Buying an DC Power Supply Vintage or New ? HP Agilent 6654A vs Rigol DP811 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: cogliostro
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 26, 2017, 11:29:36 pm
content: Hello, im New to this Forum, and guys i really need your help. I need to get an DC Power Supply (Digital) that can show the Voltage / Current used. Now after long research and watching severals of Daves Videos, and reading the blog. I'm have 2 Power Supplys i can't decide. The First one is an HP 6654A DC Power Supply comes with 60V / 9A (normaly i will not need the 60V / 9A (500W)) something between 30V and 6A will fit my needs. The next one is the Rigol DP 811 (195W) (not A) i have seen Daves Review of the DP832 and wanted to go with these. But you can't Bridge them that it will provide the Current i need. So i looked at the DP811 the Power Supply will cost me in Germany 522€ including Tax. 3 Years of Warranty and really good Display and Output Analysis. On the other Hand my Heart beats for Agilent these types of Power Supplys are rare these Days and have extremly high build Quality, especially in Europe. You cant get an 6553A under 900€ (1050$) plus Shipping. So im glad i found an 6654A for around 400 € plus 75€ Shipping. Please help me with my decision i thinking about this for 1 Week now. Please give me some feedback. Sorry im not an native English speaker.Some Technical Data:HP Agilent 6654Ahttp://www.testequipmenthq.com/datasheets/Agilent-6654A-Datasheet.pdfRigol DP811http://beyondmeasure.rigoltech.com/acton/attachment/1579/f-01c9/1/-/-/-/-/file.pdfI have seen the Rigol 832 from Inside Thanks to Daves Teardown Video.if anyone has an similiar Power Supply to the HP 6654A like the (6651A / 6652A / 6653A etc.) i would highly appreciate if can you show the inside of it.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2017, 11:51:07 pm
content: A HP6654A is heavy (nearly 30kg), noisy and huge (51cm deep 19" 2U case). I have the 6672A (2000W 20V/100A) model which I only use for very special occasions.IMHO the 500W models in these series are too big for the amount of power they deliver.If your only requirement is to see voltage and current then GW Instek's GPE-2323 (2x30V 3A) may be worth looking at because it offers 1mA current readback resolution.

author: cogliostro
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 27, 2017, 12:12:19 am
content: Thank you very much for showing me pictures of this psu. I know they are heavy and big. But from my point of view (mid 80`s Kid) heavy is good ? heavy is reliable, heavy = good build quality ? i always having the feeling this new tech stuff is build for failing. Not today but soon after the Warrenty is gone, maybe im just to worried. Or maybe Chinese Learn to put in some 5 KG Lead bar inside their PSU

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2017, 09:44:44 am
content: Big & heavy mostly just sucks especially if you need to move such a piece of equipment. And they can fail. It still is a piece of electronics. I'm sure that if you have a 6654A and a small, light and quiet PSU the small & light PSU is on your bench and you use it all the time.

author: Rolo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2017, 10:24:07 am
content: You can take a look here :http://www.woutersenwouters.be/This company is in Belgium. He's not cheap but does have quit a stock of used professional equipment. Please note that prices on the site are VAT excluded.Second tip, you can contact Toploser on this forum, and monitor the sales section on this forum. He frequently sells equipment for good prices. He ships from the UK so no VAT issues (yet....) . I bought a very nice GWInstek four channel PSU from him. Do not let his nickname fool you, he has a good reputation on this forum.

author: cogliostro
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 27, 2017, 12:51:22 pm
content: Thank you @Rolo, for your recommendation.@nctnico i will never need to move it around. It will be sitting on my Deskbut now i have found an video of the 655Xa inside and it looks pretty similar to the 654Xa Seriesnot the best Quality but you can see the inside of an 500W PSU it looks pretty much the same than Daves Agilent

author: _Wim_
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2017, 11:05:21 am
content: Quote from: cogliostro on December 26, 2017, 11:29:36 pmThe DP832 output 1 en 2 can be parallelled according to the user manual (see chapter 2-9 in the user manual):https://www.batronix.com/pdf/Rigol/UserGuide/DP800_UserGuide_EN.pdf

author: _Wim_
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2017, 11:42:12 am
content: Quote from: _Wim_ on December 29, 2017, 11:05:21 amI just gave it a quick try on mine, works ok (see pictures). With no load attached, there is some current indicated that is not present. Also, when one channel is not actively supplying current, the measured current is a bit off. As soon as both channels actively supply current, the current measurement is correct. I increased the voltage gradually until the switch to constant current mode was made. This worked as expected.So when you only parallel the channels because you need more then 3A, this should be quite ok. So if you need this high current only occasionally, this seems like a reasonable solution (it would be good if Rigol would provide a "mode" for this, so the display could show the total current instead of the 2 individual ones, and the same for the limits).

author: TAMHAN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2017, 11:48:39 am
content: I have to admit that the rear binding posts are not really annoying...at least not on my HP 6624A.I have the guy under my desk, and have cables running up. Simply use four L profiles to mount it under the desk...can upload a pic if you want!

author: cogliostro
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 30, 2017, 12:59:42 am
content: I also have no problem with rear binding posts. i have not to change the attached Cable often. I ordered now the Rigol DP 811 from a German Vendor (they Provide an 30 Days Return) . I will try this Power Supply if it fit my needs i will keep it. What looks really nice is the Build Quality it's more durable then i tought it would be. But the Display is a little small on this thing. I have the Rigol DS1054z also and i tought the display will be half the size of the Scope ones. But its litteraly the size of an Gameboy Display

author: TAMHAN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2017, 04:51:40 pm
content: That still makes it much bigger than that of the 66xx seriesTam