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current sensor circuit — Parallax Forums

current sensor circuit

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2003-09-11 12:40 in General Discussion
I need a circuit that senses current of .2A and sends out a voltage when the
current is sensed.


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Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-09-11 00:20
    Do you want to send out a logic high when 200 mA is sensed?

    Or, do you want to measure a range from 0 to 200 mA and then change
    that to a 0 to 4.096 voltage so that it can be read with a A/D
    converter?

    Your best to use a current sense resistor and add a op amp in there
    for gain.

    LEM makes current sense modules and are available from Digikey. They
    are kinda pricey at $25 each, but it is an off the shelf solution.

    Maxim makes a few current sense monitor IC's.

    MAX472 should work nicely and comes in a plastic 8 pin dip, and you
    can request free samples. It is programmable via external resistors.

    http://pdfserv.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX471-MAX472.pdf

    Jason


    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, Steve Platovskiy <plato012@y...>
    wrote:
    > I need a circuit that senses current of .2A and sends out a voltage
    when the current is sensed.
    >
    >
    >
    > Do you Yahoo!?
    > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
    >
    > [noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-09-11 04:02
    considder a comparitor with a resitor on the load. make the resistor
    as low as possible to reduce losses. the comparitor can be set for
    any current you want.

    an op-amp instead of a comparator and you can feed an RC network for
    RCtime for a sloppy and low quality analog value.
    should offer 1/4-1/2-3/4 or full values.

    Dave





    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, Steve Platovskiy <plato012@y...>
    wrote:
    > I need a circuit that senses current of .2A and sends out a voltage
    when the current is sensed.
    >
    >
    >
    > Do you Yahoo!?
    > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
    >
    > [noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-09-11 12:40
    Is this A.C. or D.C. that you need to sense? And did I read that correctly
    as 0.2 Amp a.k.a. 200 milliamps? There are some simple current transformers
    you can wind yourself if it's A.C., but they won't work for D.C.

    Otherwise, Dave's recommendation of a resistor and comparator or op-amp
    works fine for D.C. circuits. But with large currents you can lose a lot of
    power to heat conversion. It's that old law of Voltage x Current = Wattage.

    Hmmmmmmm.... I'm having a brainstorm that you might use a Kelvin 4-wire
    bridge sort of in reverse (with a known fixed resistance) to provide a more
    accurate voltage output using a very low resistance value, perhaps even the
    resistance of the feed wire itself.

    I'll muse on this a bit. Any thoughts???

    Mike Sokol
    www.modernrecording.com
    mikes@m...
    301-739-6842 voice/fax
    301-964-5682 mobile


    Original Message
    From: "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...>
    To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
    Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 11:02 PM
    Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Re: current sensor circuit


    > considder a comparitor with a resitor on the load. make the resistor
    > as low as possible to reduce losses. the comparitor can be set for
    > any current you want.
    >
    > an op-amp instead of a comparator and you can feed an RC network for
    > RCtime for a sloppy and low quality analog value.
    > should offer 1/4-1/2-3/4 or full values.
    >
    > Dave
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, Steve Platovskiy <plato012@y...>
    > wrote:
    > > I need a circuit that senses current of .2A and sends out a voltage
    > when the current is sensed.
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > > Do you Yahoo!?
    > > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
    > >
    > > [noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
    >
    >
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