Poll

How often do you use uA range on your DMM?

All the time
3 (11.5%)
Once a day
2 (7.7%)
Once a week
2 (7.7%)
Once a month
9 (34.6%)
Once a year or never
10 (38.5%)

Total Members Voted: 25

Voting closed: July 14, 2011, 12:45:18 pm

Author Topic: Poll: uA range on DMM  (Read 3689 times)

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Offline NermashTopic starter

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Poll: uA range on DMM
« on: July 07, 2011, 12:45:18 pm »
Either my projects are power hogs (my last one uses 150 mA, but it is a web server on a PIC mcu), or generally people rarely use this range?

« Last Edit: July 07, 2011, 01:03:16 pm by Lafao »
 

Offline saturation

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Re: uA range on DMM
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2011, 01:00:42 pm »
I work specifically in low power low voltage.  If you run hand held items with batteries of any sort, uA is fairly common.  For example, if you measure the power consumption of your DMM,  once a gross measurement is made in the mA mode, the burden voltage will cause more inaccuracy, switching to the uA will improve the accuracy switching to uA give's more resolution, taking the effect of burden voltage into account.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2011, 07:21:44 pm by saturation »
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alm

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Re: uA range on DMM
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2011, 05:02:30 pm »
For example, if you measure the power consumption of your DMM,  once a gross measurement is made in the mA mode, the burden voltage will cause more inaccuracy, switching to the uA will improve the accuracy.
How's the higher resistance shunt of the uA range going to reduce the error caused by burden voltage?
 

Offline Kiriakos-GR

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Re: Poll: uA range on DMM
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2011, 08:31:09 pm »
I never cared that much about accuracy in uA .

The most that I would ever care , even for battery consumption tests with AA or AAA,
would be in mA range. (milliAmpere).
 

Online ejeffrey

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Re: Poll: uA range on DMM
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2011, 10:04:55 pm »
I rarely use microamps readings from a DMM.   Milliamps is usually enough for supply currents and so forth, otherwise I usually need nanoamps for measuring sensor currents, and use a purpose built transimpedance amplifier.
 

Offline mzacharias

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Re: Poll: uA range on DMM
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2011, 12:10:59 am »
Mostly use uA range when fooling around with multimeters, not much else. I do sometimes measure AC standby current drain in consumer devices but even the greenest of those are in the low milliamp range. BTW my best meter for that is the Tek TX-3. It switches seamlessly from microamps to amperes without the need to reposition the test lead plugs.
 

Offline NiHaoMike

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Re: Poll: uA range on DMM
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2011, 04:24:06 am »
I don't use it very often but my friend Brittany Benzaia would use it several times a day measuring the current draw of low power microcontrollers and the standby current of battery operated devices.
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Online ejeffrey

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Re: Poll: uA range on DMM
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2011, 12:59:25 pm »
Fluke 87V specifies its burden voltage as a constant throughout all ranges as V/mA, but other DMM have varying burdens depending on range, with the least being in the uA.  Agilent specifies it as V/ohms.  Maybe I should have said 'some DMMs ..' so a user should check is DMM to be sure.  Both the 1272a and 1252a are specified similarly.

From the 1272a manual, see attached.


The burden voltages are specified at the top of the current range.  1 milliamp of current will generate less burden voltage on the 30 milliamp range (with a shunt resistor of 1 ohm) than on the 3000 microamp range (with a shunt resistor of 100 ohm).
 

Offline saturation

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Re: Poll: uA range on DMM
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2011, 07:16:50 pm »
Thanks ejeffrey and alm, you guys are right, my post isn't right, corrections made.


Quote

The burden voltages are specified at the top of the current range.  1 milliamp of current will generate less burden voltage on the 30 milliamp range (with a shunt resistor of 1 ohm) than on the 3000 microamp range (with a shunt resistor of 100 ohm).
« Last Edit: July 08, 2011, 07:25:50 pm by saturation »
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