Keysight E36731A Battery Emulator alternative

[lutkeveld]

Hi all. Im building a testfixture for validation of a PCBA with a battery input and onboard charging circuit.
To do this I am looking for some sort of bipolar PSU which can simulate a battery input.
I have found the Keysight E36731A, which is really nice, but has a less nice pricetag of 5K USD.
Do any of you have recommendations for some cheaper (Chinese?) alternatives?
I need to simulate a 12V lead acid battery (so ~10.5 to 13.8V, 3A).

[nctnico]

Look at the Agilent 66311B and related models. Should be close to your needs with some remote control

[jc101]

Hi all. Im building a testfixture for validation of a PCBA with a battery input and onboard charging circuit.
To do this I am looking for some sort of bipolar PSU which can simulate a battery input.
I have found the Keysight E36731A, which is really nice, but has a less nice pricetag of 5K USD.
Do any of you have recommendations for some cheaper (Chinese?) alternatives?
I need to simulate a 12V lead acid battery (so ~10.5 to 13.8V, 3A).

The battery emulation doesn't work without a BenchVue licence, rented by the year or buying a permanent licence for ~2k on top of the instrument price.
It is a nice unit, but crippled by a licence to actually use the thing.

[lutkeveld]

Look at the Agilent 66311B and related models. Should be close to your needs with some remote control

Also a good option and slightly more affordable, but I was hoping more in the 500-1000 EUR range.
Maybe this is not realistic, but I was thinking that logically it is just a power supply that can also sink current
Maybe it's more complicated than that

[nctnico]

The 66311B can be bought cheap on the used market. I paid $50 for mine from Ebay. You should be able to get one with warranty from a test equipment dealer for a good price. Instrumex has one listed for 1250 euro.

There is also the Gw instek gpp4000 series which can source  / sink but I don't know whether it can do 2 quadrant operation.

[thm_w]

Also a good option and slightly more affordable, but I was hoping more in the 500-1000 EUR range.
Maybe this is not realistic, but I was thinking that logically it is just a power supply that can also sink current
Maybe it's more complicated than that

A working 66311B can be had used for $200-500.

There is nothing in this price range in terms of modern instruments. The closest could be GW Instek PPH-1506D / GPP3610H/ etc. But that would involve your own programming. You could also just get a separate electronic load and PSU, if you are willing to go to that effort. Or some have even used normal PSU's to sink current.

Modern stuff:
- Keithley 2281S 4k not powerful
- NGU201 6k+
- NGM200 4k+

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/battery-simulators-ngm202-vs-bcs6401/

[lutkeveld]

Oh I see the second hand market for these Agilents is big and very affordable indeed. Will try my luck on Ebay! Thanks for the help.