New Rigol DC Load DL3000 Series

[mrprecision]

I have got an answer from Rigol:

Speaking of your question, what the status of the E-load will be when it has a reverse connection, there is a diode in the E-load, and all the loads will not be really disconnected, but if the current is too large (over the current range), then the current will burn the diode.

Thanks for the Rigol support!

[HKJ]

Sorry for nagging again. What do you need electronic loads for? I never understood that. If I'm a power supply manufacturer, okay.

You are aware that most electronic includes a power supply om some sort? With a load you can test that power supply (including cooling) before the rest of the circuit is ready or without having to drive the circuit into the extremes to check that the power supply can handle it.
It can also be used to test batteries.

Another possibility is to turn any power supply into a constant current source.

In my opinion it is a very useful type of equipment and luckily it is also fairly cheap.

[sugenk]

Has anyone flashed the new firmware (1.04 / 1.05) and then tried the battery discharge app? The new firmware broke that feature for me, load wont go above 0.1A regardless of settings. I found 1.02 firmware hosted online and rolled it back, and suddenly it works fine again.

Curious to see if anyone can replicate that or if it's just mine.

Hi all,

I had DL3031A, the HW version 01.00
Already flash the new firmware 00.01.05 and this bug is also happened. Sometimes, the load is wont run. Then need to power off and on again to start normally. Do you have link for old firmware 1.02 ?

Today I just join the forum, to ask help for fixing the PS protection. The INPUT is not working at all. Checking by SCPI command

Code: [Select]

-> *TST?
<- (Return Count:100)
OppRef:FAILED,VmonTrig:FAILED,ImonTrig:FAILED,OcpRef:FAILED,OvpRef:FAILED,Temp1:FAILED,Temp2:FAILED

-> :STAT:OPER:COND?
<- (Return Count:5)
8192
Think I got big trouble, cause the device is not working right now, since there is no opertion manual to clear this PS protection.

note of DL3000 programming guide in page 1-7, SCPI Status Register, opertion condition is 8192 --> PS  :
Protection Shutdown. When overcurrent, overpower, or overtemperature occurred, the load's input is turned off (protection shutdown).

 

[electr_peter]

Hi,
I saw that Jerry Walker solved some rebooting issues on RIGOL DP832 power supply. He tracked it down to unstable 4.2V supply for pretty complex processor due to insufficient decoupling - ripple was massive 1-2V P-P. Additional caps solved the issue. 5V regulator overheating due to small heatsink turned out to be secondary issue.
Source: Rigol DP832 Repair Part3 (see parts 4&5 for more detail)

Now, RIGOL DL3000 DC load uses the same processor as DP832 (see screen shots from EEVblog #511 - Rigol DP832 Power Supply Teardown and EEVblog #1023 - Rigol DL3021 Electronic Load Teardown) It also should have 4.2V rail which is important for regulation.
Can anyone with DL3000 check 4.2V rail for ripple just to be sure?

[electr_peter]

Forum member confirmed that all models of DL3000 range share the same HW and can be simply hacked to top version (dl3021-to-dl3031-conversion-discussion)

[ornea]

Sorry for nagging again. What do you need electronic loads for? I never understood that. If I'm a power supply manufacturer, okay.

As has been mentioned, testing batteries a PSU's.

I recently plotted my fully charged mobile phone battery and could clearly see that the battery was at 1/3 capacity so I could eliminate the phone as the cause of poor battery performance.  I tested the phone and observed startup currents  in excess of 1.4amps!!! and thought the phone was suspect so tested the battery.

I regularly test 7Ah batteries that maybe used in UPS's, it removes the guess work.

We use it to test PSU's after repair.  However, it seems that DC loads behave strange when testing PSUs for power up load tests.  Seems we have to resort to resistive loads for those tests.  I think the DC load takes to long to respond and the PSU sees it as excessive current so goes into shutdown

[ben_r_]

Wow, you're kidding. DL3031A for the price of a DL3021!? Well that's all I needed to hear Im in!