Ali-express DY4100 Digital Earth Tester

Don't worry I haven't gone (completely) mad.
About a year ago a ride-on-lawnmower became over-friendly with my long RE test leads while I was drinking tea inside. I needed some replacements for a job next week so I was about to shell out nearly £100 for a new set, and then a thought crossed my mind.
The cheapest product out there with the leads I need is a DY4100 Digital Earth Tester from Ali Express for £48.
The marketing speaks for itself:
"fine looking and practical"
"suitable for different fields"
"Third gear position measurement, meet a variety of different occasions, make measurements smarter and more convenient"

How could I resist adding this to my collection of junk?



It had to be worth a try, hopefully the leads and probes would be serviceable, the English translation of the manual would entertain me, and I've have a bonus 'fell out of a cereal packet' tester to stick on a shelf, take apart, give a Viking funeral, or any other destructive actions I could dream up after last orders on a Friday night.

After waiting patiently for the tester, and then for a 12v A23 battery to turn up I could finally try out my new 'fine looking and practical' toy. Here it is measuring a very poorly rod that it about to be replaced, along with my Metrel's verdict using same leads.



(A loop test gave 429 ohms)

My favourite paragraph from the manual?

"Please place rod of assistant (C1) in land with high water content. You need to add water abundantly in dry land, sand land or land that is stoned. When stoned lie earth bar flat like meeting cement ground and cover with abundantly wet towel before testing"

On a more serious note the leads seem more than adequate for my needs.

The AliExpress tester is well within 10% of the Metrel loop reading which actually isn't bad for that type of test. Also please remove the plastic screen protector off the Metrel, it's going to give me sleepless nights.

Marvo said:

The AliExpress tester is well within 10% of the Metrel loop reading which actually isn't bad for that type of test

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Indeed - it has surprised me.

Marvo said:

Also please remove the plastic screen protector off the Metrel, it's going to give me sleepless nights.

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Ah it's my spare (calibrated) tester - in fact my only tester that does RE tests, a great little unit - but yes I never took the protector off!!

What is a "digital earth", and how do you test it?

Timbo said:

What is a "digital earth", and how do you test it?

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All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hairs are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos, and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight.

Or did you want a serious answer about RE tests?!

Timbo said:

What is a "digital earth", and how do you test it?

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A digital earth is between electronic devices and the earth.

You can test them with a Digital earth tester

"When stoned..."
Brilliant!