Make Your Own Budget Component Tester
Build a multi-component tester for just a few dollars using an Arduino Nano to identify resistors, LEDs, capacitors, and more.
Whether you are just getting started in electronics or you can no longer remember a time before you had a soldering iron in your hand, one thing that you will need is a good set of tools to work with. Among these, a multi-component tester is a must-have tool. It can tell you everything you need to know about those mixed piles of LEDs, transistors, and resistors that you buy in bulk bags, scavenge from old hardware, or otherwise accumulate over the years.
There are plenty of off-the-shelf options available, but if you’re willing to do a little work, Creative Techos has another option that can save you some cash. He has demonstrated how a multi-component testing tool can be built for just a few dollars in parts. When complete, it can test LEDs, transistors, inductors, capacitors, diodes, and resistors.
The build only takes a few parts: an Arduino Nano development board, a 0.96-inch OLED display, a few resistors, and a push button. Creative Techos had a custom PCB manufactured to install the components on. However, you could use a breadboard or perfboard if you want to whip the tester together in a pinch.
Creative Techos developed firmware for the Arduino that turns it into a powerful component tester. Through-hole pads are left open on the circuit board, and when a component is inserted into them, the software does its job. It provides valuable information like the forward voltage of an LED or the pinout and type of a transistor on the OLED display.
The source code, PCB design files, and circuit diagram have all been made freely available if you would like to build your own budget component tester.