Author: Al Williams / Source: Hackaday
[Syonyk] has been acquiring some large load banks to test power supplies and battery packs. These devices consist of a big current sink, a measurement device, and a fan. He picked up two similar-looking boards from the usual Chinese sources, both rated for 150W, both for about $30.
Upon closer examination, though, he found that one was really a bargain and the other was likely to blow up.The loads are rated for 60V and as you can see from the photos, appear virtually identical at a glance. They offer a configurable cut-off voltage and even use 4-wire measurement to avoid problems with voltage drop through the power cables.
Tearing the devices apart, he found an Intel 8051-style microcontroller. The unit that [Syonyk] liked agreed with his bench power supply by about 0.15% which is actually quite good. The other unit — the one he calls a fake…
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