What can I use for a load to test a power supply?

This seems like a really simple question to me, but I cant seem to find a decent answer online.
I have a meanwell power supply that can put out 24-33v dc and 480+ watts. (18a or so max)

What I want to do is put a load on the power supply that will pull between 7 and 10 amps (at whatever voltage in that range).
I would like to use something around the house, but thats looking like a slim possibility. I found that a 60w light bulb pulls 0.2A at 33v... and that my heat gun, soldering iron, soldering gun, and desoldering iron together pull 6amps at 33v.
Is there anything I can use that will pull 7-10 amps from a 33v dc source? (231-330 watts) My heatgun says it pulls 1500watts, but for reasons I havent bothered to think about, it only pulls 4.3a @33v (cheap harbor freight gun)

I need this to let me do two things:
1. test that my current limiting mod is working properly.
2. calibrate my ammeter.

I currently have two ammeters setup on it, one accurate one, and one I want to calibrate. The accurate one is limited to 10A, so I cant go over that amount. The one I want to calibrate has a 100A shunt, but will only ever see a max of 18A, and rarely see that.

i use the oil type radiators, like Pelonius, and the radiant space heaters with the glowing wire coils, but no fan, as the dummy load. your setup will require two of them at about 1500W setting. do not switch the heaters on and off while connected to the DC voltage or the switch will fuse closed.

dnmun said:

i use the oil type radiators, like Pelonius, and the radiant space heaters with the glowing wire coils, but no fan, as the dummy load. your setup will require two of them at about 1500W setting. do not switch the heaters on and off while connected to the DC voltage or the switch will fuse closed.

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Excellent! I happen to have one of those sitting around right now. I don't have a second one but that plus the heat gun should do it. Good tip on the switch. I know AC contact sizes don't work well with DC... but didn't think about it.

amperage = voltage / resistance

A fixed resistance load will only pull about 1/4 the current at 33 volts as it does at 120.

I'd be surprised if the AC switch would fail on that much lower a DC voltage.

I never knew I could run ac stuff like that on dc. I guess it works because they are simple and don't require ac circuits, being heat sources. Good to know.

Many things will run on either AC or DC. Incandescent light bulbs are essentially just resistors. They actually run better on DC as the steady current doesn't stress the filament as much. Compact flourescents typically work too. And many other electronic devices. And many motors too. Many of the devices we think of as AC actually use DC power internally and the rectifiers and smoothing filters used to reform AC usually work ok with a DC input within an appropriate voltage range.

veloman said:

I never knew I could run ac stuff like that on dc. I guess it works because they are simple and don't require ac circuits, being heat sources. Good to know.

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