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Any experience with ELECTRONIC LOADS would be appreciated

Dennis Tillman W7pF
 

I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many listed on
Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about 10 different
designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of Ebay? If so what has
been your experience with it.



These are my requirements

1) Voltage as high as possible: it looks like that will be about 100V
from the ones I saw on Ebay

2) Modest current drain of an amp or two. This should be no problem as
all of them do that

3) Power of about 50W. I can add a fan to keep the heatsink cool if
needed.

4) I do not need a USB current load



Dennis Tillman W7PF
stefan_trethan
 

Hi Dennis,

I have not tried the loads on Ebay but use different electronic loads
extensively every day.
I have also built several of my own where commercial products did not
offer what I needed.

Are you looking at the Chinese loads in a desktop case such as the
Maynuo branded one, or something else?
There is information about them here, they are apparently no so bad:
<https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/which-dc-electronic-load-to-get/>;

You can make a load fairly easily, I have always used a beefy mosfet
on a heatsink, with a shunt resistor in the source lead.
A simple opamp control loop can do constant voltage/current/resistance control.

Whatever you buy or build, always keep in mind that there is a control
loop involved. For certain tests a true resistive load is the only
way.

ST




On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 8:42 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF
<dennis@ridesoft.com> wrote:
I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many listed on
Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about 10 different
designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of Ebay? If so what has
been your experience with it.



These are my requirements

1) Voltage as high as possible: it looks like that will be about 100V
from the ones I saw on Ebay

2) Modest current drain of an amp or two. This should be no problem as
all of them do that

3) Power of about 50W. I can add a fan to keep the heatsink cool if
needed.

4) I do not need a USB current load



Dennis Tillman W7PF
Tam Hanna
 

Hello,

bought a Kikusui PLZ some time ago off DennLec - it treats me well, except for it being 110VAC only which made me some grief.


Tam

--
With best regards
Tam Hanna
---

NEW: Enjoy electronics? Like seeing oscilloscopes get repaired? Please subscribe to my new YouTube channel -> http://www.youtube.com/user/MrTamhan
Adrian
 

Hi Dennis,
I got an HP6050A from ebay a couple of years back and have 60501B (150W 60V), 60502B(300W 60V) and 60503B (250W 240V) modules to go with it.
Used it a fair bit for PSU testing including response to fast transient current loads and for developing inrush limiting circuitry to put ahead of DC-DC converters in 28VDC avionic applications.

I'm happy with it and have had no issues, like much of what's on ebay if you can wait a bit, usually you can get things at a good price. I got everything for less than half the 'typical' price.

It's worst point is that it dates from HP's non-backlit-LCD era so the display is a bit poor but I tend to use it under GPIB control rather than via the front panel anyway because
a) It's mounted at the bottom of a rack and as one gets older the ground gets further away of course, so it takes longer to get down and press the buttons
b) Some of the functions can only really be accessed through that interface and
c) Having produced a couple of little scripts it's actually quicker to set things up that way. Ditto things like HP system PSUs and so on.

Adrian
Michael Dunn
 

Dennis Tillman W7pF
 

Hi Stefan.
I was looking for a cheap, no frills, solution I could start using quickly. I don't need another project to design and build.

What I saw on Ebay were a whole bunch of Chinese electronic loads for pocket change that I could put to use right away and when I'm done put them away until the next time I need one.

I can't recall ever needing a test load in the past. Normally I just use a power resistor. When I saw the ones on Ebay at very reasonable prices I thought it might be time to switch from resistors to an electronic load because it looked more flexible.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of stefan_trethan
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 11:57 AM
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Any experience with ELECTRONIC LOADS would be appreciated

Hi Dennis,

I have not tried the loads on Ebay but use different electronic loads extensively every day.
I have also built several of my own where commercial products did not offer what I needed.

Are you looking at the Chinese loads in a desktop case such as the Maynuo branded one, or something else?
There is information about them here, they are apparently no so bad:
<https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/which-dc-electronic-load-to-get/>;

You can make a load fairly easily, I have always used a beefy mosfet on a heatsink, with a shunt resistor in the source lead.
A simple opamp control loop can do constant voltage/current/resistance control.

Whatever you buy or build, always keep in mind that there is a control loop involved. For certain tests a true resistive load is the only way.

ST




On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 8:42 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF <dennis@ridesoft.com> wrote:
I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many
listed on Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about
10 different designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of
Ebay? If so what has been your experience with it.



These are my requirements

1) Voltage as high as possible: it looks like that will be about 100V
from the ones I saw on Ebay

2) Modest current drain of an amp or two. This should be no problem as
all of them do that

3) Power of about 50W. I can add a fan to keep the heatsink cool if
needed.

4) I do not need a USB current load



Dennis Tillman W7PF







--
Dennis Tillman W7PF
TekScopes Moderator
ChuckA
 

I bought one of the Chinese programmable loads, what is called a 3700 series. They show up with various names mine was an Array 3710A. Input voltage up to 360V, current up to 30A, power up to 150W, the model 3711A same but power rating is 300W.

Easy to use and has a computer control software that I never tried. It gets a bit noisy when all 3 fans kick in when you are near max power.

Worked very well on the low voltage high current supplies I was building.

Chuck

On 1/25/2018 5:44 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:
Hi Stefan.
I was looking for a cheap, no frills, solution I could start using quickly. I don't need another project to design and build.
What I saw on Ebay were a whole bunch of Chinese electronic loads for pocket change that I could put to use right away and when I'm done put them away until the next time I need one.
I can't recall ever needing a test load in the past. Normally I just use a power resistor. When I saw the ones on Ebay at very reasonable prices I thought it might be time to switch from resistors to an electronic load because it looked more flexible.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of stefan_trethan
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 11:57 AM
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Any experience with ELECTRONIC LOADS would be appreciated
Hi Dennis,
I have not tried the loads on Ebay but use different electronic loads extensively every day.
I have also built several of my own where commercial products did not offer what I needed.
Are you looking at the Chinese loads in a desktop case such as the Maynuo branded one, or something else?
There is information about them here, they are apparently no so bad:
<https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/which-dc-electronic-load-to-get/>;
You can make a load fairly easily, I have always used a beefy mosfet on a heatsink, with a shunt resistor in the source lead.
A simple opamp control loop can do constant voltage/current/resistance control.
Whatever you buy or build, always keep in mind that there is a control loop involved. For certain tests a true resistive load is the only way.
ST
On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 8:42 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF <dennis@ridesoft.com> wrote:
I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many
listed on Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about
10 different designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of
Ebay? If so what has been your experience with it.



These are my requirements

1) Voltage as high as possible: it looks like that will be about 100V
from the ones I saw on Ebay

2) Modest current drain of an amp or two. This should be no problem as
all of them do that

3) Power of about 50W. I can add a fan to keep the heatsink cool if
needed.

4) I do not need a USB current load



Dennis Tillman W7PF



--
See Early TV at:

www.myvintagetv.com
Joe Laffey
 

On Thu, 25 Jan 2018, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:

I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many listed on
Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about 10 different
designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of Ebay? If so what has
been your experience with it.
I have one of the:

"Constant Current Electronic Load Battery Discharge Capacity Tester 9.99A 60W 30V"

loads from Ebay. It only does 30V (and it will not function above that).

It works very well within its specs, and is a very useful device to have. All the features work correctly and as advertised.

I know you are looking for somehting higher voltage. If mine is any indication then a higher voltage one would work great too.

--
73
Joe Laffey
Dick
 

A few years ago I picked up a Kikusui PLZ-150 Electronic load. Just looked at

a couple on e-Pay and got sticker shock. Don't know why they are so expensive

these days.


73, Dick, W1KSZ


Sent from Outlook<http://aka.ms/weboutlook>;
________________________________
From: TekScopes@groups.io <TekScopes@groups.io> on behalf of Joe Laffey <joe@thestable.tv>
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 4:36:52 PM
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Any experience with ELECTRONIC LOADS would be appreciated

On Thu, 25 Jan 2018, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:

I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many listed on
Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about 10 different
designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of Ebay? If so what has
been your experience with it.
I have one of the:

"Constant Current Electronic Load Battery Discharge Capacity Tester 9.99A
60W 30V"

loads from Ebay. It only does 30V (and it will not function above that).

It works very well within its specs, and is a very useful device to have.
All the features work correctly and as advertised.

I know you are looking for somehting higher voltage. If mine is any
indication then a higher voltage one would work great too.

--
73
Joe Laffey
Joe Laffey
 

On Thu, 25 Jan 2018, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:

I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many listed on
Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about 10 different
designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of Ebay? If so what has
been your experience with it.
Also, if you are inclined to build something. Kerry Wong did a nice video on the topic here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr6YsT403DM&;t=1s


--
73
Joe Laffey
Vince Vielhaber
 

Why not build one? One or more 2N3055s and a pot. Heat sink, fan and base resistors as required. I've built many and have even burn-in tested some 50A power supplies with 'em.

Vince.

On 01/25/2018 05:44 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:
Hi Stefan.
I was looking for a cheap, no frills, solution I could start using quickly. I don't need another project to design and build.

What I saw on Ebay were a whole bunch of Chinese electronic loads for pocket change that I could put to use right away and when I'm done put them away until the next time I need one.

I can't recall ever needing a test load in the past. Normally I just use a power resistor. When I saw the ones on Ebay at very reasonable prices I thought it might be time to switch from resistors to an electronic load because it looked more flexible.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of stefan_trethan
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 11:57 AM
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Any experience with ELECTRONIC LOADS would be appreciated

Hi Dennis,

I have not tried the loads on Ebay but use different electronic loads extensively every day.
I have also built several of my own where commercial products did not offer what I needed.

Are you looking at the Chinese loads in a desktop case such as the Maynuo branded one, or something else?
There is information about them here, they are apparently no so bad:
<https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/which-dc-electronic-load-to-get/>;

You can make a load fairly easily, I have always used a beefy mosfet on a heatsink, with a shunt resistor in the source lead.
A simple opamp control loop can do constant voltage/current/resistance control.

Whatever you buy or build, always keep in mind that there is a control loop involved. For certain tests a true resistive load is the only way.

ST




On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 8:42 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF <dennis@ridesoft.com> wrote:
I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many
listed on Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about
10 different designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of
Ebay? If so what has been your experience with it.



These are my requirements

1) Voltage as high as possible: it looks like that will be about 100V
from the ones I saw on Ebay

2) Modest current drain of an amp or two. This should be no problem as
all of them do that

3) Power of about 50W. I can add a fan to keep the heatsink cool if
needed.

4) I do not need a USB current load



Dennis Tillman W7PF






--
Michigan VHF Corp. http://www.nobucks.net/ http://www.CDupe.com/
http://www.metalworkingfun.com
Kevin Oconnor
 

I bought a Kunkin KL283 dual ch load 80v 15A 300w some time ago. There are higher voltage and current units available. Got it from eBay. Given the price advantage compared to name brands, it works very well.
Sent from kjo iPhone
redarlington
 

http://www.arachnidlabs.com/reload-pro/

I'm unsure of the voltage, but with the fan kit it's happy running 50W all
day long.

-Bob

On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 12:42 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF <dennis@ridesoft.com>
wrote:

I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many listed on
Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about 10 different
designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of Ebay? If so what has
been your experience with it.



These are my requirements

1) Voltage as high as possible: it looks like that will be about 100V
from the ones I saw on Ebay

2) Modest current drain of an amp or two. This should be no problem as
all of them do that

3) Power of about 50W. I can add a fan to keep the heatsink cool if
needed.

4) I do not need a USB current load



Dennis Tillman W7PF
Pete Lancashire
 

Prices fluctuate a lot, just put one in the Ebay search/notify and keep
watch of your emails. If a match is found you will get an email once a day.

One reason for the high prices is 90% of the sellers are clueless what
something sells for vs what the asking price. They see someone posting
a dog turd for $100 and all of sudden there are 50 listings for dog turds
from $50 to $500.

Can take up to a year for it all to settle down.

-pete

On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 4:13 PM, Dick <w1ksz@outlook.com> wrote:

A few years ago I picked up a Kikusui PLZ-150 Electronic load. Just looked
at

a couple on e-Pay and got sticker shock. Don't know why they are so
expensive

these days.


73, Dick, W1KSZ


Sent from Outlook<http://aka.ms/weboutlook>;
________________________________
From: TekScopes@groups.io <TekScopes@groups.io> on behalf of Joe Laffey <
joe@thestable.tv>
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 4:36:52 PM
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Any experience with ELECTRONIC LOADS would be
appreciated

On Thu, 25 Jan 2018, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:

I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many listed
on
Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about 10 different
designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of Ebay? If so what has
been your experience with it.
I have one of the:

"Constant Current Electronic Load Battery Discharge Capacity Tester 9.99A
60W 30V"

loads from Ebay. It only does 30V (and it will not function above that).

It works very well within its specs, and is a very useful device to have.
All the features work correctly and as advertised.

I know you are looking for somehting higher voltage. If mine is any
indication then a higher voltage one would work great too.

--
73
Joe Laffey
bobh@joba.com
 

You just have to decide if you want red or green LED displays or one of each. :-)
Bob.

On 1/25/2018 3:44 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:
Hi Stefan.
I was looking for a cheap, no frills, solution I could start using quickly. I don't need another project to design and build.

What I saw on Ebay were a whole bunch of Chinese electronic loads for pocket change that I could put to use right away and when I'm done put them away until the next time I need one.


Dennis
Bruce Lane
 

Dennis, keep an eye out for electronic loads from Transistor Devices
(their 'DynaLoad' series). I've used several, and they were a favorite
at Boeing (I actually found mine at Boeing Surplus, back when they still
existed). Very well-built, easy to use, accurate, and TD is very good
with their documentation (schematics either included or available for
the asking).

Most of the ones on Ebay at the moment are, I think, grossly overpriced
(with a few exceptions), but I've also seen them turn up at the Mike &
Key swap meet.

Happy hunting.

On 25-Jan-18 11:42, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:

I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many listed on
Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about 10 different
designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of Ebay? If so what has
been your experience with it.
--
---
Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech dot com
"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (Red Green)
Michael A. Terrell
 

https://archive.org/details/73-magazine-1976-11 page 179, "The Smoke Tester" has a basic design that uses a driver transistor to reduse the current through the pot.

-----Original Message-----
From: Vince Vielhaber <vev@michvhf.com>
Sent: Jan 25, 2018 8:08 PM
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Any experience with ELECTRONIC LOADS would be appreciated

Why not build one? One or more 2N3055s and a pot. Heat sink, fan and
base resistors as required. I've built many and have even burn-in
tested some 50A power supplies with 'em.

Vince.



On 01/25/2018 05:44 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF wrote:
Hi Stefan.
I was looking for a cheap, no frills, solution I could start using quickly. I don't need another project to design and build.

What I saw on Ebay were a whole bunch of Chinese electronic loads for pocket change that I could put to use right away and when I'm done put them away until the next time I need one.

I can't recall ever needing a test load in the past. Normally I just use a power resistor. When I saw the ones on Ebay at very reasonable prices I thought it might be time to switch from resistors to an electronic load because it looked more flexible.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: TekScopes@groups.io [mailto:TekScopes@groups.io] On Behalf Of stefan_trethan
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2018 11:57 AM
To: TekScopes@groups.io
Subject: Re: [TekScopes] Any experience with ELECTRONIC LOADS would be appreciated

Hi Dennis,

I have not tried the loads on Ebay but use different electronic loads extensively every day.
I have also built several of my own where commercial products did not offer what I needed.

Are you looking at the Chinese loads in a desktop case such as the Maynuo branded one, or something else?
There is information about them here, they are apparently no so bad:
<https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/which-dc-electronic-load-to-get/>;

You can make a load fairly easily, I have always used a beefy mosfet on a heatsink, with a shunt resistor in the source lead.
A simple opamp control loop can do constant voltage/current/resistance control.

Whatever you buy or build, always keep in mind that there is a control loop involved. For certain tests a true resistive load is the only way.

ST




On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 8:42 PM, Dennis Tillman W7PF <dennis@ridesoft.com> wrote:
I occasionally have a need for an electronic load. There are many
listed on Ebay. It would appear the Ebay ones are variations on about
10 different designs. Has anyone bought an electronic load off of
Ebay? If so what has been your experience with it.



These are my requirements

1) Voltage as high as possible: it looks like that will be about 100V
from the ones I saw on Ebay

2) Modest current drain of an amp or two. This should be no problem as
all of them do that

3) Power of about 50W. I can add a fan to keep the heatsink cool if
needed.

4) I do not need a USB current load



Dennis Tillman W7PF






--
Michigan VHF Corp. http://www.nobucks.net/ http://www.CDupe.com/
http://www.metalworkingfun.com



Michael A. Terrell
Twig
 

If you change your mind and want to build one after all, here is a somewhat fancy one I put together with parts largely from the swap meet and a local surplus store. Plus the mbed controller, of course. http://circuitcellar.com/contests/nxpmbeddesignchallenge/winners/first.htm

Does battery load testing and optimum load point measurements for solar cells, in addition to pulsatile load testing for power supplies. It contains an embedded web server to display the results via html.

Having it on the bench turned out to be much more useful than I had expected. The initial intent was to use it for load testing power supplies. But it also gets used as an adjustable current source (using an external power supply), which helps a lot in some kinds of breadboarding.
Kevin Oconnor
 

Dennis:
I’m not sure how much you want to pay for a load.
You can get a KL283 300W dual channel on eBay for $180USD free shipping. Never build one for that.

Sent from kjo iPhone
NigelP
 

Why not build one? You are welcome to the schematic of the one I built decades ago. Uses 4x 2N3055H (hometaxial version for good SOAR) driven as a current sink and can sink 20A up to 50V (or more..... 50V meter fitted). Mine is fitted with a 5" fan just in case it gets a bit warm.

It has a knob to control the current from a DC point of view, or you can externally ramp it linearly, or you can pulse it with TTL, "any frequency", to really exercise the dynamics of the PSU!

Regards

Nigel G8AYM
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