EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: PaulAm on August 15, 2020, 02:18:52 am
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I always wanted a piece of ACME branded equipment.
Saw this mentioned on the TEA thread, bought it and then the seller canceled because it was scrapped. Somebody else on ebay had one, I offered 50% for it and had it accepted. Given the shipping charged, it's not exactly a score, but a 1KW programmable load for $50 isn't bad. Shipping was expensive, but at least it was well packed.
The description said:
When it was tested the unit was found to not operate as expected. The unit does not respond to the front panel controls. The unit will not program or apply load. Due to this condition the unit is being sold as is for parts or repair.
Figured it was worth a gamble. Got it, plugged it in and turned it on. The fans came up, but nothing else. Well, it is a load, you need to supply something to it. Hooked up a power supply and the Blown Fuse light came on. Jumpered the 150A fuse and everything looks like it works. It will do either constant current or constant resistance and can be programmed via a voltage. Easy enough to add an arduino and a couple op amps to provide digital programming and data logging. And maybe a better display. That meter is one of the hardest to read analog meters I've seen. There are 34 pass transistors in the shunt.
A replacement fuse is on the way for $7. This thing will handle up to 110A and 60V with an 80 uSec response for a 100A step. So overall, not bad. I have some battery work coming up where this will be useful.