ZAHNER EL300 User manual

Electronic
Loads
Installation & Operation
Manual
EL300
EL1000
03/2020

Electronic Loads -1-
Table of Contents
Unpacking.............................................................................................................................3
Basic .....................................................................................................................................4
EPC42 ................................................................................................................................4
Selecting an external device ...............................................................................................4
Changing devices ...............................................................................................................6
Potential in electronic loads EL ...........................................................................................6
Safe operation conditions (SOC).........................................................................................7
EL300 ....................................................................................................................................8
Cell connections .................................................................................................................8
1. Full cell configuration ....................................................................................................8
2.a. Half-cell configuration - Cathode ..................................................................................9
2.b. Half-cell configuration -Anode ......................................................................................9
3. Partial cell configuration ................................................................................................10
4. Application with an additional power supply ..................................................................10
Built-in buffer amplifier......................................................................................................10
EL1000 ................................................................................................................................11
Measuring floating objects ................................................................................................11
EL1000 connection ...........................................................................................................11
Cell connections ...............................................................................................................11
EL1000 operation steps ....................................................................................................12
1. Full cell configuration ..................................................................................................13
a. Current setting in EL1000 ................................................................................13
2.a. Half-cell configuration - Cathode ................................................................................14
2.b. Half-cell configuration - Anode ...................................................................................14
3. Partial cell configuration ............................................................................................15
a. PAD4 connections ...........................................................................................15
4. Application with an additional DC sink/load ...............................................................16
4.a. DUT connected with DC load and EL1000 .................................................................16
4.b. DUT connected with DC load and EL1000 (in parallel)...............................................17
5. Applications with an additional power supply .............................................................18
5.a. Charging batteries......................................................................................................18
5.b. Electrolysis of fuel cells ..............................................................................................19
5.c. Compensation of voltage drop (Zero Volt Option).......................................................20
6. Applications with an additional power supply (external input) ......................................21
Built-in buffer amplifier......................................................................................................23
Grounding circuit ..............................................................................................................23
Specifications....................................................................................................................24

Electronic Loads -2-
CAUTION
Prevent the input panel of the device from electrostatic
discharge! This may damage the device.
Do not connect active objects such as batteries or fuel cells to
the power outputs of the device when the device is off!
This may damage the device.

Electronic Loads -3-
Unpacking
Zahner products are carefully produced, calibrated and tested to achieve a high quality standard. Also
the assembling of the accessories and packing is done with great care. Please check the shipment
directly after receipt to ensure that the device and all accessories are undamaged.
The shipment must contain the following parts:
EL1000
•EL1000
•cable for connection of the EPC42 (D-Sub9 - Lemosa)
•twisted sense cable (Lemosa plug, blue & green cables)
•power cord
•this manual
EL300
•EL300 with installed control cable for connection of the EPC42 (Lemosa plug)
•2 thick cables (blue and red) with high current banana plugs (∅12mm)
•twisted sense cable (Lemosa plug, blue & black cables)
•power cord
•this manual

Electronic Loads -4-
Basics
Today, dynamic measurements on electrochemical objects are of great interest. Modern instruments
for impedance measurements, cyclic voltammograms and pulse response experiments provide a
broad frequency range from µHz to MHz. At the same time, they provide a huge impedance range
from µΩto GΩ. However, for most instruments there is one restriction left, they have a limited current
range of few Amperes. In the field of electrochemical power generation, for example, this is only
sufficient for “small” systems.
The electrochemical workstations of the Zennium family provide a current range of ±4 A (Zennium X)
and ±3 A (Zennium Pro) and measure impedances down to µΩ. Therefore, we provide external
devices (EL, PP-Series and XPOT) which can extend the application field of the Zennium systems.
The electronic loads EL300 and EL1000 are designed as additional potentiostats to allow dynamic
investigations on technical systems up to 100 A (EL300) and 200 A (EL1000). Their main applications
are discharging tests on (rechargeable) batteries and fuel cells.
The electronic loads are easily integrated in the Zennium system using EPC42 controller cards. All
functions are controlled directly from the Thales software. Up to 16 electronic loads may be controlled
by one Zennium system using up to 4 EPC42 cards.
EPC42
The EPC42 is able to control up to 4 external devices like the EL300/EL1000, the XPOT,and the
PP201/211/241. Up to four EPC42 cards can be used for installing a total of 16 external devices in a
Zennium system.
Each port provides analogue and digital interfaces for the communication of the external devices with
the Zenniumsystem. The analogue part of the port feeds the device with the DC potential at a
resolution of 16 bit and the AC amplitude. Measured current and potential are sent from the external
device to the Zennium to be treated there in a same way as signals from the internal Zennium cards.
The EPC42 has a bandwidth of 250 kHz.
A bi-directional serial communication line allows to digitally control the functions and measuring
ranges of external devices.
!
Plug or unplug external devices only when both, Zennium AND the external devices,
are switched off. Otherwise the devices may get damaged.
Selecting an external device
All external Zennium devices are directly controlled by the Thales software. Each device has a unique
device number which is identical with the EPC42 port number. So, if a device is connected to EPC
port 3, you address it with the device number 3. Device number “0” is reserved for the internal
potentiostats of the Zennium system.
If an RMUX (relay multiplexer) card is installed, the device numbers of the external devices
(ELs/PPs/XPOTs) start with 17, not with 1, because then the device numbers 1 to 16 are reserved for
the 16 RMUX channels.

Electronic Loads -5-
To select a device, call the Test Sampling page by
clicking on the “control potentiostat” option.
Click on “Device” on the left side of Hippo. This will
open an input box. Insert the EPC port number in
which the external device is connected. Here
EL1000 is connected with port 1 of EPC42.
In addition the external device can be calibrated by
clicking on the “calibration?” icon
If no device has been connected to the addressed
EPC42 port, an error message is displayed and the
software automatically selects the internal
potentiostat.
If the selected device is present but has not been activated then the software starts to calibrate it
automatically.
If an external device is changed then the new device has to be calibrated before use. The calibration
is carried out only for the selected device. All other calibration data remains unchanged.
If a device number other than 0 is selected, the parameters of the Test Sampling page now are valid
for the designated device.
The following methods are available for external devices:
EIS
impedance measurement
C/E
Parameter based impedance measurement
I/E
current potential curve recording
MIE
Multiple parallel current potential curve recording
AS
series measurements
To change the potential range of the electronic load (here EL1000), click on “check cell connections”
icon.

Electronic Loads -6-
In check cell connections, you can set the desired
potential range and choose a reference electrode.
Here for convenience, the EL1000 connection
scheme with the 3rd party DC load is also shown.
At the bottom of the page “Parallel Impedance
Setup” is provided to setup the PAD4 connections.
Once all the desired settings are complete then click
“Esc” or click on to go back to the last window.
Now connect the sense cables from EL1000 to the
device under test (DUT). Here a battery is used as a
DUT.
Connect blue sense cable to the – terminal and
green sense cable to the + terminal of the DUT. This
will show the correct polarity and a negative potential
will be shown in the DC VOLTAGE window.
Now connect the power cables for the desired EL1000
arrangement. Please note that with the connection of
the power cables the potential should not change
considerably (connect power cables as shown for
your preferred arrangement in the manual below).
If parallel impedance spectra are to be measured then
click on the “Parallel Impedance Setup” in “Check
Cell Connections”. This will open a new window
where different channels from the PAD4 cards can be
chosen. Here first 3 channels are selected which are
analysing the individual cell of the DUT (battery).
Also click on “Enable Impedance” to allow the
impedance measurement from the PAD4 channels. At
bottom right, the voltage and current from the sense
cables of EL1000 can also be seen.
Changing devices
When changing the device number, the now inactive device will hold its DC conditions such as DC
potential and on/off status as long as it is selected anew or the system is shut off. On the other hand
only the selected device is internally connected to the FRA. Therefore only this device is able to output
an AC signal superimposed to the DC potential.
Potential in electronic loads (EL)
Chemical reactions in the batteries and fuel cells provide us with energy. In the field of
electrochemistry such reactions are shown on a negative potential (energy) scale. However potentials
in the field of electronics and electrical engineering are shown with a positive sign. Hence to facilitate
the chemists in comparing the reactions and carrying out different experiments, the potential’s reading
in electronic loads (EL) is reversed. e.g., if one measure a potential of a battery by a voltmeter and it
reads +2 V then the EL300/EL1000 will read it as -2 V.

Electronic Loads -7-
Safe operation conditions (SOC)
1. Pay attention to the wire connections and strictly follow the guidelines of this manual. A
reverse polarity may damage your device (especially EL300)
2. During operation, potential on + terminal of EL1000 should be at least 1 V higher than the –
terminal of EL1000
3. Always turn ON the electronic load (EL) after turning on the external load or external power
supply
4. Always turn OFF the electronic load (EL) before turning off the external load or external power
supply
5. Properly connect (with screws) the EPC42 cable with the electronic load. An accidental
unplugging of the EPC42 cable during operation may damage your device
6. Remove all metallic jewellery/watches when working with high currents
7. Don’t touch the electrical connections during the operation
8. Never apply potential higher than the 12 V for EL300 and 100 V for EL1000.
9. The maximum current through the + terminal of EL1000 must never exceed 200 A
10.The maximum current through the shunt resistance of EL1000 must never exceed 680 A

Electronic Loads -8-
EL300
The EL300 external electronic load is a One-Quadrant-Potentiostat. This means that EL300 is only
able to sink current but cannot source current. Typical applications are discharging experiments at
(rechargeable) batteries and fuel cells. The EL-series potentiostats can be operated in both
potentiostatic and galvanostatic modes, controlled by the Thales software. For low ohmic objects,
galvanostatic mode is recommended. The output panel as well as the input panel are electrically
isolated from ground.
The EL300 is air cooled for operation till 25 A and needs water cooling when loaded with more than 25
A. For water cooling you find an inlet and an outlet at the backside of the EL300.
!
The EL300 may get damaged if more than 25 A are applied without water cooling!!!
Cell Connections
It is important to know that EL potentiostats SINK current from the device under test (DUT) and
therefore the cell connections must be as short and as thick as possible. Otherwise the
measurements may be faulty and it may even seem that the EL is defective. For this reason, the
standard cable set shipped with the ELs should be shortened as much as possible.
It is also important to connect the DUT with the correct polarity to the EL potentiostat. Whereas typical
one-cell-voltages of 0.8 V or 1.2 V do not damage an EL when being connected with the wrong
polarity, cell stacks can do very well. Therefore, we recommend connecting the sense inputs as
described in section. 1 (Full Cell Configuration). Call the Test Sampling page of the Thales software
and check for the potential polarity by connecting sense cables. It must be negative. Now connect the
power cables according to section. 1 with the potentiostatic/galvanostatic mode switched OFF. The
displayed potential must not change significantly when connecting the power cables.
With the correct polarity the DUT may be connected to the EL potentiostat in one of the following
ways:
1. Full cell configuration (Standard Kelvin Scheme)
This configuration is used with DUT like (rechargeable) batteries
and fuel cells if a complete cell is to be investigated.
!
Potential ≤4 V / 12 V
The potential will be indicated as negative in EL.
The measured current must be positive I ≥0
Always ensure the correct polarity by connecting the sense cables.
Afterwards properly connect the power cables.
The potential will be shown as negative in the Thales software.
ZAHNER
e le k trik
power
EL101
sense
lin e
a c tiv e
anode
pole
pole
cathode

Electronic Loads -9-
2.a. Half-cell configuration – Cathode
This configuration is used with DUTs like (rechargeable) batteries
and fuel cells if only the cathodic part of the cell has to be
investigated.
!
Potential ≤4 V / 12 V
The potential will be indicated as negative in EL.
The measured current must be positive I ≥0
Depending on the type of the reference electrode the measured
potential may be different from the real potential at the reference
electrode site. The real potential can be calculated from the meas-
ured potential by subtracting the potential of the reference elec-
trode.
2.b. Half-cell configuration -Anode
This configuration is used with DUTs like (rechargeable) batteries
and fuel cells if only the anodic part of the cell has to be
investigated.
!
Potential ≤4 V / 12 V
The potential will be indicated as negative in EL.
The measured current must be positive I ≥0
Depending on the type of the reference electrode the measured
potential may be different from the real potential at the reference
electrode site. The real potential can be calculated from the meas-
ured potential by subtracting the potential of the reference elec-
trode.
ZAHNER e le k trik
power
EL101
sense
lin e
a c tiv e
anode
pole
pole
cathode
ZAHNER e le k trik
power
EL101
sense
lin e
a c tiv e
anode
pole
pole
cathode