MakerHawk Battery Load Tester - 150W 200V 25A Electronic Load Tester USB Load 4-Wire System Adjustable Constant Current Voltage Discharge Lithium Battery Capacity Tester Support Remote Control

I got the Orange one because it comes with the case and it's also 180w. The case is hard to get on, plus also making sure the button cover is on along with the case makes it even harder. You will need thermal paste if you try to put the case on. All you have to do is separate the fan part from the circuit board. So that means just focus on the 4 legs. I used needle nose pliers to squeeze the bottoms so the pins slide up and out. Once you separate the fan, you'll see on the bottom of the fan where the thermal paste will go. You do not take the actual fan apart. It's just the 4 legs that come off the circuit board and the bottom of the fan comes off of the metal plate thats soldered onto the board. In between the bottom of the fan and the metal soldered piece is where the thermal paste goes. I just bought the ARCTIC MX-6 (2 g) for like $5 and used a pea sized drop. This paste is what helps keep the temperature down. With the case, I recommend wedging the fan base (which is the 4 legs) thru the opening to the top part of the case, before screwing on the bottom part. The case is 2 parts.. front and back. So you would take the front part and finagle the legs in. I had to lightly pry on the plastic for it to fit. Once its in, then you can start putting the fan (and front cover) onto the circuit board (paste already applied and likely still a little wet but ok). Then you can put the back piece on. Also if you need help getting the clear plastic legs into the board, I used a paper clip to stick in from the bottom side and kind of twist it into a circle motion around the clear leg, while lightly trying to still push it into the hole from the other side.. for whatever reason, it walks itself into the hole every time. I know it walks itself in because I've had to take this apart several times and man was it not fun. The back part of the cover also has a large semi square cut out.. this opening needs to be on the part of the bottom of the board that has all the small circle holes, which is also below the fan. That way theres air flow. The problem I was having, besides getting the fan legs into the case and also trying to line everything up with the button covers too, is that when I put everything together for the first time, the screen wouldnt light up. So I have some kind of short somewhere.. in order for the screen to work I have to keep the 2 bottom screws on the back side just barely screwed in. It does occasionally go out, but it stays on 99% of the time now that I know how to maneuver it. Theres also videos on YT.. I didn't really look or watch thru a lot of videos but I've seen them on there.. this is titled aTorch DL24 .. sometimes DL24P (which I think the 180w is). And I got this thing for one purpose only and that is so I can test all these power tool batteries that I have.. real name brand ones and also generic china ones. At first I was overwhelmed.. but once you figure it out its not bad at all and its actually VERY easy. Basically, when you plug the power cord in the fan lights up and starts spinning for a couple seconds and the screen lights up. The fan quickly stops on its own and the screen will say LANGUAGE SELECTION (which is default to English but you can change it here or in the menu, but this first screen goes away in 10 seconds or by clicking the bottom button Ok), the very next screen is a QR Code.. when scanned with your phones camera it brings you to atorchs website.. where you can download all the manuals of atroches different electronics. Any listing on this amazon link (Orange, Green, Blue) will fall under the same manual (I believe).. the "DL24/P User Manual". But anyways.. after the QR Code screen disappears in 60 secs or by clicking the bottom button Ok. Then the very next thing you see on the screen is the final screen (besides the menu). This is the main screen where you will see all the data. Theres only 3 things you can change on this main screen. The very top where it says CC, the part that says TIME DISCHARGE, and the part the says CUT OFF VOLTAGE. Theres 4 buttons to this device. We're just going to label them Top, Bottom, and Left, and Right. T, B, L, R. .. Ok.. so from this main screen hold the Top button until CC is highlighted. Once highlighted, let go. Then push the Left or Right buttons. This will cycle you through the different tests this can run. Which are CC (Constant Current in Amps), CR (Constant Resistance in Ohms), CP (Constant Power in Watts), and CV (Constant Voltage in Volts). So whatever test you want to run, this is where you pick it. After you select which test you want to use.. in my case CC.. then you tap the Top button once and this will cycle you thru each digit that are to the right of the CC as you keep tapping the top button. Where ever you stop at, you then click the Right and Left buttons to change the digit.. Right is up and Left is down. Then once thats set, you can long press the top button, which will highlight the CC (or whatever test you are wanting) again. Once highlighted, then press let go and press Top button again and this will move you down to TIME DISCHARGE. You can leave this blank if you want, I do. Its just what you can set so the test automatically stops after a certain amount of time. It's the countdown for it. Which you can change in the menu too. But if you keep pressing the Top button your next spot will be CUT OFF VOLTAGE. Here you do the same thing with the Right and Left buttons for changing digits. Then once everything is done you click the Bottom button and the screen should say OK, which saves what you just set. Every time you unplug this device and plug back in, you have to change these again because it resets to default. But any test you've ran in the past, all that info will still be displayed so you have to clear that data in the menu. So to recap really quick. We've turned it on.. went thru the Language screen by clicking Bottom button Ok, then the QR screen by clicking Bottom button Ok. Which had us at the main screen. Here we can change the type of tests (CC, CR, CP, and CV) and whatever digit we wanted, or we can change the DISCHARGE TIME, which is just a countdown for automatic stop, or we change the Voltage Cut Off. .. Voltage Cut Off and the type of Test are the only things worth changing here. Okay.. now to get to the menu.. you long press the Bottom button. Which brings you to a screen with 21 different choices. You go up and down by clicking Right or Left buttons. You select by clicking the Bottom button. Through my research, it's been said to not touch anything that says Calibrate or Calibration. Apparently its set perfectly fine.. if you do, you can always go to #16 and click Default Settings and click OK and that clears it to default settings. But remember when I said all the data from your last test needs to be cleared before a new test.. to do that you go to #15 Zero All Data. I also muted the beeping sound with each click by going to #19. System Sound Switch. And I also changed the Standby Brightness which is #3. I also lowered my #11 Over Power Protect to 150w.. to allow for safe room. Even though mine is the 180w, I'm still scared I'll fry it or something if I push it to the limit.. but thats just me. I also changed the #10 Over Current Protect from 25.0a down to 10.0a for the same reason. So this thing will shut off if it reaches these things. And thats all I changed. .. So thats how this thing works though.. its easy and essay to remember once you do it a couple times, then it just all makes sense.. It's just a couple options and a couple buttons. ..

I've only used it a few days, but it works great compared to the 4 resistor purple board version. That one lost the capacity when turned off and back on. This one remembers settings, capacities, also has several modes to discharge batteries. The early version had 2 dials and you had to adjust it often to pull 150 ish watts. This one has a constant power setting. Set it at 145 or so and it will pull that no matter what the voltage as the batteries drop. Wiring on the purple board units is a little strange. Look at the diagrams. All 4 terminals have to be attached. I do like the full color hi-res display. The 4 resistor purple board "said" color display. But it is definitely monochrome. It was returned if you can't tell. The full color unit actually had some instructions, which were a little criptic... But it was relatively easy to figure out. I do like the on off switch they added as well...

This load tester is super nifty once you get the hang of it. Obviously, you can use it for battery testing, and checking the capacity to verify battery life. It has different approaches for this. Constant Current, Constant Power, Constant Voltage, and Constant Resistance. You can also set the minimum voltage or time. The unit will track the capacity and energy consumed. Checking with my multimeters the measurement display is accurate. You can power off of the included power adapter or USB-C. You can also attach the unit to a computer via the side USB-C. The software interface is a bit kludgy, but functional. You can change your settings there rather than clicking through the horrendous button combinations on the unit itself. The screen is remarkably easy to read, for being relatively tiny. I found that combining the load tester with a ChargerLAB Power-Z KM003C (and only buy through ChargerLAB, not the many knockoffs), I was able to also use the unit for USB charger testing. The Power-Z software lets you set/lock negotiated charging values. The ATorch documentation is completely useless, other than basic hookup. You'll have to adventure through the button clicks. Basically, you hold the top button to make the flasher blink & change your Constant variable modes, using the left/right middle buttons. Hold the top button, to make the flasher blink and click the top button to switch between the top Constant values, middle time, and lower voltage selections. Use the top button to jump between you numeric positions, left/right middle buttons to adjust. You use the bottom button as Enter and Start. Play with it, a bit and you'll pick it up. Constant Voltage is the one where you can mess the unit up through overheating, and it will warn you not to do so. The case is 3D printed, possibly from user files(?), and you must remove the tester's cooling fan/heatsink & heatsink mount to install it your self. That means cleaning & re-applying thermal paste as well. There really isn't enough room left for the heatsink clips or switch release on the case front. Be prepared to gently pry the side/top to get room (or grind it a little). The plastic circles are standoffs for the outside bottom, to maintain airflow. The fan does an excellent job of cooling the system, by the way. Overall it's a nice load tester. I like that it includes the USB test bar, and swapping it out isn't too much hassle. Instructions need to EXIST, and while there are files available, none of them help the user. So no, they do not exist in any practical sense. The case you could 3D print yourself, or get theirs and perform the installation. Recommended, and the value for money is decent for all that this tester does, while not burning itself up. Super recommended for battery builders and for Power-Z owners.

Right out of the box, it looks great and has a pretty good looking display. I plugged it in and used my e-bike charger to test it, it worked fine for the first 15 or 20 minutes running at about 130 w. My ebike charger is rated at 67V and 2.5A, so I started pushing up the power .1A at a time. when I went from 2.3A to 2.4A (around 140 to 150 'ish watts) I tripped the overpower protection, which should have been fine all the way up to 185W. After I unplugged my charger to clear OPP, I want to reattach it to see if that was some weird issue or if this is truly cheap garbage. When I attempted to reconnect the alligator clips to the wires on the charger, it combusted into a blinding flash. I can only assume, whatever flaw tripped OPP must have caused a permanent Short circuit effectively killing this admittedly nice looking but ultimately useless piece of garbage.

If you are repairing battery packs, this is a must have

UPDATE - I am upping my review to 3 stars, and I am hoping for 4 before the end of the day. I got it to work after a few hours of experimenting. And although I am missing the hardware on the output monitor connections, I did find that the mounting holes are spaced 7.5mm and will fit any number of connectors. Unfortunately, the lack of clearance from the cooling fan and heat sink limit my options, but if I install this in a case and break the connections out, that's not a problem. Just route that out to a couple of banana plugs. Same for the 4 port inputs. I am still having a heck of a time finding software. Nothing I have tried has worked, with Windows 11 that is, and I am about to go after Linux with a Python environment. Using Nirsoft tools, I found the device when I plug it in. It's a HID device and no COM ports are added when plugged in. Bluetooth still looks to be non-existent. The board looks to be a solid build, and my tests placing a load on a power supply have been very useful. But I need to log my results over a number of load samples so getting it to work with my PC is important. If I can solve that, check calibration, and push it to the limits and have success, I'll up to maybe 4 or 5 stars, and I will come back to do that. PREVIOUSLY..... I am giving this 2 stars instead of one because it actually turns on, and I can navigate some menus. That is it though. There are so many differences with what I received and what is shown on this web page. For one, on what I got, there is no output jack (as shown in the images). There is also a few other missing components. I do not see a BlueTooth board, although there is a built in antennae. I never found a way to turn it on nor did I see the icon on the screen. There is also some module that goes in a slot, according to images, but it is empty on what I got. The screen menus and layouts are different than what is shown here. I have tried two manuals so far that say ATORCH DL24P and neither describes the menu button presses accurately. And is there a schematic anywhere? Where is the board version number? I realize this is Chinese and you live with the lack of documentation, but I am concerned I was short-changed on features, or worse, something critical with this board. On the fence about returning still.

I started making my own battery packs & rebuilding them too. This works well and connects to my phone for display… was a bit of learning to use it, but now I’m very happy with it! Great for smaller batteries! Will do bigger batteries just would take a while for results.

Plug in the 12v power supply to the back. Prepare your phone for the QR code to download the app if you want to monitor the settings remotely (you can operate the buttons from the app). I had to pair with specifically one of the two new bluetooth broadcasts. I believe one is for android, the other for iphone. The app will show some insane 600v measurement graph-- you can zoom in with finger gestures to get down to the typical 12V range. To test battery capacity: Screw down the fork leads to the front left green connector block. The black fork is closer to you- red closer to fan. Make sure you open the connector block first with flathead screwdriver otherwise you'll likely screw down the forks in reverse by a counterclockwise motion and the forks (or USB board) will dip up at an angle. Attach leads to battery (or cell). Set the cutoff voltage to your particular battery (or cell). You need to know this!!! For a 12V Lifepo4 battery capacity test above 15aH battery: make sure it is fully charged. set cutoff to 10.5V. clear data (this just clears the test metrics and gives clean slate). You'll want to use CC to test capacity. Set CC to max allowable: you will probably start at 13A and work up to the 14A range (if you're in no rush, set it lower). Keep note of the MOS temp range and don't exceed 99C. Don't even up that in the settings. You can get 14.3A+ if you prop up the tester and have a fan blowing under the heatsink and the mainboard. Try not to exceed 180W. This advice is for 75F ambient. Be more conservative with the amp settings if ambient is hotter, you'll burn up the MOSFET under the heatsink. If you trip the temp alarm too much it will stop the test. You can resume, but you need to lower the amp draw first or fix your cooling. Don't push it! You can test a 314Ah 12V battery in under 24hr with the above method.