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How many cycles will the KeySight U1281A's detent spring last?

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7 (17.9%)
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5 (12.8%)
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14 (35.9%)
8k-16k
7 (17.9%)
>16k (most rubust meter ever made)
6 (15.4%)

Total Members Voted: 36

Author Topic: Handheld meter robustness testing  (Read 1149233 times)

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Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3075 on: January 03, 2019, 04:29:54 pm »
Meanwile found another device that might get the attention for the ones trying to measure voltages on electric fences with meters,:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-Fence-Voltage-Tester-600V-to-7000V-Pocket-Garden-Tool-Controller-for-EU/302628255828

It uses neon lamps as indication for the voltage ( bargrapth) like the mains voltage tester, targeted for low impedance and measured between groound + fence. 

 
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Offline stj

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3076 on: January 03, 2019, 11:37:53 pm »
nice, but dangerous.

it should have had the probe extending from the case,
so you anchor the earth rod, and then probe the fence while ONLY holding the case.

from those images they expect you to hang it on the fence while holding the grounding probe!!
 

Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3077 on: January 04, 2019, 12:24:48 am »
nice, but dangerous.

it should have had the probe extending from the case,
so you anchor the earth rod, and then probe the fence while ONLY holding the case.

from those images they expect you to hang it on the fence while holding the grounding probe!!

Well someone demonstrate the oposite way :P



Ground somewere else and probe the fence with hand.. those neons dont bright very well...
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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3078 on: January 04, 2019, 12:34:07 am »
I was using 1000mA/hr from Wiki (860–1,200 and split the differnce) for AAA Alkalines to get the 312 hrs.  Dave was using 770mA/hr.

Sorry to be pedantic, but the unit is mAh (milliampere-hour) not mA/hr.

Also I spotted mH/hr (millihenries per hour?) as the column header on your chart.  I admit that made me LOL a little...  >:D

Good catch.  I will fix them the on the next round.   The / is a bad habit of mine.   I suspect you will find it frequent throughout my posts for other units as well.
 
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Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3079 on: January 07, 2019, 01:14:59 pm »
Wow the flashlight must be super bright and efficient
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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3080 on: January 07, 2019, 03:10:29 pm »
Wow the flashlight must be super bright and efficient
It's actually very dim and not very efficient at all.   The key was testing the stimulus's current limit.  Many people want to show lighting an LED as part of their meter reviews.  The custom meter can push about 500mA at more than 20 volts.   More than enough to test my HV diodes and power any handheld meter I have seen to date but not enough to power my flashlight.

Offline rsjsouza

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3081 on: January 07, 2019, 05:38:10 pm »
Joe, I did some measurements with a few of my meters.
edit 1: I added the BM857 and the 8060A
edit 2: I added the UT136C, MAS830L and 27/FM and reordered by Nominal
edit 3: I added the PM300
edit 4: I added the Mestek DM91A and the UT139C

All current and voltage measurements were done with my Keysight 36312A (cal due Aug/2019)

ModelPack DescriptionmAhNomCurBacklightMaxFuncCutoffNominalMin
Keysight U1273A4X AAA LR03100030mAN/A34mA4.2V33.33h29.41h
Brymen BM8571X 9V 6LR615505.2mA42mA5.6mA5.8V105.8h98.20h
Fluke 8060A1X 9V 6LR615504.0mAN/A4.6mA3.9V137.5h119.6h
Sanwa PM3001X 3V CR20322351.4mAN/A2.0mA1.7V167.8h117.5h
Uni-T UT61E1X 9V 6LR615503.2mAN/A5.4mA1.6V171.9h101.9h
Surpeer AV41X 9V 6LR615502.8mA31mA5.2mA3.1V196.4h105.8h
Uni-T UT136C1X 9V 6LR615501.8mAN/A2.9mA2.3V305.6h189.7h
Keysight U1282A4X AA LR0620005.3mA38mA7.1mA3.9V377.4h281.7h
Mestek DM91A2X AAA LR031001.7mA3.7mA3.2mA2.2V588.2h270.2h
Fluke 27/FM1X 9V 6LR615500.7mAN/A1.7mA3.6V785.7h323.5h
Uni-T UT139C2X AA LR0620001.7mA10.5mA2.4mA2.1V1176h833.3h
Mastech MAS830L1X 9V 6LR615500.3mA30mA1.9mA4.4V1833h289.5h

Considerations:
- VAC used on NomCur. No other modes or settings.
- UT61E is unmodified (non-GS version).
- Cutoff voltage measured until meter is powered off. Low Batt indicator was not considered.
- AV4, 8060A, BM857 and MSP830L started drifting. This was the Cutoff voltage used.
- UT61E, UT136C, 8060A, 27/FM and PM300 do not have backlight. U1273A has OLED display.
- Battery life was obtained with mAh/current. Far from ideal, given the cutoff voltage will reduce that, but enough for comparison.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2019, 09:19:51 pm by rsjsouza »
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Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 
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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3082 on: January 07, 2019, 06:09:56 pm »
Very nice work.   I am surprised that Keysight would make something with even lower life than the UNI-T.  Then again, who puts glass filled plastic in their detent springs. 

I had looked at the UT61E's cutoff voltage before and remember it running way down in the muck like you show.  I may run my modified 61E and see how much worse it is.   

Minor detail, in my test setup the voltage is read across the meter.  Basically I did not want my shunt to come into play. 

I am not sure how to deal with the cutoff.  Some meters' like the BM869s will run way down below the battery warning and audio alarm but it can also throw up some bad data.   

Offline rsjsouza

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3083 on: January 07, 2019, 06:47:14 pm »
Very nice work.   I am surprised that Keysight would make something with even lower life than the UNI-T.  Then again, who puts glass filled plastic in their detent springs. 
Thanks. The U1273A is on par with the other meters if the backlight was constantly on, which is the premise of the OLED display. In my regular use I don't see it being a terrible user experience, however I am in the US where batteries are dirt cheap when compared to my country of origin.

Minor detail, in my test setup the voltage is read across the meter.  Basically I did not want my shunt to come into play. 
The E36312A has 4-wire mode, but I couldn't be bothered. I may re-run and see if there is any influence.

I am not sure how to deal with the cutoff.  Some meters' like the BM869s will run way down below the battery warning and audio alarm but it can also throw up some bad data.
I am not either. The discharge rate is very non-linear; a battery drained to the cutoff level of an UT61E is quite unrealistic for practical purposes, given the meter beeps at power up and severely drops the voltage of such discharged battery.

I have one of these cheap chinese electronic loads that I could test a fresh battery and see its discharge curve, but in the end this is not really a valid sample.

All in all, these days I am much more concerned with chemical damage than with actual battery life. I ended up with non-rechargeable Lithium AA batteries in the U1282A just because it uses so little power. 
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Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 

Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3084 on: January 08, 2019, 12:38:24 am »
With the UNI-t, the backlight can be turned off and there are different levels of brightness.  Of course, you can't see anything.   When I have used it for data logging, the backlight will turn off.   I would have liked to see standard batteries used in it.  I still have no idea where to get a replacement and suspect I will have to retrofit it to some other pack.   I have a 0.5 ohm in my test jig for a shunt.  Figure 50mA, or 25mV drop, it was worth removing this error.   

I had saved a battery out of one of our smoke detectors that I have been running on the jig for fun.    It's dropping like a  rock while I am typing.   :-DD


Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3085 on: January 08, 2019, 02:54:06 am »
Comparing the current with my HP 34401A.   I suspect based on your numbers that this battery would still power the UT61E.   


https://youtu.be/IoCGMRi536Y

Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3086 on: January 08, 2019, 12:12:32 pm »
Hi sorry to ask again this, but do you tested with NIMH cells and had any different cut-off voltage? The uni-t 204A has different cut-off  for the NIMH batteries and i've tried another brand.

So cutoff:


Code: [Select]
 
Type Brand Cutoff (V)
-----------     -------------- -------------
9V 9F22 Duracell Ultra 7.0
8.4V 9F22 Tronic  220mAh 5.8
8.4V 9F22 fullwat  260mAh 4.7



CurrMin: 1mA
CurrMax : 10mA


I've replaced alkalines for nihm  on the BM235 and unit 139A to check cutoff voltage has well, but i believe had that on the aneng meter and the cut-off was always the same for alkaline or nimh as an example of consistency on battery cutoff for AAA or AA batteries.

EDIT:

Please sorry for posting this results but these were obtained improperly by taking off the batteries out of the load to measure instead of measure with the load. tested with 2x AA NIMH cells with chrismas lights untill they turned off, measure voltage without removing them got 1.187V / 1.169V . When taken out they went right to 1.2V and rising...   :palm: |O dooohnhh

« Last Edit: January 12, 2019, 12:37:37 pm by malagas_on_fire »
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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3087 on: January 08, 2019, 12:52:28 pm »
Hi sorry to ask again this, but do you tested with NIMH cells and had any different cut-off voltage? The uni-t 204A has different cut-off  for the NIMH batteries and i've tried another brand.

So cutoff:


Code: [Select]
 
Type Brand Cutoff (V)
-----------     -------------- -------------
9V 9F22 Duracell Ultra 7.0
8.4V 9F22 Tronic  220mAh 5.8
8.4V 9F22 fullwat  260mAh 4.7



CurrMin: 1mA
CurrMax : 10mA


I've replaced alkalines for nihm  on the BM235 and unit 139A to check cutoff voltage has well, but i believe had that on the aneng meter and the cut-off was always the same for alkaline or nimh as an example of consistency on battery cutoff for AAA or AA batteries.


If you watched the short video and followed the other thread, you can see how I was testing them. 

How did you measure the cutoff?  Details.

Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3088 on: January 08, 2019, 02:16:59 pm »
Sorry for the lack of the details.  After the unit shutdown due to lack of  "juice" when turned on, a few minutes of use, took the battery out and measured with another meters , the uni-t ut50b and the ut120c, in volts mode. Also let the batteries settle down for 10 minutes and still measured the same voltage, same meters.

This experience is a bit old so didn't follow the same guidelines, because of the issue of draining to quickly the 9V alkaline batteries in Amps with clamp meter... and opt for NIMH batteries since buying alkaline would become expensive alternative



« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 02:22:56 pm by malagas_on_fire »
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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3089 on: January 08, 2019, 03:01:25 pm »
Sorry for the lack of the details.  After the unit shutdown due to lack of  "juice" when turned on, a few minutes of use, took the battery out and measured with another meters , the uni-t ut50b and the ut120c, in volts mode. Also let the batteries settle down for 10 minutes and still measured the same voltage, same meters.

This experience is a bit old so didn't follow the same guidelines, because of the issue of draining to quickly the 9V alkaline batteries in Amps with clamp meter... and opt for NIMH batteries since buying alkaline would become expensive alternative

What makes you think that you can pull out the battery with no load, read it's voltage and get ANY meaningful results?   Clue, you can't.   That's pretty basic.    You will need to monitor the voltage with the meter attached and capture when it drops out (if that is your criteria).    If you are trying to characterize various batteries, you  may be better server tuning to the data sheets.   

 

Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3090 on: January 08, 2019, 03:29:34 pm »
Oppsss i thought bad since the meter shuts down after low battery it becomes completly open to the battery. However the 7V cut off from the alkaline battery measured is similar with most of the 9V battery operated uni-t meters for example the uni-t 50b , using the same battery.  It is on the NIMH and this meter that cut-off is different but again not the best procedure to measure voltage with real load. 

What i'm trying to do is if this meter has an issue with alkaline batteries since it behaves weird after a long period of usage , when is awaken.  It doesn't happen with NIMH. Problem is it worth time investing since it is a cheapo meter?
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Offline CDaniel

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3091 on: January 08, 2019, 04:29:50 pm »
The shutdown voltage should be the same for a multimeter , measurable with a variable power supply ... But different types of chemistry have different internal resistance when new and as the battery degrade . That "invisible" resistance is in series with the battery and produce voltage drop , so under load the voltages may be the same for all batteries at shutdown , but when pulled out different .

The internal resistance is temperature dependent , so in winter a "dead" multimeter can be revived temporarly if you heat up the battery .
« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 04:50:00 pm by CDaniel »
 

Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3092 on: January 08, 2019, 05:42:48 pm »
Sorry again for pulled down the battery as soon as the meter powered off on its own on low voltage till i couldn't turn on again. Temperature is around 16ºC to 20ºC, humidity up to 70% .

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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3093 on: January 08, 2019, 06:13:51 pm »
Oppsss i thought bad since the meter shuts down after low battery it becomes completly open to the battery. However the 7V cut off from the alkaline battery measured is similar with most of the 9V battery operated uni-t meters for example the uni-t 50b , using the same battery.  It is on the NIMH and this meter that cut-off is different but again not the best procedure to measure voltage with real load. 

What i'm trying to do is if this meter has an issue with alkaline batteries since it behaves weird after a long period of usage , when is awaken.  It doesn't happen with NIMH. Problem is it worth time investing since it is a cheapo meter?

I assume you own all of them that use 9V batteries and tested them to make a statement like that.   If you watched that short video, you would have seen how low my UT61E ran.  rsjsouza also tested their UT61E and posted the results.  I also posted data for the UT90.   

But again, you keep using the term cutoff and I am not sure of you are talking about an unloaded battery measurement.  So if this is what you are referring to, again its not a useful measurement when you are talking about cutoff.   

Again, from the video and last picture I posted.  I have a 470 ohm resister across the battery and am measuring the current and voltage.  After several hours, I put a 100 ohm in parallel with the 470.  The current jumps up and the voltage eventually reaches a point where it drops off fairly sharp.   I then remove the 100 ohm.   The 470 is still attached.  Note how the voltage recovers from less than 2 volts to roughly 7.   This happens in a very short time. 

It seems Dave make a few videos on it.  There are also some decent physics/chemistry channels that go deeper into the subject of batteries. 

Here you go...
https://youtu.be/dnXiLBabSTU

Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3094 on: January 08, 2019, 10:03:19 pm »
Hi there

Thanks for the information on the video.

Tested some and  uni-t's before buying one... they would turn off by lack of juice in the battery and the its voltage would be around 7V ( ut58... ut50... ut200 series.. ut33 ) with alkaline battery duracell ultra... The usual was taking off the battery and put another one... and measure the old one . The thing was when i purchased the ut204A i was testing some current measuements with sotck battery and it depleted the battery to nothing in 3 hours... it wouldn't turn on where the uni-t 50b was for 3 weeks  with the same battery .. and let it run till it drained... measured 7V.

So i decided to buy an duracell for the clamp and it didn't last long enought at least when using the clamp for measuring current, same 7V measurement. goes to ut50b lasts 3 weeks.. then decided to try some nimh batteries and they pretty last longer than the alkaline batteries, different voltage when meter shut down due to lack of juice... This clamp meter also has some "features" like it doesn't sleep always after the 15 minutes.

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Offline joeqsmithTopic starter

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3095 on: January 08, 2019, 10:17:17 pm »
Hi there

Thanks for the information on the video.

Tested some and  uni-t's before buying one... they would turn off by lack of juice in the battery and the its voltage would be around 7V ( ut58... ut50... ut200 series.. ut33 ) with alkaline battery duracell ultra... The usual was taking off the battery and put another one... and measure the old one . The thing was when i purchased the ut204A i was testing some current measuements with sotck battery and it depleted the battery to nothing in 3 hours... it wouldn't turn on where the uni-t 50b was for 3 weeks  with the same battery .. and let it run till it drained... measured 7V.

So i decided to buy an duracell for the clamp and it didn't last long enought at least when using the clamp for measuring current, same 7V measurement. goes to ut50b lasts 3 weeks.. then decided to try some nimh batteries and they pretty last longer than the alkaline batteries, different voltage when meter shut down due to lack of juice... This clamp meter also has some "features" like it doesn't sleep always after the 15 minutes.

I doubt there are many meters out that that use a 9V battery that a cutoff voltage of 7 or higher.  Again, how did you measure them?  Show your test setup and explain the details. 

Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3096 on: January 09, 2019, 12:55:18 am »
Sorry again for pulled down the battery as soon as the meter powered off on its own on low voltage till i couldn't turn on again. Temperature is around 16ºC to 20ºC, humidity up to 70% .



This way... meter powers down, open the case, take out the battery and measure voltage with another meter...Should i measure when it is still on the meter even if is supposelly powered off? I can re-run this with the 204A because it can be turned to always on...and draws 1mA in Vac mode.
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Offline IanB

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3097 on: January 09, 2019, 05:28:34 am »
This way... meter powers down, open the case, take out the battery and measure voltage with another meter...Should i measure when it is still on the meter even if is supposelly powered off? I can re-run this with the 204A because it can be turned to always on...and draws 1mA in Vac mode.

Broadly speaking, you need to know that NiMH fully drained cells "rebound" when you take the load off them. For example, a completely drained NiMH cell may have an open circuit voltage of ~1.2 V. You can put a small load on it and the voltage will drop down to 0.5 V or lower. Take the load off the cell and the voltage will rapidly rise up towards 1.2 V again. The best way to see this happening is to have the cell attached to the voltmeter when you do this experiment.

Alkaline cells don't behave the same way. They have a very small rebound or recovery, but it is much less pronounced.
 
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Offline malagas_on_fire

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3098 on: January 09, 2019, 12:26:52 pm »
Hi.

What about leaving the ut2104A in always on mode and re-check again the voltage on the battery without remove it (it has a 8.4V 220mAh nimh currently)  Then with the same procedure using a fresh duracell ultra. 
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Offline stj

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Re: Handheld meter electrical robustness testing.
« Reply #3099 on: January 09, 2019, 01:07:02 pm »
you should reallly be running a pair of wires from the battery in the meter to test it's output while it's in circuit and the meter is on.
 
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