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Multimeter | Clamp meter | Insulation Resistance Tester | Panel Meter | Oscilloscopes | Test leads & Accessories | Software Updates > Handheld multimeter
Agilent U1253B Handheld Multimeter Energy Consumption Overview
Phyllomedusa:
I thought it may be interesting to collect and compare the battery consumption of various Handheld Multimeters. For rare occasions I always keep some spare batteries for my meters in my bag and honestly....I had been pretty happy about that habit sometimes. Last time I had been happy to have spare batteries was when I was working in the Amazon and our solar power supply was down due to a malfunctioning charge controller.... no chance to recharge my batteries.
Option a) wait for the next helicopter to bring you a 9V battery with the shipment....yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds
Option b) ask around if there is somewhere a 9V cell as spare.....you better have luck!!
Option c) always carry some spare parts like fuses and extra batteries!!!
So all in all......battery consumption CAN be a concern but hasn't to be. So I think an overview for some meters we use could be interesting and handy ;)
I just tested my Agilent U1253B which is often said to have a very bad battery runtime (well, works for a day and it's rechargeable).
This was to see its actual battery usage and find out how much the display brightness on the OLED really matters in terms of runtime.
So I measured:
Agilent U1253B
V~ Low Brightness: 22,96mA in 500V
V~ Med Brightness: 28,45mA
V~ High Brightness: 32,72mA
V- Low Brightness: 20,94mA in 50V
V- Med Brightness: 27,65mA
V- High Brightness: 32,87mA
mV- Low Brightness: 19,25mA in 1000mV
mV- Med Brightness: 21,67mA
mV- High Brightness: 27,22mA
mV~ Low Brightness: 22,22 in 1000mV
mV~ Med Brightness: 26,18
mV~ High Brightness: 29,26
Ω Low Brightness: 21,67mA in 500Ω
Ω Med Brightness: 26,72mA
Ω High Brightness: 30,92mA
Diode Low Brightness: 23,11mA not applicable
Diode Med Brightness: 31,99mA
Diode High Brightness: 35,28mA
Cap Low Brightness: 19,07mA in 100µF
Cap Med Brightness: 23,88mA
Cap High Brightness: 27,71mA
µA Low Brightness: 19,62mA in 500µA
µA Med Brightness: 25,22mA
µA High Brightness: 29,82mA
mA Low Brightness: 20,95mA in 50mA
mA Med Brightness: 27,92mA
mA High Brightness: 33,22mA
OUT Low Brightness: 35,66mA at 200Hz and 50% Duty Cycle
OUT Med Brightness: 45,13mA
OUT High Brightness: 48,74mA
OUT->The U1253B has a simple built-in PWM generator
Meter Off: 5,11µA
Battery: 9V (rechargeable 300mAh)
so you say it works between 20 and 50 mA, whereas the display brightness varies the consumption about ±5mA. So all in all it's not that hungry, but the 9V battery lowers the runtime considerably compared to some 800mAh AAA eneloops for example.
....just four AA eneloops with 2100mAh would be lovely to use ;). Regarding the trend that more and more DMM's use AAA batteries we already have a significant rise in runtime compare to 9V cells.
Is there any interest or need on more data about the U1253B?
Kiriakos GR:
Excellent data collection. :)
The DC volts is considered as the less power hungry function.
If you can measure that too, the picture will be more complete.
And lastly one question, what the word OUT stands for ?
I think that the U1253B haves the ability to output an test signal, but I do not remember the frequency or the PPV.
Phyllomedusa:
...of course...I added the rest of the Functions and the used Range (as I mostly disabled Autorange and set my default ranges).
The U1253B has a simple PWM Generator. Not that fancy and powerful but sometimes pretty handy for testing actuators or servos and so on.
Kiriakos GR:
Impressive :)
The PWM Generator looks to need buckets of mA LOL
Phyllomedusa:
Yepp....That's what I expected ;)
I will compare it to the U1272A next week (whenI am back home and have my PSU to drive the U1272A). Let's see ;)
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