GW INSTEK GPM8310 Digital Power Meter - hands-on review

[RBBVNL9]

Hi EVVbloggers,

The GW INSTEK GPM-8310 is an interesting addition to the market for single-phase power meters. Since there are no reviews on that device yet, I reviewed it in detail. Hope you find it useful!

0:00 Introduction, physical
7:27 Specifications, market positioning
16:01 Block diagram
18:23 Experiments
40:38 UI
47:03 Recording and logging
53:04 I/O options
1:00:03 Recommendations

[MazeFrame]

I wish more reviews were this thorough.

[RBBVNL9]

GW INSTEK posted a reply to the video review, and expect that many of the comments will be addressed in a new firmware update soon (see link above).

So, looking forward to these improvements and will test the device again after a new firmware version is released!

[electr_peter]

Great and detailed review, thanks for the effort.

Measurement box adapter is a very useful and recommended IMO accessory with power meter to test mains devices. Otherwise measurement setup gets messy and potentially dangerous with wires going everywhere.
Although expensive, GW-Instek measurement adapter's GPM-001 price is similar to other manufacturers (e.g. R&S HZC815 adapter for HMC8015 power analyser). I not sure I like that universal socket on GPM-001. However, it easy to make DIY version of similar specs.
More details on power measument adapters here: breakout-boxes-for-acdc-power-measument-with-analyzer

[RBBVNL9]

A couple of days ago (March 18, 2022), GW-INSTEK issued firmware upgrade 1.05 which fixed a couple of issues I addressed in my video.

Among other things, navigation through the screens is made more consistent. Now, the ESC button always brings you back to the previous level. Quite helpful. Small display errors have been corrected (like for the zoom function). Also, the harmonics screen now shows the harmonics method (IEC/CSA/OFF) and allows you to change that setting. I find it still strange that the bars turn completely off when no harmonics method is selected (this should only affect things like THDV and THDI measurements, not the bars themselves). But at least we get to see the setting. There are a couple more changes too.

There are still a number of other issues open, but it’s a (small) start!

[coppice]

Those slides show an interesting set of competitors, that miss the power meters and power analysers you see in most labs - Yokogawa, Kikusui, Tektronix/Voltech, Chroma, etc.

The THDI value with an incandescent lamp was strangely low. Its usually 10% to 20%, because the filament cools so much through the mains cycles. The video shows the THDI as approximately the same as the THDV, as though the filament's cycling temperature is having no effect on the current draw.

[RBBVNL9]

Since firmware V1.05, it seems that the GW INSTEK GPM8310 has a new problem in the interval setting used for recording. When setting the interval in SETUP -> INTERVAL, one cannot scroll through values for the various digits. The ‘seconds’ value only can be set at 8 or 9 (!), the tenth seconds only to 0 or 5, etc. Seems like a broken UI issue. But: if you reboot the device and leave the value at 00:00:00, then the log will not use the internal setting but default to the data update rate. That rate offers 8 values (not continuous like the interval setting), but it is actually more interesting because it does allow shorter intervals like 0.1s (so 10 measurements logged per second), and 0.25s (4 measurements logged per second). Note: once you tried to change values for the ‘interval’ setting, you cannot get back any more to 00:00:00 and need to reboot the instrument.

Also, my YouTube video was not entirely correct in terms of saving logs – partly because of limited feedback and a somewhat confusing UI, I think.  Saving the log of the measured value is NOT via the SETUP -> PAGE 2/2 -> SAVE/LOAD menu (that menu is about instrument settings into internal memory slots). Instead, in advance of the measurements, you need to go to SETUP -> PAGE 2/2 -> HARDCOPY. Change the ‘type’ from ‘capture’ to ‘log’. Then do the measurements, and click the ‘Hardcopy’ key on the front panel.

So, the full series of steps to save a log of measurements (taking into account the problem with the V1.05 software) is as follows:

1.   Reboot the device.
2.   Enter a good FAT-32 USB stick (best test proper functioning before saving logs).
3.   Set the V-range, I-range and other settings as desired.
4.   Press SETUP and check that the interval setting is at 00:00:00. Do not change this.
5.   Press ‘ENTER’, scroll down to ‘UPDATE RATE’ and select the desired interval: there are eight options between 0.1s (i.e., 10 logs per second) and 20s (i.e., 3 logs per minute)
6.   Go within SETUP, click PAGE 2/2 -> HARDCOPY. Change the ‘type’ from ‘capture’ to ‘log’. Best leave OVERWRITE at off (so for every save, the instrument saves a new file with an increment file number). Click ‘ESC’ button once to return to SETUP menu.
7.   Press ‘ENTER’, scroll down to ‘MEASUREMENT STORAGE’.
8.   Start the recording by choosing “On”. Note there is no visual clue that recording started except that the
9.   Do one of the following:

• Wait until you finished doing the desired measurements
• OPTIONAL: if you want relative time logs in your data, then go to the main screen, go to INTEGRATOR MODE, press START. Wait until you finished doing the desired measurements. Then press STOP. And then also press RESET (without that you cannot save the results…)

10.   Go to the main screen, SETUP, click ‘Enter’, chose ‘MEASUREMENT STORAGE’ and select ‘Off’. 
11.   Press the ‘Hardcopy’ key on the front panel. You should see the message “Data Log is being saved !”
12.   If you again want to activate screen prints after this, go to SETUP -> PAGE 2/2 -> HARDCOPY. Change the ‘type’ from ‘log’ to ‘capture’.

Hope this is of use to others. Should you spot errors, let me know!

[RBBVNL9]

I also want to share a file that can be helpful to GW INSTEK GPM8310 users doing logs.

The log output is rather extensive and saves lots of harmonics data per measurement. If you just want the regular measurements, you should pick out these lines from the output file, always 18 lines apart (namely lines 23, 41, 59, etc.). The attached Excel sheet does just that. Use as follows:
a.   Delete row 59 and below from the worksheet “DATA003 copy”
b.   Overwrite (copy/paste) the worksheet “DATA003 copy” with the data of your own measurements. Do not change the name of the worksheet!
c.   Go to worksheet ‘results’
d.   That worksheet currently takes 322 measurements value from the full data. If you need more, then just drag down the entire last row with measurement data including all calculations. Make sure NOT to delete or change the line a bit lower with values “2”, “3”, “4” and so on. Those cells are used to pick up the right data.

Enjoy!
 

[DrX]

Thanks for this wonderful review, I am considering to buy one of this but I noticed my SDS2104x has power analysis capability. Considering you also review SDS2104x, do you think having GPM-8310, adds any extra capability to my tools.
I did these two measurement using SDS2104x and Micsig DP10007 (differential probe) and Micsig CP2100B current prob).

[coppice]

Thanks for this wonderful review, I am considering to buy one of this but I noticed my SDS2104x has power analysis capability. Considering you also review SDS2104x, do you think having GPM-8310, adds any extra capability to my tools.

The power meter is a precision measurement tool. The oscilloscope is not. If you need to look deeply into what is happening with your signals, to gain insight, use the oscilloscope. If you want to make precision measurements of your signals use the power meter.

[RBBVNL9]

Thanks for this wonderful review,

Thanks 

I am considering to buy one of this but I noticed my SDS2104x has power analysis capability. Considering you also review SDS2104x, do you think having GPM-8310, adds any extra capability to my tools.

Good question, and comparing power measurements by the GPM-8310 and by the Siglent SDS2000X PLus is actually on the list of YouTube videos I was planning for the future. Stay tuned ;-)

[IGBTSiC]

Hi,
do you know if the GW INSTEK GPM-8310 allow to work synchronously for two analyzers to calculate the efficiency of DUT? The GW INSTEK GPM-8330 calculate the efficiency but only for 1P3W connection method, so it is impossible to measure the the efficency for DC devices where we need 1P2W x 2.