B+K precision 878B User manual

Model 878B, 879B
Dual Display LCR
METER
INSTRUCTION MANUAL

1
Safety Summary
The following safety precautions apply to both
operating and maintenance personnel and
must be observed during all phases of
operation, service, and repair of this
instrument.
DO NOT OPERATE IN AN EXPLOSIVE
ATMOSPHERE
Do not operate the instrument in the presence
of flammable gases or fumes. Operation of
any electrical instrument in such an
environment constitutes a definite safety
hazard.
KEEP AWAY FROM LIVE CIRCUITS
Instrument covers must not be removed by
operating personnel. Component
replacement and internal adjustments must be
made by qualified maintenance personnel.
DO NOT SUBSTITUTE PARTS OR MODIFY
THE INSTRUMENT
Do not install substitute parts or perform any
unauthorized modifications to this instrument.
Return the instrument to B&K Precision for

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service and repair to ensure that safety
features are maintained.
WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS
WARNING and CAUTION statements, such
as the following examples, denote a hazard
and appear throughout this manual. Follow all
instructions contained in these statements.
A WARNING statement calls attention to an
operating procedure, practice, or condition,
which, if not followed correctly, could result in
injury or death to personnel.
A CAUTION statement calls attention to an
operating procedure, practice, or condition,
which, if not followed correctly, could result in
damage to or destruction of part or all of the
product.
Safety Guidelines
To ensure that you use this device safely,
follow the safety guidelines listed below:

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 This meter is for indoor use, altitude up to
2,000 m.
 The warnings and precautions should be
read and well understood before the
instrument is used.
 When measuring in-circuit components, first
de-energize the circuits before connecting to
the test leads.
 Discharge capacitor before testing.
 The meter is safety-certified in compliance
with EN61010 (IEC 1010-1) Installation
Category II (CAT. II) 50 V, Pollution Degree
2 environment.
 Use the meter only as specified in this
manual. Otherwise, the protection provided
by the meter may be impaired.
 The power for the meter is supplied with a
single standard 9V battery. But also a line
operation is possible using a 12V AC to DC
adaptor. If a power adaptor is selected,
please be sure it fulfills the safety
requirements of a relevant IEC standard.

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Safety Symbols
This symbol is a warning and
indicates that the user should refer to
the operating instructions located in
the manual.
DC Current
Indicates inside pin is positive (+),
outside is negative (-)
Compliance Statements
Disposal of Old Electrical & Electronic Equipment
(Applicable in the European
Union and other European countries with separate
collection systems)

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This product is subject
to Directive 2002/96/EC
of the European
Parliament and the
Council of the European
Union on waste
electrical and electronic
equipment (WEEE) , and
in jurisdictions
adopting that Directive,
is marked as being put
on the market after
August 13, 2005, and
should not be disposed
of as unsorted
municipal waste. Please
utilize your local WEEE
collection
facilities in the
disposition of this
product and otherwise
observe all applicable
requirements.

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Environmental Conditions
Operating Environment
0 °C to 40 °C
Storage Humidity
0 – 80% R.H.
Storage Environment
-20 °C to +50 °C
Pollution degree
Pollution degree 2

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Safety Summary ........................................................ 1
Safety Guidelines ...................................................... 2
Compliance Statements ........................................... 4
INTRODUCTION ....................................................... 10
PACKAGE CONTENTS ........................................... 11
FRONT PANEL OVERVIEW .................................... 12
Front Panel Display Descriptions .................................. 13
Front Panel Buttons ...................................................... 15
LCD DISPLAY OVERVIEW ...................................... 17
LCD Display Descriptions ............................................. 17
Special Display Indicators ............................................. 19
POWERING INSTRUMENT ...................................... 20
Installing Battery ........................................................... 20
Connecting External Power Source .............................. 22
Low Battery Indication .................................................. 24
Backlit Display (model 879B only) ................................ 25
OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS ................................. 27
Data Hold ...................................................................... 27
Static Recording ........................................................... 27

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L/C/R/Z Select Mode .................................................... 30
D/Q/θ/ESR Select Mode ............................................... 31
Test Frequency ............................................................. 31
Relative Mode ............................................................... 50
Tolerance ...................................................................... 52
Utility Menu ................................................................... 56
Parallel and Series Measurement Mode ....................... 67
Calibration .................................................................... 85
USB .............................................................................. 90
Automatic Fuse Detection ............................................. 91
QUICK START GUIDE ............................................. 93
CAUTION ..................................................................... 93
Inductance Measurement ............................................. 94
Capacitance Measurement ........................................... 96
Resistance Measurement ............................................. 98
Impedance Measurement (Model 879B only) ............... 99
REMOTE COMMUNICATION ................................ 101
Connecting Instrument to PC ...................................... 101
USB (Virtual COM) Configuration ............................... 103
USB Operation ........................................................... 103
Command Protocols ................................................... 105

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SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ........................ 118
Selecting Test Frequency ........................................... 118
Selecting Series or Parallel Mode ............................... 120
Accuracy Discrepancies ............................................. 121
Guard Terminal ........................................................... 123
SPECIFICATIONS .................................................. 125
General Specifications ................................................ 126
Accuracy Specifications .............................................. 127
MAINTENANCE ...................................................... 133
Service ........................................................................ 133
Cleaning ..................................................................... 133
SERVICE INFORMATION ...................................... 135
LIMITED WARRANTY ............................................ 136

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INTRODUCTION
B&K Precision’s 878B and 879B 40,000-count L/C/R
hand-held meter is designed ideally for measuring
inductance, capacitance and resistance components.
Simple to operate, the instrument not only takes
absolute parallel mode measurements, but also series
mode measurement. The meter provides direct and
accurate measurements with selectable testing
frequencies.
Front panel push buttons maximize the convenience
of function and feature selection such as data hold,
maximum, minimum and average record mode,
relative mode, tolerance sorting mode, frequency and
L/C/R selection.
The test data can be transferred to PC through a Mini
USB connection, great for applications that require
data logging
A tilt stand provides position flexibility for viewing and
operating the meter. The over-molding rubber case
protects the meter for better durability. Additionally,
top rubber visor molding above the screen is designed
to prevent scratches on the display when meter is
positioned upside down.

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A single 9V battery or the included DC 12V power
adaptor (model 879B only) can be used to power the
meter. This gives user flexibility for portable or bench-
top use.
PACKAGE CONTENTS
Each 878B and 879B LCR meters are shipped with
the following contents.
 878B or 879B LCR meter
 Instruction Manual
 Mini USB Interface Cable
 Red & Black Banana to Alligator Test Leads
 9V Battery
 *AC Adapter (model 879B only)
*This can be purchased as an optional accessory for
model 878B.
Please locate them from the original packaging to
ensure nothing is missing. If in the case that an item
is missing, please contact B&K Precision immediately.

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FRONT PANEL OVERVIEW
+ -
R
!
LCRR E L E S R
M A X AVGM IN ¦ÈQ
A U T O D
1 % 5 % 1 0 % 2 0 %
deg
%
k H z
PAL
S E R
¦ÌH
p F
¦Ì
R M T
M k
T O L DH
n
n
@O F F
Z
1
2
4
5
3
6
7
8
9
10
13
12
11
U S B
D /Q /
/E S R
L /C /R /Z
P O W E R
R E C
R E L
H O L D
CAL
PS
F R E Q
T O L
U T I L
L C R M e te r 8 7 9 B
Figure 1 - Front Panel Display (model 879B shown)

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Front Panel Display Descriptions
1. LCD Display
2. Power ON/OFF Button
3. USB Communication / *Back light button
4. Secondary Display mode (for dissipation
factor(D), quality factor (Q), *phase angle (θ),
*equivalent series resistance (ESR)
measurement) selection button
5. Primary Display mode (for inductance,
capacitance, resistance, and *impedance
measurements) / Parallel or Series
measurement method selection button
6. Tolerance mode / Utility down arrow selection
button
7. Hold Display mode / Record mode selection
button
8. Utility menu button
9. Test Frequency / Utility up arrow selection
button
10. Relative mode / Calibration mode selection
button
11. 12V DC adapter input (use with an external
power adapter (rated 12VDC, 150mA, 4mm
power plug))
Note: Use with included power adapter only.
Use with improper power adapters may
damage instrument.

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WARNING: Before connecting an external
power adapter, please check the battery
compartment in the rear side of the unit. If
a battery is installed, be sure that the
polarity matches the (+) and (-) labels as
indicated inside the battery compartment.
If it is not installed correctly, please
remove the battery and install it with
correct matching polarity as indicated in
the compartment. See “Installing Battery”
section for details. DO NOT, at any time,
connect an external power adapter when a
battery is installed incorrectly. Doing so
will damage the instrument and void its
warranty.
Input sockets (banana jack inputs) and terminals for
positive, negative, and guard (see “Guard Terminal” in
“

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12. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION” section for
details)
13. Standard mini USB port (for remote
controllability)
*For model 879B only. Not included on model 878B.
Front Panel Buttons
All front panel buttons have specific colored labels on
them. They are all marked in white, blue, or yellow
color. Each color has a specific representation, as
described below:
White – With the exception of the
button, all white colored labels
represent the primary function of that
button; meaning that function will be
set or configured upon pressing it.
Blue – Some of the buttons have a blue label
underneath a white label. This means
the function indicated by the blue
label will be set or configured if that
button is pressed and hold down for 2
seconds.
Yellow – There are total of 3 buttons with
yellow labels. They are

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. These functions are
exclusively for use when entering
UTIL menu only. See “Utility Menu”
section for details.

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LCD DISPLAY OVERVIEW
LCRR E L ESR
M A X AVGM IN ¦ÈQ
A U T O D
1 % 5 % 1 0 % 2 0 %
d e g
k H z
PAL
SER
¦ÌH
p F
¦Ì
R M T
M k
T O L DH
n
n
@OFF
Z
1
2 5 9 10
12
14
16
202126
27
28
83
232425
4
15
11
13
6 7
22
17
18
19
%
29
Figure 2 - LCD Indicator Display
LCD Display Descriptions
1. LCRZ – Primary display function indicator (*Z
display)
2. MAX – Maximum reading indicator
3. AVG – Average reading indicator
4. MIN – Minimum reading indicator
5. REL – Relative mode indicator

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6. Θ – *Phase angle indicator for secondary
display
7. Q – Quality factor indicator
8. ESR – *Equivalent series resistance indicator
9. – Secondary display
10. – Beeper tone indicator for tolerance
mode
11. deg – *Phase angle degree indicator
12. Ω – *ESR(ohm) units indicator
13. % - Tolerance percentage indicator
14. kHz – Frequency units indicator
15. PAL – Parallel mode indicator
16. SER – Series mode indicator
17. – Inductance units (Henry) indicator
18. – Capacitance units (Farad) indicator
19. MkΩ – Resistance units (Ohm) indicator
20. RMT – Remote mode indicator
21. – Primary display
22. D – Dissipation factor indicator
23. DH – Data hold indicator
24. AUTO – Auto-ranging indicator
25. TOL – Tolerance mode indicator
26. – Low battery indicator
27. @OFF – Auto power-off indicator
28. 1%5%10%20% - Tolerance sorting
percentage indicator