some times ago the deree DE5004 meter, that has a normal meter, and an lcr meter in the same box.https://eleshop.eu/der-ee-de-5004-lcr-multimeter.html

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 05:38:07 pm
content: lcr meter have dedicated circuits or algorithm / calculations etc ... to do those measurements / esr ...An multi-meter use the time constant RxC in capacitor measurements, witch is not enough for esr needsit will be good to a point, it will never replace an good lcr who use frequencies / voltage bias etc ...and a good example is an DE-5000 who's very effective for most current needs, even some cheap multi part tester can do some serious jobs, you can find open source circuits or even the coding used to do theses jobsan lcr meter is not an multi-meter and other way around, don't mix themgood luck finding / leaked fluke FW loll even the cheap uni-t models too, or even hacking them, you sound you want to get something but not hacking them or write FW for them lollbe realistic and grab yourself a real lcr, there's plenty available