Building a simple Component Multi Tester

Saw an add on a local auction site about a component tester circuit board from a local company but sent from China. This usually means it could be

found cheaper on eBay. It was only about $8 including shipping on eBay so I bought one. I didn't have any high expectations on it but when I got it I

was rather  impressed. It correctly identifies resistors, capacitors, inductors, NPN & PNP transistors, FET's and thyristors. I thought it would be worth

the trouble of having it installed in a box and I had the of case from broken  D-Link network switch that would be perfect.

This is what it looks like (image from eBay).

The D-Link case.

Made a hole for the display. From the circuit board I removed the test socket and added three banana sockets to the case instead.

The push button switch was also removed and a new push button switch was installed at the top right.

The circuit board installed and connected.

The banana sockets were placed so an original Tek curve tracer adapter could be connected if needed. To avoid using such an adapter every

time the tester is used I made a small interface card that connects directly to the banana sockets. Any single width curve tracer adapter can still

be connected while this card is attached.

The transistor sockets came from a scrapped Tek curve tracer transistor adapter and the four in the lower right corner from probe-to-circuit board connectors.

On the four small holes the top part of a Tek curve tracer diode adapter will be attached.

The card from the solder side.

The finished box.

The finished box measuring a 1N4001 diode ....

... and a small signal transistor.

It's not exactly a high-tech instrument but I'm sure it could come in handy now and then.

To determine how good (or bad) it is I made these comparisons using an Atlas ESR60 ESR meter and a BK Precision 830

for caps and a Tek TX3 Multimeter for resistors:

If you want to build your own search eBay for  LCR-T3.

LCR-T4 and LCR-T5 are similar, I don't know the difference though.

Email me with comments. /Håkan