Is B&k 880 really the way to go for accurate portable LCR meter?  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: vintologi
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 12:18:14 pm
content: I heard that there were some issues with it (no li-ion battery and doesn't turn off for real).feels wrong to pay so much money for a flawed product.There is of course the cheaper DE-5000 but it doesn't seem to offer the accuracy i am looking for and i not sure if there is any good place to buy it to Sweden.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 12:31:23 pm
content: what are you after for precision / accuracy tests ??you do know portables ones will never get the same precision as the bench ones ? dc-biais etc ...De-5000 is based on 2x chipsets ic'ssome uni-t toosome mastech too

author: vintologi
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 12:46:09 pm
content: Quote from: coromonadalix on December 03, 2024, 12:31:23 pmShould be within 0.5%1Ω to 100Ω, 0.1 mH to 100 mH, 1μF to 1000μF)QuoteI might end up having to get both eventually. Not sure what i should go for first.

author: Conrad Hoffman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 01:17:28 pm
content: Man with two LCR meters never know exact value of components.1615- Hoffman

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 01:25:00 pm
content: Quote from: Conrad Hoffman on December 03, 2024, 01:17:28 pmUnless they agree. 😉The Shannon ST42 LCR tweezers are excellent.

author: vintologi
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 04:44:27 pm
content: One issue with the DE-5000 is that it doesn't come with a 4-wire kelvin clip.I have seen some people talk about modding it to make an adapter but i have not found anything you can buy finished yet.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 04:46:13 pm
content: De -5000 adapter can be modded to 4 wiresi don't think the 880 was flawed, but maybe un-calibrated ...I'm not even sure theses come from B&K ... must be rebrands, even their old 885 886 and bench ones too where rebrandsbut now you have East Tester ET xxx series, Hantek 1832 1833 ones, some Appa, Peaktech, the new Uni-t models etc ... google handheld lcr and in the images youll see ton of thems rebranded etc ...even some NJ200 NJ300 models sold on ebay seems to offer good performances vs pricing0.5% is pretty basic ...

author: vintologi
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 07:07:19 pm
content: Quote from: coromonadalix on December 03, 2024, 04:46:13 pmYou shouldn't have to do that in the first place really.Does not seem like it would be accurate enough for my taste even with that though.QuoteYea i should be able to get that even with a handheld.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2024, 07:52:49 pm
content: Quote from: vintologi on December 03, 2024, 07:07:19 pmFor special purposes, I have built four-terminal connections for my DE-5000.Note that the stock alligator-clip short cable is four-terminal up to the solder joint on the clips.

author: vintologi
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 15, 2024, 08:28:04 pm
content: I should also look into the east tester ET433 and ET431

author: W3KW
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2025, 08:03:39 pm
content: My 880 has been extremely valuable on the bench. The flagship Keysight handheld, not so much. The Keysight glitches or shows no results sometimes, leading one to believe they have found an open cap for instance. The 880 feels solid. The Keysight feels cheap. But it isn’t. It’s $100 more than the 880. Ish.

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 29, 2025, 02:30:01 pm
content: Quote from: W3KW on April 28, 2025, 08:03:39 pmI don't have either of these units, but I have a Tonghui TH2822C and the BK LCRs have typically been rebadged Tonghui models with minor changes (for cosmetic and/or cost cutting reasons). Many of these handheld LCR meters come from a similar design history (Escort) that has diverged a bit over time.If I recall correctly the BK880 has proper 4-wire terminals like the TH2822 series, whereas the previous BK879 and the U1733 series do not. The 4-wire is an advantage for some measurements but is likely not needed by many users, and the users who do need it are probably better serviced by a bench top unit with a good fixture.