Welcome to a new video, this will be a review of a new test instrument I discovered, you know I like electronic loads and I’ve tested a bunch of hobby grade electronic loads in the past, these were sub $50 items and that budget also meant they had some disadvantages like limited power, limited reliability, limited connectivity, limited functionality and limited accuracy. You were basically trading off a bunch of stuff to be able to get a cheap affordable electronic load.
This is the Kunkin KP184 and I believe this will be a game changer for those who are looking to get something a bit more professional but are still limited by budget and they can’t go for the better instruments starting at 500 USD. The unit is delivered in a large box with nice padding protection and inside you get the instrument, a user manual and a few accessories like some spade connector, an RS232 cable and some wiring.
Let’s talk a bit about the specs of this unit, I have the KP184 model which is like their better equipped model, it works with both 110 and 240VAC, the load voltage can be a DC voltage between 1 and 150V, up to 40A, up to 400W. Measurement accuracy is 0.05% + 5 counts for both current and voltage with 1mV and 1mA of resolution, we’ll be verifying that later. There is RS232 and RS485 connectivity with a modbus protocol which is specified in the user manual and there is a piece of software for the PC, you have to obtain it from the manufacturer which doesn’t respond to emails but I’ve managed to source it and I’m gonna put a link to this in the description below the video and I’ll try to connect it towards the end of this video.
If you would like to checkout the teardown of the Kunkin KP184 click here.
No comment, but a question: Will operating the KP184 on 120V @ 60Hz have any detrimental effects?