DC load on ebay 89 dollars.

[philpem]

If anyone has a burning desire to make one of these do something, the commands (at least over the serial port) seem to be the same as the Ametek / Amrel PLA series:
http://www.programmablepower.com/electronic-load/PLA/downloads/M470038-03_PROG_Manual_PLA_PLW.pdf

*IDN? - get identity ("AMREL EL-1132,2.96020040")
CURR? - get current
CURR? MAX - get maximum current
CURR? MIN - get minimum current
CURR x.y / - set current
VOLT? / VOLT? MAX / VOLT? MIN / VOLT x.y - same for voltage
RES? / RES? MAX / RES? MIN / RES x.y
INP 0 / INP 1 - input off/on
INP:SHOR 0 / INP:SHOR 1 - input short off/on
MEAS:POW? / MEAS:VOLT? / MEAS:CURR? - measure power, voltage or current
MODE? - get current mode (CC = constant current)
MODE:CURR / MODE:VOLT / MODE:RES - set current/voltage/resistance mode
TRAN 0 / TRAN 1 - transient generator off/on

This should get you started   Sadly the load doesn't have constant-power mode, though constant-resistance should work as a stand-in:

15W load, 5V supply.
I = P / V = 15W / 5V = 3A
R = V / I = 5V / 3A = 1.667 Ohms

Or the shorter way:
R = V^2 / P = 5V^2 / 15W = 1.667 Ohms

And a quick check with Wolfram Alpha: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%285V%29+^+2+%2F+%2815W%29

Enjoy!
-Phil

[carpelux]

I received mine today here in Sweden.
It's sure is brand new and seems to work OK.

I Have no time to test it tonight but will take a closer look at it during the weekend.

One thing i saw was that it has the possibility to  emulate a HP 6060A och HP 6050A.

[macboy]

...
This should get you started   Sadly the load doesn't have constant-power mode, though constant-resistance should work as a stand-in:

15W load, 5V supply.
I = P / V = 15W / 5V = 3A
R = V / I = 5V / 3A = 1.667 Ohms

Or the shorter way:
R = V^2 / P = 5V^2 / 15W = 1.667 Ohms

And a quick check with Wolfram Alpha: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%285V%29+^+2+%2F+%2815W%29

Enjoy!
-Phil

Using constant resistance mode in lieu of constant power is a poor choice. The power will vary with the square of voltage variation. It is better to use constant current mode with I=P/V, since power will then vary proportionally with variation in voltage.

[pickle9000]

Well mine finally showed up, 2 1/2 weeks after the sale.

I have no doubt it is new but the case was opened at some point, 2 screws missing. I popped the cover before powering up. The rom was not fully seated but other than that no issues. Powered up just fine and a quick load test seems fine.

[philpem]

Just checked mine on the bench power supply. The voltage range is calibrated OK, but the current is about 15-20% out 

Set 1A on the load and both my DMM and the bench power supply report a load of 0.85A being drawn 

Anyone got a calibration manual?

[carpelux]

I did som e quick measurements on mine and it's also a bit off regarding the current.
There seems to be about 27 mA constant offset, so when the load says 1A my HP6633B  PSU says 1.027A. if I set the load to 3A the PSU says 3.027, and so on.

I tried to set it to use remote sense on the load, but that didn't seem to work at all. It displays 0V then, and there's no change in the current accuracy (which of course is to be expected). Didn't have so much time to put into it, will try more later.

[carpelux]

Forget about the problems with remote sense. It was me that made a mistake with a bad cable so there's no problems with the remote sense.

[philpem]

Just got a response from Ametek:

> Can you provide any documentation for the EL-1132 DC load, e.g. User's
> Manual, Programming Manual, and Service or Calibration Manuals?

We do not have information on this load.

Thanks.

 

[amiq]

I must have got the runt of the litter.  The one I received had only one screw holding the cover on (similar to one received by another member).  when I took the cover off I found that the two daugher boards were not plugged into the motherboard, and the connector to the frnt panel keyboard was detached (no keying or indication of where pin one was so that took a while to figure out).

The funny thing is that the two standoffs that are supposed to support the daughterboards to the case were missing, although a split washer is held to the case by threadlock arround one of the mounting holes, so the standoffs were present at some point.

Anyway, it does appear to work, allthough the current measurement is way off (at least a 100mA offset with a scaling error).

Can the member that was waiting for a manual in the mail post an update?

[Ca_s12]

Sorry for the slow reply. Here is the cal information. I will see about posting the manual to KO4BB tomorrow. If anyone is interested in the labview driver just send me a pm, unless someone knows a good place for me to upload the driver. Best of luck to everyone having issues.

[carpelux]

Thanks!

Did You receive the user manual or programming manual as well?

[icpart]

Hi guys.
I received my DC load today but now I am little scary to turn in on    because on back side I saw yellow label  that supposed the DC load to work at 110V.
Also there is red voltage switch for 115/220V operation. Can anyone confirm that I have to put that switch at 220V position for ?uropean supply network.
 Also it was set at 115V when I received it.

Sorry for that silly question but I don't want to blow up that new DC load at first try.
 

[Ca_s12]

The part of the manual that I have is the programing portion.
As posted on the first page of this thread, the link from the way back machine, the unit is switchable from 110/230v.

[carpelux]

I have it switched to 220V and it'w working as it should on the swedish mains rated to 230V.

[carpelux]

The part of the manual that I have is the programing portion.
As posted on the first page of this thread, the link from the way back machine, the unit is switchable from 110/230v.

OK, thats the most important part I think. Many of the SCPI commands that are listed in the PLA/PLW manuals work on the EL-1132 to.

 It's great that You cold find the calibrate manual. In order to calibrate it, all that's missing now is a really beefy PSU :-)

[Ca_s12]

Ok everyone here is a dropbox link to all the information I have about the load. Included is the programing manual, the labview driver and lastly a word document that lays out the cal of the load.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9h4uln7p5jmf6ld/AABbiV8RXzY5zO-BEtohlPaka?dl=0

[icpart]

The part of the manual that I have is the programing portion.
As posted on the first page of this thread, the link from the way back machine, the unit is switchable from 110/230v.

OK, thats the most important part I think. Many of the SCPI commands that are listed in the PLA/PLW manuals work on the EL-1132 to.

 It's great that You cold find the calibrate manual. In order to calibrate it, all that's missing now is a really beefy PSU :-)

Thanks a lot Ca_s12 and carpelux for suggestion.
For calibration do you think that we can use two ATX power supplies in parallel or the better option is something like that http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Supernova-Sale-5V-Led-Power-Supply-60A-300w-Led-Driver-Indoor-switch-power-supply-110-220V/1712935662.html

I did som e quick measurements on mine and it's also a bit off regarding the current.
There seems to be about 27 mA constant offset, so when the load says 1A my HP6633B  PSU says 1.027A. if I set the load to 3A the PSU says 3.027, and so on.

I tried to set it to use remote sense on the load, but that didn't seem to work at all. It displays 0V then, and there's no change in the current accuracy (which of course is to be expected). Didn't have so much time to put into it, will try more later.

My current offset is about 39-42mA in CC mode. Also I have another current offset of about 72mA in CR and CV modes.
Also I figured out that offsets are shown on LCD screen when there is no power supply connected to the DC load.

[ElektroQuark]

Ok everyone here is a dropbox link to all the information I have about the load. Included is the programing manual, the labview driver and lastly a word document that lays out the cal of the load.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9h4uln7p5jmf6ld/AABbiV8RXzY5zO-BEtohlPaka?dl=0

Thank you very much. I received mine today. Perfect timing

[amiq]

Ok everyone here is a dropbox link to all the information I have about the load. Included is the programing manual, the labview driver and lastly a word document that lays out the cal of the load.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9h4uln7p5jmf6ld/AABbiV8RXzY5zO-BEtohlPaka?dl=0

Thanks for that, calibration doesn't look too bad.

[pickle9000]

Ok everyone here is a dropbox link to all the information I have about the load. Included is the programing manual, the labview driver and lastly a word document that lays out the cal of the load.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9h4uln7p5jmf6ld/AABbiV8RXzY5zO-BEtohlPaka?dl=0

Awesome thankss.

[mtdoc]

Did anyone ever come up with a complete user manual for this DC load?

The programming section is not much help to me. I'm having problems accessing some features with the front panel buttons.

Thanks.