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MakerHawk Electronic Load Tester Issue

Northernchateau

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
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409
Location
Worth, NY
I top balanced 1 of my new 310 ah LifePO4 batteries. I want to load test it and purchased a MakerHawk Electronic Load tester thru Amazon.
1st thing I did was make 10 ga jumpers to go from my battery to the unit as what they supply is a joke.
I watched a few Youtube video so I better knew how to set the low voltage shut off and max wattage.
Setting the low voltage was no problem but unlike Will's and a few other videos I watched the unit I have will let you set the max wattage like 900 watts!
I instead set the low voltage to 2.6 volts and the max wattage to 180 watts.
I plug the unit in, connect my battery and slowly turn the knobs up and the max amperage this thing will draw is approx 7.3 amps.
I have a clamp on DC amp meter and a 2nd volt metter connected just to make sure the display is correct and things all measure withing 0.02 volts or amps.
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
 
I top balanced 1 of my new 310 ah LifePO4 batteries. I want to load test it and purchased a MakerHawk Electronic Load tester thru Amazon.
1st thing I did was make 10 ga jumpers to go from my battery to the unit as what they supply is a joke.
I watched a few Youtube video so I better knew how to set the low voltage shut off and max wattage.
Setting the low voltage was no problem but unlike Will's and a few other videos I watched the unit I have will let you set the max wattage like 900 watts!
I instead set the low voltage to 2.6 volts and the max wattage to 180 watts.
I plug the unit in, connect my battery and slowly turn the knobs up and the max amperage this thing will draw is approx 7.3 amps.
I have a clamp on DC amp meter and a 2nd volt metter connected just to make sure the display is correct and things all measure withing 0.02 volts or amps.
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
Yes, return/exchange it. It should have no problems doing more amps.

Very similar model I tested:

 

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Just purchased one of these through Will's link. Testing a single LifePo4 cell and want to set the Low Voltage cutoff to 2.5V. However at that screen a long press only sequences the values DOWN, it is currently at zero and for the life of me I cannot figure out how to raise the LV cutoff. I have tried every combination of button presses I can think of. Any assistance greatly appreciated.
 
Just purchased one of these through Will's link. Testing a single LifePo4 cell and want to set the Low Voltage cutoff to 2.5V. However at that screen a long press only sequences the values DOWN, it is currently at zero and for the life of me I cannot figure out how to raise the LV cutoff. I have tried every combination of button presses I can think of. Any assistance greatly appreciated.
Some of the settings require a very fast triple press (as in three times in a half second).

But of course there are many models, and nobody has a clue what model you purchased.
 
Good point...This is the one from Will's Amazon link that I got: Maker Hawk Load Tester . I tried all sorts of combinations of triple and other quick presses, no change in the menu or ability to raise the value.
Well, I'm not sure what the problem is, but it sounds like it needs to be exchanged. That particular model shouldn't have any problems changing the low voltage cutoff. I have 4 of them, just not called maker hawk.
 
Figured it out, while on any of the voltage adjustment screens, quick double press....then hold to increase. Not documented nor intuitive, hopefully this may be of use to others. BTW, my tester did shut off test when LV was reached.
 
Yes, return/exchange it. It should have no problems doing more amps.

Very similar model I tested:

I bought one of those too.

First one didn't read any voltage. Returned and second one works fine as far as I can tell.
 
Figured it out, while on any of the voltage adjustment screens, quick double press....then hold to increase. Not documented nor intuitive, hopefully this may be of use to others. BTW, my tester did shut off test when LV was reached.
Yes, none of these that I tested had any problems, they might burn your fingers if run at the full 20 amps. Once I noticed the PCB was getting discolored from the heat, I turned them down and pretty much stopped using them. You can hook up multiple of these to get faster results, just add the reported capacity together to get the results (that's why I have 4).
 
Figured it out, while on any of the voltage adjustment screens, quick double press....then hold to increase. Not documented nor intuitive, hopefully this may be of use to others. BTW, my tester did shut off test when LV was reached.
I found a youtube video which explains that unit the best.
he explains the buttons starting at 13:50
 
I watched the nice video above. I have a harbor freight solar batter rated at 12v 35ah. How do I know where to set the potentiometers on the tester? What is it testing? What does it show when the test is over? Im confused here.
thanks,
Dimitri
 
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