As these can often be found on E-Bay, I thought it was useful to start a topic about these units. I bought mine on E-Bay as well. I guess it's roughly 14 years old, but apart from some dust inside it looks brand new.
Agilent product page:
http://www.home.agilent.com/en/pd-838292-pn-E3615A/60w-power-supply-20v-3aQuick specs:
20V 3A
Overvoltage cutout
"Programmable" with terminals on the back
The most important thing to note is that these have an input voltage selector switch inside, unlike the
E3610A Dave tore down. The cover can easily be removed by lifting the 2 big tabs on the sides. The input voltage can be switched between 100V / 110V / 230V. The switch can be seen on the left side of the transformer. Don't forget to properly mark the set voltage on the back of the unit...
Something funny I noticed is that it's possible to have both the CC and CV LED on at the same time
The output is still rock solid when that happens though.
Of course all the components are top of the range. Nice Bourns 10 turn pots, Nichicon caps, decent chassis...
On the back there's a row of switches and connectors for externally setting the voltage and current. External voltage sensing is also supported. When you have another E3615A you can connect them together for all kinds of automatic parallel / serial operation modes.
Be aware that this unit can be damaged when a battery is connected to the outputs and the overvoltage protection kicks in. A crowbar circuit will short the outputs, which is a very bad idea when you have something like a battery or other power source feeding back into the unit.