Section 3: Functions and features
Model 2281S-20-6 DC Power Supply and Battery Simulator Reference Manual
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Battery charging and discharging
When the 2281S is in the battery test function, the instrument and the battery under test can be
connected in two-wire sense or in four-wire sense. However, the four-wire sense connection, as
shown in the following figure, is recommended because it can cancel the wire resistance.
Figure 97: Four-wire connection to rear panel
Keithley recommends using a source-measure unit (SMU) with test-script capability (for example, the
Keithley Model 2450 or 2460) to control current sinking when building a discharge model of a battery.
Because the Series 2281 has limited sink capability and cannot control the amount of sink current, it
creates a discharge model based on charging a battery. As a result, it cannot create a unique
discharge model and cannot model a nonrechargeable battery.
Using a SMU with the Series 2281 allows you to create a model at a specific current. You can use
this current setting as the average current that the device will draw, resulting in a more realistic
model.
