Low-Cost Electronic DC Load » Pallav Aggarwal

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Overview

In this article I am going share details about a little test tool i.e. Electronics DC Load.

An electronic load is mainly useful when you want to test your power supplies/batteries, you can set a load and test if your power supply is able to output current properly if any heating issues are there or not. And, in the case of battery if it is able to output the desired capacity or not.

Cost & Availability

This DC load costs about 20$ or around 2000 INR.

I have purchased it from Amazon India but I have seen this type of load available on popular websites like Aliexpress, Alibaba, eBay, Banggood.

Electronic DC Load Features

Power: 60W
Voltage: 1.0V to 25V Max
Current: 0.2A to 9.99A Max.
Two seven-segment displays, one for voltage and one for current
The encoder switch is there for configuration
It has a buzzer for alarm
Start / Stop button
It has remote sense capability as well to eliminate the voltage drop in the cable from the power supply or battery to this load
Heatsink with Fan
DC Load works with an external 12V input
There are two Modes: Func 1(constant current mode), Func 2 (Battery testing mode), watch the video for more details.

Limitations

Min Power supply or battery voltage it can load is 1.0V
Min Current setting is 0.2A / 200mA.
The current display only shows the set current not the real-time current, unlike the voltage display.
There is UART/PC interface to control it using software
Step load functionality is not there

Although it has limited capabilities but still for many of our development testing requirement this is very useful tool and I recommend you buying one or two for your lab.

It can be useful when you are testing your power supply circuits say 1.2V/2.5/3.3/5.0/12V/24V and similarly batteries up to 25V DC.