Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Measured zener voltages
Vovk_Z:
I have tested now one of my 3V9 Zeners - it is different from TS (clearly better).
It has about 2.0 V ar 0.01 mA; 2.55 V (+-) at the 0.1 mA; then 3.3 V at 1.0 mA; and 4.1 V at 10 mA. It is ok.
(It is easy to test because I have "1 kOhm resistor at output" mode in my bench supply, so I can see Zener or LED voltage drop right onto device panel meter).
Tested one of my 3V3 Zeners:
1.60VDC at 0.01 mA; about 2.05VDC at 0.1 mA; 2.7VDC at 1.0 mA; and 3.56 V at 10.0 mA.
My Zeners are not from Ebay but from shops in my city (they usually sell normal, I mean good, parts).
madires:
My personal rule of thumb is to drive low-voltage low-wattage Zeners with 3mA for best performance.
schmitt trigger:
You may want to purchase a few devices from reputable vendors, and test under the exact same conditions and make A-B comparisons.
After all, these are Ebay components. There may be a good number of functional but borderline components.
mikerj:
--- Quote from: NANDBlog on July 09, 2020, 01:23:42 pm ---Low voltage zeners are terrible. They always have been.
--- End quote ---
Indeed, I really don't see much point in the very low voltage parts; they make terrible voltage references and are little use for clamping signals.
TimFox:
Technically, the lower-voltage parts are true "Zener diodes", and have the "soft" V-I curve you measured.
The higher-voltage parts (above roughly 5 or 6 V) are "avalanche diodes" and have "harder" curves.
See: https://circuitglobe.com/difference-between-avalanche-and-zener-breakdown.html
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