Doing Inrush Current Testing with the New AC6800 AC Sources

Hi everybody,

It is the last day of the month and therefore time for me to get my blog post out.  I want to build on Gary's latest post concerning the new Agilent/Keysight AC6800 AC Sources (Click Here).  One of the key features that Gary mentioned is inrush current testing.

My colleague Russ did a video on inrush current testing for the launch.  This gives you a little bit of perspective on why you want to do the testing and gives some good tips.

When you do inrush current testing, you typically want the highest value that the current has reached when the power is enabled.  The AC6800 has a peak hold current value that will store this value for you.  The unit stores the highest current value it has measured since that value was last cleared (either manually or from power on).  One key thing to remember is to always clear out the peak hold value before doing your measurement so that you know that your measurement is up to date.

The AC6800 can synchronize the enabling of the output to a user defined phase.  When you specify the phase, it will enable the output at that phase in the sine wave (anything from 0 to 360 degrees).  The combination of the peak hold measurement and this phase synchronization are what make this testing possible.  

I  did a video for the launch where I did a tour of the front panel, including a short description of how to do inrush current testing:

  

I also have a programming example on this topic.  Below is a snippet of a program that I wrote in VB.NET using Agilent VISA-COM:

That's about it for me this month.  Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments.  

New Agilent Basic AC Power Sources

I have mentioned several times before that I avoid posting product-only-focused material in this blog, but when we announce something new, it is appropriate for me to mention it here. Today, a press release went out about our new AC sources (click here to view). You may not realize it, but this press release marks the end of an era; these are the last power products Agilent Technologies will ever announce! Now don’t go all non-linear on me…..I’m sure we will continue to design and release new power products for decades to come. But as I mentioned in a previous post (click here), as of August 1, 2014, our products will be Keysight Technologies products and not Agilent Technologies products. So these new AC sources will be rebranded to Keysight in a few weeks, but because we are releasing them before the company name change is official, we have to release them as Agilent and not Keysight. Go figure….

Anyway, what are these new Agilent (soon to be Keysight) AC sources? Well, the model numbers will remain the same through the company name change and they are:

• AC6801A (500 VA)
• AC6802A (1000 VA)
• AC6803A (2000 VA)
• AC6804A (4000 VA)

This new AC6800 Series of basic AC sources compliments our previous line of more sophisticated AC sources (click here for those) by adding lower cost models and higher power. Here is what the new series looks like (of course, the big one is the 4 kVA model):

All four new AC6800 models share these features:

• Output capabilities
• Single-phase output
• 2 ranges: 0 to 135 Vrms; 0  to 270 Vrms
• 40 Hz to 500 Hz and DC
• Sine wave (other waveforms with analog interface)
• Measurement capabilities
• Vac, Vdc, Vrms
• Iac, Idc, Irms, Ipeak, Ipeak&hold, crest factor
• Watts, VA, VAR, power factor
• Other
• Universal AC input
• LAN (LXI-Core), USB, optional GPIB
• Optional analog programming interface

The differences in the models are due to the output power ratings and can be summarized by looking at the output characteristics when producing an AC output or a DC output:

For a DC output, the graph above shows only the positive voltage and current quadrant (first quadrant). The output is equally capable of putting out negative voltage and negative current (the third quadrant) and the ratings are the same (except negative). These AC sources only source power; they cannot sink (absorb) power.

These AC sources do have one advanced feature: you can set the phase angle at which the output turns on. Coupled with the ability to measure peak current (and hold the peak current measurement), this is good for AC inrush current measurements.

To view the data sheet, click here.

So that’s the new line of basic AC power sources from Agilent and the last power products to be announced by Agilent. I wonder when the first Keysight power product announcement will be…..wouldn’t you like to know!?!?