The evolution of the Electronic Component Tester (Multi-function Tester TC1 review) 

Ya the slow talking help you but for the rest of us who speak it, listening to a slow talker like this causes respiratory problems to flare up,

I like to test even known good components before using them, just to double check the pinout.

My test leads break from time to time too, no surprise as the cables have no strain relief. But they are indeed easy to fix.

Af117 transistors grow internal wiskers with age. The shield shorts out with one of the other connectrions. Can't remember which. A trick to get a radio with a shorted transistor to work, is just to cut the shield connection to the earth. This meter might show a good transistor, which has a short, because you do not connect the shield to the meter - as far as I know.

I have not yet tested the battery yet, all I can say is if the charge gets too low, the tester will still try to turn on, but will crash in the process.

@@DrCassette I have found that the unit acts really quirky when battery gets low. Battery life is pretty poor in my opinion also. I think I will be changing the lithium battery with a higher capacity cell phone battery pack at some point BUT!!!!!!! I have noticed one issue with the device. When testing triacs mine identifies the pins incorrectly. It reverses the identity of T1 and T2 pins on Triacs. I was wondering if yours does the same thing. Please advise. I wrote a note on the enclosure of my device with a sharpie marker reminding me of this error. Otherwise this unit has been a great addition to my test tool inventory. The zener diode tester is a fantastic feature. Great time saver capability.

Measure a larger one first, then measure them together and subtract the 1st value.

Good idea! Unfortunately the older one of my two testers must have fallen victim to a charged capacitor. It does not work right anymore, and this is the only explanation I have for the fault.

Very odd, I can't see how this device could charge up a capacitor to a voltage sufficiently high to cause sparks, even when defective...

I killed my TC1 not long ago. I absentmindedly inserted a 470uF electrolytic capacitor into the Zener diode test position and got no results. Not thinking much of it, I moved the capacitor into the 1/2/3 test positions so I could run the test again, that was when I heard a spark and the TC1 went blank and wouldn't turn back on. After a few minutes I realized the TC1 actually charged up the capacitor to a very high voltage when inserted into the zener position. So I ended up zapping and killing the TC1 with it's own generated high voltage!

I'd guess there's probably different manufacturers making the same thing, and putting different firmware on.

It's unfortunate but I suppose you could hook up a little pcb with pads, to some probes.

If I recall correctly, it does not specifically say that the device under test is a darlington transistor, but you can always tell by the extremely high current amplification factor.

How do you know? (Genuine question)

I have one and you can see the backlight shining through. Also the Banggood description says TFT display.

I didn't notice that, I'll have to take a closer look then...

I just got the new one and it was shipped with a small 10 microFarad electrolytic capacitor and an LED with the shorting bar. It did not seem to cue the capacitor during the self-test mode which initiated with the shorting bar pins installed.

I bought only one item off AliExpress so far, it was a rather odd experience, so I prefer to stick with Ebay :)

The black background tricked me into believing that the display was OLED...

@@DrCassette 1.8" TFT LCD Display

I did calibrate the new tester using the selftest routine, as seen in the video. The battery is a permanently installed rechargeable lithium battery, so there will always be a power supply as long as the lithium battery doesn't deep discharge.

@@DrCassette one of the calibration steps require a small value capacitor. This step is easy to miss on the old interface (with test names), I guess it is easier to miss on the new interface (w/progress bar)

@ The old test routine indeed demanded a small value capacitor, but it stopped until you connected one. The new test routine seems to skip the part with the capacitor, it certainly doesn't stop. Maybe that's why all the capacitance measurements weren't very precise?

@@DrCassette I suspect the capacitor step is there, but the new interface does not stop... Hard to know without the firmware source code. BTW, this testers are based on a German open source project, maybe there is alternative for ware for your unit.

I have since tried this feature. The tester measures ESR between connections 1 and 3 continuously without you having to push the test button first. This mode is designed for measuring capacitors in circuit.

Seems likely it was the same issue as many others, inadvertently not ensuring a capacitor was discharged before measuring.

They mean it when they tell you to discharge components before testing them. The tester can apparently "measure" voltages up to 4 Volts, but no more than that.

Actually the old one is based on that Open Source project, it was there first, then the Chinese started making it into a finished product...

Ja, da hast du recht. Diese Komponententester verwende ich am zweithäufigsten, nach dem Multimeter.

If the display is colour and has a black background, it's most likely OLED.

I think the firmware authors made the background dark so it could be used with OLED panels, however due to manufacturing costs, they went with a normal backlit LCD TFT panel instead.

Was the cap discharged. I have one of the cheap yellow testers and I was thinking it’s time for an upgrade as I get strange readings as the battery loses power. With what I’ve seen here, your comment and at least one other I’m not too sure now.

If the electrolytic capacitor was not discharged before testing, the tester was likely damaged by the charge in the capacitor. Unfortunately this can not be repaired.

They look like they were exactly the same...

Nein, von dem Video gibt es nur diese Version.

Seems like you tried to measure a capacitor that still had a charge in it. The cell reading indicates that the tester is damaged.

@@DrCassette oh that's probably what happened I thought I discharged it though but maybe it didn't.

These devices are not as accurate as dedicated pieces of test equipment, but they generally give you a pretty good idea of what you are dealing with.

I guess that has to be expected, as these testers are getting more and more popular, there is more incentive to re-design them to make them cheaper, unfortunately...

The video is too long already, isn't it? ;) I might make another video looking inside, but only if I can find something interesting in there.

You have to check the shipping method in advance. Some providers take forever, others take only a week or two.

@@DrCassette Indeed, and personally I've found much of the delays being in my country - some shippers seem to leave items in the local warehouse for an eternity (possibly understaffed) To NZ at least, I've found: Large packages almost always get through faster(and far less likely to go missing), so I try to get multiple items/orders together (it also seems more efficient/less wasteful to me). The automatic combining, with stores that support it, is very handy. It also means you can choose a cheaper shipping option for many(the seller is effectively only sending them to a Chinese warehouse anyway), but have them all sent together via a better method. Due to still paying individual shipping charges, I assume aliexpress still makes a profit even when they use a more expensive shipping method of the single package. I've found China Post or Aliexpress shipping the most reliable, and generally quickest. Albeit even Yanwen(the seller didn't send using the method paid for, as happens a lot, though perhaps this one was equivalent) only took 9 days with the last package, and they were terrible before - several never arrived at all. Somewhat counterintuitively the cheap '$1.99' deals available on the phone app also always seem to arrive within a few weeks, presumably due to aliexpress shipping & that it's seemingly effectively aliexpress themselves in control of the store that fills the orders.

Danke für die Info! Das muss ich bei Gelegenheit mal ausprobieren!