Korad KEL102/KEL103 – Programmable DC Electronic Load

Regarding the KEL102/KEL103 DC Electronic Load, if you follow my YouTube channel and read the user comments and my responses, you have certainly seen that one of my goals is to be able to review the Rigol DL3021.

I think it’s one of the entry-level electronic loads, but from a more reputable brand, with the best features we’ve got right now… yes, Siglent also has some good products in this area, but the DL3021 is really a goal.

And you ask, but isn’t this an article about the KEL102/KEL103 DC Electronic Load?

Yes it is. But it was here that this review started to happen, upon learning of my goal, some readers suggested that I test an first a DC electronic load from Korad before and I have even done a review of Korad KA3005D, a power supply, very simple, basic, but very robust that left me a very good impression, so I decided to contact Korad and know of their interest to me making a review to this equipment, as you can imagine, they agreed that will be good and ended up sending me this equipment for review.

As you may have got it by now,, the equipment itself was free and I only had to pay the transport and customs fee, basically it was the same price as buying one directly from a warehouse in Europe, but what is important here is that this one come directly from Korad for review and they believed in the work done in TechCorner.TV to send this unit, self congrats!

Although the equipment was provided free of charge, my opinion is independent as usual.

Korad offers two totally identical models, with a difference only regarding the load they support, a small table follows to illustrate the technical characteristics:

KEL102/KEL103 DC Electronic Load Main features

• Four working modes CV / CC / CW / CR
• High light LED display
• Resolution of voltage and currente of 0,1mV and 0,1mA
• OVP – Over Voltage Protection
• 100 memory groups for fast recall
• Power off memory function
• Battery test function
• Short circuit function
• External trigger function
• RS232, USB and Ethernet connectivity
• Management PC software for DC Electronic Load control

I know I say this often, but the truth is that I try to review equipment that I think has quality and so, like other reviews, this equipment positively surprised me 😊 and I’ll explain to you why.

You have very entry-level products, around €100 with some functions, but somewhat limited. If you want a robust device, with network connections and software, you already have to look for products like the DL3021 from Rigol or the Siglent SDL1020X-E that have exactly the same price and features as the DL3021. However, the entry price of these programmable DC electronic loads is around €439 (+VAT) for the 200W / 150V / 30A model, which despite having a higher charging capacity (200W) and a higher maximum voltage ( 150V), has a cost of almost two and a half times the value of KEL102 and twice the value of KEL103.

The big problem with these two DC electronic loads from Korad is the display, which despite being of good quality, with large letters and with good lighting, has very little information.

This can be complicated for example, if you are programming a load test for a battery, where you have to enter 5 sequential parameters and you have practically no information on the display of what you need to input at that moment. This situation is resolved with the PC software, but the software also does not allow full use of all the electronic load functions.

But apart from that, you have a programmable, complete and stable DC electronic load for a value significantly lower than models from Rigol or Siglent or even other brands with lesser name in the market, but where the prices are identical.

What I try to explain to you is that the relationship between what is provided to you in this programmable DC electronic load and the price it costs, especially compared to the competition, the benefit between these two factors is very high, that is, you have a lot of features for a reduced price.

Even so, equipping an electronics laboratory is very expensive and this can be a very high investment, in that sense, you have other possibilities that allow you perhaps without so many functions or robustness, but achieving the same goals that you can with this DC electronic load. I leave you links at the end of the article with some suggestions:

Finally, if you choose the KEL102/KEL103 DC Electronic Load, it is my belief that you will be well served, it seemed like a good quality device, full of features and with a good interaction with the PC software that comes with it.

If you want to know more about the KEL102/KEL103 DC Electronic Load or just buy one, please use the links bellow, this way, you can help the channel/blog by using our affiliate link, the price for you is the same but TechCorner.TV receives a small commission that helps me keep this project going.

🛒 Korad KEL102/KEL103: https://geni.us/HyrmjLU
🛒 Rigol DL3021: https://geni.us/0SOJjG
🛒 Rigol DL3031: https://geni.us/X18Y6P

Watch the Korad KEL102/KEL103 DC Electronic Load review video I made bellow. it has an extensive explanation of how it works.

The affiliate links on this page allow us, without increasing your buy price, to receive a small fee in the case of you buying any of the items through our links. If you like to support TechCorner.TV, please use the provided affiliate links for your shopping.

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