EB Tester Software Capacity Bug?

[0rion]

Hi, I picked up a ZKETECH EBD-M05 Mini Load Capacity tester to test the capacity of my 202ah and 85ah cells. I wanted an inexpensive solution since I only have the 8 cells and was only planning on running the tests only a couple times, and I liked the EB Tester software since seeing it demoed by Andy at the Off-Grid Garage.

This little tester only plots discharge data up to 5A, meaning my 202ah cells would be going for 40 hours.

I noticed that the total Ah captured seems to 'reset' at around 24 hours into the test, so the final capacity reported is only for the 16 hours after this point - here are some pics, with my mouse hovering just before the 24hr reset:


...and here's right after:



And you can see the total capacity reports 70.73Ah, which really should be the total of this plus the 118.55Ah it counted in the first pic before the reset. This happened for all 4 of my 202Ah cells, and I ran all tests twice.

I suspect that the problem is that due to the 5A rate there is just too much data captured in the file and the software can't report it properly. Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions on how to get around it? I regret not getting the 10A or 20A model...

I've attached the CSV data from one of these cells, in case you'd like a look. Thanks.

 

[houseofancients]

i have the 40, but not found this issue

 

[SHucker]

I also have the 40. One time I was missing some of the data in the logger. I went to the PC settings and told it to never drop into energy saving mode. So far, only a couple of days, so good.

 

[fest]

did you find out what the problem is?

 

[0rion]

No not really, I kind of gave up out of frustration. If I open the CSV files on another laptop running the EB Software the graph looks ok but the footer with the summary is still not correct, it likely pulls that info from the header of the CSV file. At some point I'll re-run the tests on a newer laptop to see if any change.

40 hours is a long time to be running discharge tests though.

 

[m0onspell]

I wouldn't recommend this tester if you want graphs on PC. I have problems with the software being frozen randomly (thread). I wanted to buy 40A version but after seeing all these issues I am looking for an alternative.

 

[houseofancients]

I wouldn't recommend this tester if you want graphs on PC. I have problems with the software being frozen randomly (thread). I wanted to buy 40A version but after seeing all these issues I am looking for an alternative.

yet, there a many folks running these ( include me) as their go to tester.
ever consider your windows machine may be the issue ?

 

[m0onspell]

yet, there a many folks running these ( include me) as their go to tester.
ever consider your windows machine may be the issue ?

1. No, you're running not the one that I've mentioned

i have the 40, but not found this issue

I haven't found reports about that issue with 40L.

2. There are multiple reports. Even if there's a mysterious issue with our machines that we don't know about and just can't find - people deserve to know that it may not work with their (fully functional) machines as well. Cause being a software engineer, I probably have the right to say that I know how to use my computer and tweak various settings. If the people are willing to take the risk - fine. I don't recommend it.

3. What is the issue with my machine? I disabled power plan settings for turning off USB devices - that didn't help. What else can I do? Cause other devices are working fine from the same USB ports.

 

[benofishal]

I have the A40L and use it to top balance sets of 16 cells (280AH), it takes several days and as you say the capacity readings are garbage, they reset at some point and start over several times during this process. I think it really is only meant for single cell testing. I also notice the unit itself has a cumulative AH reading on the display, this also seems to cycle at around 4000AH, although I cannot be sure. Seems to be a combination of firmware and software bugs in my opinion. I have email ZKETech for a firmware update but heard nothing back.

I also notice the mAh reading increases approx 1 mAh every 9-10 seconds on the software, when infact charging at 40A it should increase approx 11mAh per second. Please correct me if I'm wrong?

Update: As I'm currently in the process of top balancing more cells, i stopped the charge, closed the EB Monitor and restarted it, then started the charge again and the figures are increasing as expected. I expect once a certain amount of data has been logged the software just can't handle it and starts to slow its logging so it's wildly inaccurate. Basically the software and/or firmware need updating.

Perhaps if we have anyone on here who can speak chinese they could try contacting ZKETech to see if they can get any useful information/software updates.