Review/Teardown of a MUSTOOL ET5410A+ Programmable DC Electronic Load/Battery Capacity Tester

[@PapasDino]

Thanks for the review Kerry...I never knew how useful an electronic load was at the bench until I got my first one (have two now, more is better!). Looks like a good unit for the beginner, especially at the price point.

[@nheng6913]

Nice unit, just received mine today. I used it intensely for an hour and have a good grasp of it. Enjoyed this review and it further confirms the wisdom of this purchase. I've used quite a few of the Array units in the past and this was a nice update with the color screen and power handling capabilities. And your review shows that it is easily repairable with common parts.

[@JAKOB1977]

what is the exact weight of your ET5410A+.? (just the unit alone) it says 2.9kg on the East Tester description, but curious what exactly it weighs?

[@rickvandenberg]

I just bought one of these and I was lost. Thank you, you saved me from a very big headache!

[@trevorvanbremen4718]

IMO, a decent review of an 'average' product. While I consider the product only 'average', it's still quite adequate for MOST users!

[@DuroLabs85]

What would be the resistance of the main SHUNT and the load sharing ones near the MOSFETs ??

[@grahamhall2662]

Excellent review as usual Kerry. Thank you. It would be interesting for you to compare this unit with the Korad KEL102/3 (TENMA 72-13210) at a similar price level

[@prashkd7684]

excellent work mate.. very nice breakdown of entire system.

[@spr00sem00se]

Thanks for the review, I got scalped on Amazon for this, but I needed it quickly, so hey ho. The softare is a good find even though its not very intuitive. So far the tester does waht it should, and makes testing a battery a lot easier than using a bank of power resistors and noting down current and volts every 30 seconds, lol

[@Chris-hy6jy]

As an alternative, the KEL103 is another very good low cost DC load. These are branded as Multicomp and Tenma in the UK.

[@simontay4851]

I noticed in the product description that there is a ET5420A+ double channel version. 2*20A instead of 1*40A. That would be more useful to me. But i can't find a way to select it. There is no drop down menu.

[@KerryWongBlog]

It could be out of stock on Banggood.

[@Corgitronics]

Great review! Did you check the load using a scope to check for noise? I found that one of my electronic loads introduced a lot of noise when I was testing some power supplies.

[@KerryWongBlog]

I haven't done it yet. I can probably try measuring the current waveform and using a resistive load for comparison.

[@Gengh13]

Looks pretty decent for the price. Similar to other loads that used to be more expensive.

[@UltraNyan]

At this price range nothing else compares, I do battery testing and have been considering replacing my really shitty Atorch tester with a Rigol DL3021 that does only 200W and costs 600 euros. While rigol doesnt require a PC to get capacity results, I guess paying 450 euros more for convenience isnt justified atm. If i wanna do some serious load testing I need to buy more devices and the price of that gonna really skyrocket.

[@JeanJVos]

Hi, If I connect a 3.5V 100Ah Li cell, why can I not discharge at more than 10A? Regards, Jean

[@ahmethidayetkaraturkmen7701]

I couldn't make software on PC

[@iraldo00]

HI excellent demonstration video, one question, did you turn on the second multimeter (Measure Current) in series in the phase or neutral of the Load Generator? Tks

[@KerryWongBlog]

Not sure exactly which part you were referring to, but when measuring current, the DMM was in series with the load.

[@morrisoc1]

Do you have any auggestions on where to get the uodated firmware for this EL? I have the ET version but as you mention they are identical.

[@andrepost7571]

At 32:07 I noticed the mains ground is connected to the plastic rear panel?

[@KerryWongBlog]

It is screwed into the metal casing.

[@rilosvideos877]

Very nice and interesting review! Thanks! You maybe should have done a longer heavy load test at 40A or at full power at 400W to see if it is capable of handling that power. Most chinese products are quite a bit overrated.

[@randycarter2001]

One should be aware that the heat sink is not ground. It's connected to the positive input terminal. The heat sink should be completely isolated from the chassis by plastic mounting. Be careful with your screws you don't to put ones in that are too long.

[@Alex-fx3lv]

У меня какие то проблемы с подключением к PC у et5410a+

[@pchunter168]

👍🏻

[@AVIONICSENG]

Question Kerry, can this DC load handle 28 VDC at 25 Amps? If not what unit would you recomend that has capibility of producing a discharge graph for cap check records? And thank youy for the many great reviews

[@KerryWongBlog]

No, this is a 400W load. 28x25=700. I have yet to see any hobby electronic load with this spec. There are plenty industrial 1kW load out there, they are just very pricey.

[@baghdadiabdellatif1581]

Thank you. If I have equipment that consumes 400 watts, and also works with four emergency batterys, batterys is fully charged, when reach 52 volts, and I want to test the batteries and know the time it takes to reach 43 volts from 52 volt of 400 watts of continues consumption. Can this device provide this feature?

[@KerryWongBlog]

This is one of the use cases of the electronic load (you set the cutoff voltage and discharge the battery through the electronic load with CC/CP).

[@baghdadiabdellatif1581]

@@KerryWongBlog thank you

[@danielpiep1223]

Can it measure Wh or Ah?

[@KerryWongBlog]

Yes, it has dedicated function for battery testing and I have used it in my recent videos.

[@andymouse]

So I can set it to 8Ω and attach an amplifier to it and measured performance then try 4Ω load, amongst other stuff ?? ...cheers.

[@KerryWongBlog]

Not sure about the minimum settle time required as it's not specified, at the very least you will have to DC shift the test waveform to ensure it remains positive at all times. But it can handle a lot of test scenarios.

[@snabelsvin1]

It's not the correct tool for the job. The amplifier won't see a constant resistance when outputting anything other than DC. As the frequency goes up, the voltage changes faster, and the load has to keep up with this. The "Constant Resistance" mode is most likely implemented in software, and since it isn't mentioned in the user manual how fast this unit is regulating, one should not expect to much.

[@andymouse]

@@snabelsvin1 Thanks, you are of course correct I hadn't thought about it enough ! wishful thinking I guess. I will stick to my 100W resistor...cheers.

[@matteo234321]

Another great and extensive review! Could you please give a link to where I might find the "Test Controller" application? I'd love to give it a go. Google is of no help, just guides for testing an Xbox controller!

[@KerryWongBlog]

Sure thing: lygte-info.dk/project/TestControllerIntro%20UK.html

[@matteo234321]

@@KerryWongBlog Awesome! Thank you!

[@kefler187]

Is "East Tester" a brand MUSTOOL owns ?

[@nheng6913]

The real manufacturer is the long Chinese name on the manual. For the East Tester, it's Hangzhou Zhongchuang Electron Co., LTD.

[@stevenbliss989]

Thanks you, great review to understand what this thing is! :) btw - What are the op-amps driving the mosfets? older dummy loads use TL07x & OP07C etc.. ...I am hoping this one uses something better? Also, is there doco on the communication with the ET5410A+ so I can write my own software, as the provided one is the usual crap (I am a professional systems programmer).

[@KerryWongBlog]

It uses the TL072. Yes, there's a SCPI command documentation floating around somewhere and people have written their own software using that (I tested the Test Controller lygte-info.dk/project/TestControllerIntro%20UK.html which worked well).

[@stevenbliss989]

@@KerryWongBlogThanks, I'll search around, someone may save me the trouble to write anything! :)

[@stevenbliss989]

@@KerryWongBlog TL072, not surprised, used heavily in PSUs and most mid/lower end Dummy Loads. I suspect that the control loop is easy to work (but SLOW) with using them, or more likely everyone copying everyone else. The IRF250/260 is the mosfet pass element used most often, and like the ones in the ET5410A+ is NOT rated for DC linear use, they are all switching mosfets! Reasonably fast mosfets with decent DC SOA in the linear are rare and VERY EXPENSIVE, so using MANY switching mosfets is one way around this, maybe a smart way, but a bit risky. I for one think the ET5410A+ is a good compromise for the money, and as I said a bit risky and likely slow, but as you say a good machines for hobbyists+, which is what I am not far from now in my retiring years. I will be buying one, and some spare mosfets! :)

[@TheBauwssss]

Hello Kerry :) Thank you for your great video! It was a joy to watch, and especially the fact that you (re)explain everything again without asuming a lot of prior knowledge is super helpful to me! It allows me to understand your entire video without any issue, whereas other teardown/in depth review videos very regularly go wayy over my head :D :D So thank you very much for making this video! When I just tried to buy this item from your Banggood link, it says "Invalid Coupon Code" when I try to put in the coupon code. Do you perhaps have another coupon code that will work? And how much do you think the device should cost with (and without) the coupon applied? I ask because the Banggood app is currently listing this item for me as costing approx 170 euros with free shipping, and I couldn't check what happened to the price when applying the coupon because sadly it isn't accepted ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[@KerryWongBlog]

Hmm, that was the coupon code I was given, I will check with Banggood to see what's going on. Thanks for letting me know!