Author Topic: A look at the Uni-T UT210E (Read 439655 times)

rommo · « **Reply #25 on:** October 17, 2015, 10:48:07 am »

I need a service manual

crispy_tofu · « **Reply #26 on:** October 17, 2015, 10:48:22 am »

Quote from: rommo on October 17, 2015, 10:42:36 am

Press the blue and yellow button, and turned on. Reset calibration.

Oh okay, that makes more sense.
Welcome to the forum!

poorchava · « **Reply #27 on:** October 17, 2015, 11:34:35 am »

Someone asked about camp input protection. As far as the standards go, you need to provide insulation from the metal core of the camp to the circuitry, and good magnet wire usually takes care of that. From circuit standpoint, it's just a current transformer, so a loading resistor is needed. This resistor needs to withstand the power output from the camp. For example with 1:1000 lamp, if you measure 1kA with it, a 1R loading resistor will dissipate 1W of heat. This needs to be accounted for.

Sent from my HTC One M8s using Tapatalk.

max666 · « **Reply #28 on:** October 17, 2015, 08:39:04 pm »

The magnetic core is actually insulated on the business end of the clamp, which surprises me. I thought, especially for a clamp that can measure down to such low currents, you would have to make sure your magnetic loop is as much closed as possible.

Edit: Yes, there is definitely some leakage towards the front and the back of the clamp. I measured around a cable, so the current should read zero, which it does as long as you have the cable in the middle of the clamp, but it doesn't read zero when you move close to the front or the back of the clamp.

Digital Corpus · « **Reply #29 on:** March 03, 2016, 07:10:10 am »

I know this is a bit of a bump, but Amazon is carrying it for $40. I picked it up for some tests with glow plugs in diesels and because it's so inexpensive while being able to do DC current. From headlamps, LED project lights, glow plugs, et al, this is a small handy device that is a great little addition to test gear. Thank you to the OP and others for a vote of confidence for this tiny guy!

flywheelz · « **Reply #30 on:** March 22, 2016, 07:02:27 am »

I have purchased the said meter and I believe I got my money's worth. Most valuable feature for me on this meter is 1mA current resolution.

What I am wondering now, is there a way to tap into the current signal somewhere on the meter and display it on an oscilloscope?

nidlaX · « **Reply #31 on:** March 22, 2016, 08:17:38 am »

Quote from: flywheelz on March 22, 2016, 07:02:27 am

I have purchased the said meter and I believe I got my money's worth. Most valuable feature for me on this meter is 1mA current resolution.

What I am wondering now, is there a way to tap into the current signal somewhere on the meter and display it on an oscilloscope?

Should be simple to probe around the input stage and find what you're looking for.

joeqsmith · « **Reply #32 on:** March 22, 2016, 01:05:31 pm »

Quote from: nidlaX on March 22, 2016, 08:17:38 am

Quote from: flywheelz on March 22, 2016, 07:02:27 am
I have purchased the said meter and I believe I got my money's worth. Most valuable feature for me on this meter is 1mA current resolution.

What I am wondering now, is there a way to tap into the current signal somewhere on the meter and display it on an oscilloscope?
Should be simple to probe around the input stage and find what you're looking for.

That 1mA is the ticket. I was thinking to hack mine for the same reason.

tszaboo · « **Reply #33 on:** March 22, 2016, 03:08:28 pm »

Wait, this one measures from 1mA DC on the clamp? Why didnt I see this before.
A side note, I could have used two dozen of these in my previous job.
Maybe I should order one.

max666 · « **Reply #34 on:** March 22, 2016, 05:42:06 pm »

Yes, 1 mA resolution DC and AC. But you have to keep in mind that simply moving the meter around in free air can on DC introduce +/- 10 mA easily, from earth's and other stray magnetic fields.
Still a great low current DC clamp meter for the price.

flywheelz · « **Reply #35 on:** March 22, 2016, 07:20:58 pm »

Yes there is some drift in low Current readings after you zero out but this meter is more stable than others. Like you said it is important to get in the position, zero out, clamp on the wire and not to move / rotate the meter to get accurate reading. I wonder if putting some type of shield out of aluminum foil around the clamp will help. I also got the CP06 probe seen in this video https://youtu.be/DQEEtYjnBE0 and it drifts a lot more and doesn't zero out all the way. Now if we could only find a way to tap into it with an oscilloscope and hopefully it's fast enough to do current ramp measurements.

max666 · « **Reply #36 on:** March 22, 2016, 10:01:22 pm »

Aluminium foil won't help, because it's static magnetic fields which are the problem and aluminium foil doesn't shield magnetic fields. You would need something with a high permeability, like Mu-metal, if you wanted to shield it.

I was thinking of hacking the clamp mechanism and remove the isolation between the two clamps, so that the core material can actually touch. That should reduce the leakage and the drift quite a bit, I reckon.
Taping off the current signal and move it outside with a BNC connector is another thing on my list, but haven't gotten around to play with the thing yet ... so much to do, so little time.

joeqsmith · « **Reply #37 on:** March 23, 2016, 12:00:41 am »

With that low current, I could check the standby current on friends car. Sub 20mA once it went to sleep. No more pulling cables to hunt down glove box, trunk and hood switch failures.....

Took at look at mine and the data sheets. Seems like we could add RS232, which for me would not be very helpful or we can tap into the signal before the main controller and add a buffer. I'm not sure if they are using just the one analog input for both AC and DC. Let me just try the thing out tonight and see if it's even worth it.

joeqsmith · « **Reply #38 on:** March 23, 2016, 02:35:05 am »

I should have never looked into driving a scope because now I am thinking to get a second one.

All of the datasheets are on-line. They are using an OPA4330 and DTM0660L. All the stages of the quad appear in use. So, will need to add another amp. Not a bad idea anyway.

joeqsmith · « **Reply #39 on:** March 23, 2016, 02:39:10 am »

I am driving a 5 Amp pulse into about a 4 foot loop just to see how it looks. Pink trace is the current from the driver, yellow is from the UT210E. The UT210E was set to 2A, so showing it driving deep into saturation. 200us recovery.

joeqsmith · « **Reply #40 on:** March 23, 2016, 02:48:42 am »

The same test setup with the UT210E set to 20A, so well within the working range of the meter. This is not at all a good setup and suspect it will improve.

The two ways I can see to get the signal out would be with a small section of coax or I think what I may do is fit an SMA between the two banana connectors. I thought about just using the two connectors as is.

Anyway, looks good enough to put some effort into it.

flywheelz · « **Reply #41 on:** March 23, 2016, 05:12:31 am »

Awesome work joeqsmith. That signal look pretty clean. I hope once you perfect the hack you will post the steps for newbs like myself. Thank you in advance.

tszaboo · « **Reply #42 on:** March 23, 2016, 09:52:01 am »

Quote from: max666 on March 22, 2016, 05:42:06 pm

Yes, 1 mA resolution DC and AC. But you have to keep in mind that simply moving the meter around in free air can on DC introduce +/- 10 mA easily, from earth's and other stray magnetic fields.
Still a great low current DC clamp meter for the price.

Yes, I expect that, given that at this level, DC fields are quite significant. It is the "noise" level for these measurements. Unless they make a clamp with a smaller loop, this is as far as it goes. Still, it looks impressive.
I think I'm ordering one.

Ardvaark · « **Reply #43 on:** March 23, 2016, 07:11:55 pm »

How about if you epoxied a little spring loaded arm of some kind(plastic) inside the clamp area to press the wire being measured against the correct side of the inside of the clamp arm? I think at worst it would help with being able to at least move the clamp around a little while using it. Then at best, finding a similar way to press that measured wire right against the circuit/wire that is actually taking the measurement for even more increased performance of the reading?

flywheelz · « **Reply #44 on:** March 23, 2016, 09:58:10 pm »

Its not that bad actually or that big of an issue. You can move the meter a little as long as orientation is not changed after zeroing it. When you twist or rotate the meter that is when you see it drift in the 2A mode.

joeqsmith · « **Reply #45 on:** March 24, 2016, 01:51:17 am »

Quote from: flywheelz on March 23, 2016, 05:12:31 am

Awesome work joeqsmith. That signal look pretty clean. I hope once you perfect the hack you will post the steps for newbs like myself. Thank you in advance.

No problem. I'll put together a video showing how I modified mine if I get something I'm happy with. Started looking for low voltage parts and picked some that may work out. I'll order up a few in the next week and then we can see how well it's going to work. Looks like it may be better than the other probe shown in the video.

mos6502 · « **Reply #46 on:** March 24, 2016, 02:45:05 am »

What about this one? This seems to be an a much better version with 10 times the bandwidth of the CP06:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CP-05-DC-AC-Clamp-Current-Probe-200A-100KHz-Tr-o-75uS-23mm-Jaw-size-/111682240220?hash=item1a00c7bedc:g:fckAAOxy2E1SHaqs

Question is, can you trust those Hung Long Dong specs?

For comparison, here's a review of a higher $ brand name probe:

https://gruending.net/2010/01/meterman-ct238-current-probe/

flywheelz · « **Reply #47 on:** March 24, 2016, 05:55:40 am »

The CP-05 is missing the 400mA range and the highest resolution it has is 10mA compared to CP-06 with 1mA resolution.

The CP-06 I have is within the specs listed, therefore I would not hesitate to get CP-05 if it meets your requirements.

mos6502 · « **Reply #48 on:** March 24, 2016, 03:10:31 pm »

Quote from: flywheelz on March 24, 2016, 05:55:40 am

The CP-05 is missing the 400mA range and the highest resolution it has is 10mA compared to CP-06 with 1mA resolution.

The CP-06 I have is within the specs listed, therefore I would not hesitate to get CP-05 if it meets your requirements.

That 400mA range doesn't get you much. The CP06 on the 400mA range is +/- 2% +/- 1mA, while the CP05 on the 4A range is +/- 1.5% +/- 2mA. Say you're measuring a 100mA current, the CP06 will have an uncertainty of +/- 3mA, the CP06 +/- 3.5mA.

The only issue is that that 100mA signal will be 10mVpp on the CP05 while it will be 100mVpp on the CP06, which might be a problem if you're using it with a scope.

flywheelz · « **Reply #49 on:** March 24, 2016, 04:48:13 pm »

I love watching/reading reviews so if you do get CP-05 please make a post. Perhaps making a CP-05/CP-06 thread and moving our posts there wouldn't be a bad idea. I don't want to disrespect the OP by cluttering up the UT210E thread.

The spec for CP-05 a bit confusing to me. It says Min resolution is 1mA then below that it says Output sensitivity on 4A range is 10mA/1mV. Can it measures low Currents below 10mA?


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Author Topic: A look at the Uni-T UT210E (Read 439655 times)

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