Hello all, I'm new here, but I've been enjoying my tools for years. I picked this up sun/sunpro battery tester a few months back and I fiddle with it every once and awhile trying to get the amp guage to work. I'm having trouble identifying the model and when it was made. I'll include pictures. Looks to be between a vat 40 and a vat 60. Circuit board has vat-80 written on it but no luck at finding a model.
Sun portable battery electrical tester
- Thread starter tyabbott
- Start date
I don't have enough for a complete diagnosis but the ammeter has 2 very high current ranges. That means there are a pair of shunts in there some place that are switched by one of those buttons. I would first see if there is very low resistance across the meter,almost a short across the ammeter. I would try to trace the meter to the test cables. I would also disconnect the meter and check it separately which will require series resistance but if you are not familiar with the correct procedure, you risk blowing the meter.
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A further check turned up the user manual for the VAT40 and the VAT 60. There may be more there but I looked no further. The VAT 60 has digital meters. The VAT 40 looks a little different from yours but there should be some good info. there.
https://archive.org/stream/VAT40QRG/VAT40QRG_djvu.txt
Getting closer. The model number is the one on the rear upper left in your second picture, SP4191. I got a hit of somebody trying to sell an unused SP4191, in the box,with manual for $500. The date was 2011. I have no idea why the number is not a VAT number. Then I found a site of a guy who is into old Sun test equipment. He is displaying a bunch of different models but not yours
[email protected]. Give him a call. Yours looks like a stripped version of the VAT 40, with a few less controls. Also, your push button bank seems to be the rotary switch and indicator lights on the VAT 40, more or less.
I was in a rush at work on the first post, I missed a few points. I see it is a model sp4191 but i cannot find any info on it, other than two for sale years ago. Im looking for literature on it like who makes it, when it was made, and a user/repair manual. I have compared it to other VAT machines and it seems like it is a bigger version of the VAT-40. it has 3 voltage scales,3v,18v and 36v. mine looks to have more options, internal/extrenal inputs, higher voltage and amperage. but it shares color schemes with the VAT-60. Ive searched the internet pretty heavily looking for this thing but ive yet to see a picture of one, let alone some one that has repaired one. I saw the sun equipment junkie page, i haven't contacted him yet but ill shoot him an email. i ohmed the amp meter at 147 ohms, when i did it the gauge pegged at the max, i reversed polarity and it pegged the opposite way. the guage moved a little when i changed the amperage sale. i repaired one broken wire in the amp clamp wire. checked the rest of the wires in the cord and they are all good. Im not sure how to check the gauge by it self with resistance.
That what I was talking about when I suggested a resistor to limit meter current. Slamming the meter against the stops is not a good thing. The actual movement is probably 500ua or 1ma or some similar low value. Almost all the current goes through a parallel shunt. Well at least you know the meter is good. The VAT 40 manual talked about setting up for current tests. Maybe you can get enough out of that to make it work.
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