Setting up an HP6060B for use as a Battery Capacity tester - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Gandalf_Sr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2017, 02:03:26 pm
content: I got an HP6060B a while back with battery capacity testing in mind. Now I come to use it it looks like you can only get constant current, constant voltage, or constant resistance from the front panel controls. What's really needed is to draw a constant current from the battery until it drops to a specified voltage, ideally with Watt-hours recorded. Does anyone have any advice on how to use it for battery capacity testing? I think using it with GPIB will do what I need but what (free) software is available for that and do I need to roll my own code?

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 08:33:01 am
content: If it does not have a undervoltage limit (does not seem that way), I see two solutions. The first would be to connect an analog comparator to the voltage monitor output, and have it either drive the external trigger input or remote voltage programming input to reduce the set current.The alternative would be software that continuously checks the measured voltage and shuts down the load when it crosses a certain threshold. Because this is a fairly slow process (the battery is not going to run flat in a millisecond), this should work fine. Since you probably also want to record voltage and current over time so you can do integration over time, the software solution seems to be the obvious one to me. If there is off the shelf software, it would probably made by HP/Agilent around the time the loads were released.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2017, 10:44:55 am
content: I rolled my own software for a different load. If you dump the data to a CSV file you can create a graph using Excel so no need to make something really fancy.

author: Gandalf_Sr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 12:03:32 pm
content: Thanks, I won't get to this for a few weeks but writing code to control instruments is something I'm keen to get into. I've been working with Visual Studio, Windows Forms, and VB.Net recently, can anyone point me to what technology / command sets / drivers I would use to command HP/Agilent/Keysight instruments over Ethernet and GPIB (I have an HP E5810A LAN / GBIP gateway).

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2017, 01:59:41 pm
content: The E5810A is supported by the current Keysight VISA (IO Libraries). Pretty sure it includes .NET bindings. Keysight may have sample code available in C#. You would then be sending commands as described in the 6060B manual. If you want further abstraction, you could search for an IVI driver for the HP 6060B. That would give you an easier interface that is standardized across different manufactures/models.

author: AMR Labs
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 07, 2022, 03:50:07 pm
content: Just came around this old thread while looking some info about the HP6060B.In the user manual of the 6060B it states that it can be setup to discharge a battery but it will only stop doing it once the battery voltage has reached ZERO volts, which is probably not a good thing for any chemistry. Depending on what size batteries you intend to measure for capacity, there are better options in the form of smaller electronic loads that I have purchased in the past on the e-place and that allow you to set a cut-off voltage and will read out accumulated battery capacity in both Ah and Wh as the test progresses, along with the voltage of the battery. The ones I have are made in china and so far seem to work well in that sense, and are rated at 60W max, 30V and up to 10Amps. They cost each around $25 US, and they are a bare board with a build-in heatsink and fan, plus two LED displays and a rotary encoder/push button. I've used two or more of these loads in parallel when more than 60W was needed to be handled. I also do have a 6060B which I use to test power supplies.Hope that is helpful information.