PoLabs CurrentSens 25A RMS Oscilloscope Current Probe User Manual

CurrentSens
User’s manual
v1.0

CurrentSens 25A RMS Oscilloscope Current Probe

Please read the following notes

1. All information included in this document is current as of the date this document is issued. Such information, however, is subject to change without any prior notice.

2. PoLabs does not assume any liability for infringement of patents, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights of third parties by or arising from the use of PoLabs products or technical information described in this document. No license, express, implied or otherwise, is granted hereby under any patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights of PoLabs or others. PoLabs claims the copyright of, and retains the rights to, all material (software, documents, etc.) contained in this release. You may copy and distribute the entire release in its original state, but must not copy individual items within the release other than for backup purposes.

3. Descriptions of circuits, software and other related information in this document are provided only to illustrate the operation of the products and application examples. You are fully responsible for the incorporation of these circuits, software, and information in the design of your equipment. PoLabs assumes no responsibility for any losses incurred by you or third parties arising from the use of these circuits, software, or information.

4. PoLabs has used reasonable care in preparing the information included in this document, but PoLabs does not warrant that such information is error free. PoLabs assumes no liability whatsoever for any damages incurred by you resulting from errors in or omissions from the information included herein.

5. PoLabs devices may be used in equipment that does not impose a threat to human life in case of the malfunctioning, such as: computer interfaces, office equipment, communications equipment, test and measurement equipment, audio and visual equipment, home electronic appliances, machine tools, personal electronic equipment, and industrial robots.

6. Measures such as fail-safe function and redundant design should be taken to ensure reliability and safety when PoLabs devices are used for or in connection with equipment that requires higher reliability, for example: traffic control systems, anti-disaster systems, anticrime systems, safety equipment, medical equipment not specifically designed for life support, and other similar applications.

7. PoLabs devices shall not be used for or in connection with equipment that requires an extremely high level of reliability and safety, as for example: aircraft systems, aerospace equipment, nuclear reactor control systems, medical equipment or systems for life support (e.g. artificial life support devices or systems), and any other applications or purposes that pose a direct threat to human life.

8. You should use the PoLabs products described in this document within the range specified by PoLabs, especially with respect to the maximum rating, operating supply voltage range and other product characteristics. PoLabs shall have no liability for malfunctions or damages arising out of the use of PoLabs products beyond such specified ranges.

9. Although PoLabs endeavors to improve the quality and reliability of its products, semiconductor products have specific characteristics such as the occurrence of failure at a certain rate and malfunctions under certain use conditions. Further, PoLabs products are not subject to radiation resistance design. Please be sure to implement safety measures to guard them against the possibility of physical injury, and injury or damage caused by fire in the event of the failure of a PoLabs product, such as safety design for hardware and software including but not limited to redundancy, fire control and malfunction prevention, appropriate treatment for aging degradation or any other appropriate measures.

10. Usage: the software in this release is for use only with PoLabs products or with data collected using PoLabs products.

11. Fitness for purpose: no two applications are the same, so PoLabs cannot guarantee that its equipment or software is
    suitable for a given application. It is therefore the user’s responsibility to ensure that the product is suitable for the user’s application.

12. Viruses: this software was continuously monitored for viruses during production; however, the user is responsible for virus checking the software once it is installed.

13. Upgrades: we provide upgrades, free of charge, from our web site at www.poscope.com. We reserve the right to charge for updates or replacements sent out on physical media.

14. Please contact a PoLabs support for details as to environmental matters such as the environmental compatibility of each PoLabs product. Please use PoLabs products in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations that regulate the inclusion or use of controlled substances, including without limitation, the EU RoHS Directive. PoLabs assumes no liability for damages or losses occurring as a result of your noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations.

15. Please contact a PoLabs support at support@poscope.com if you have any questions regarding the information contained in this document or PoLabs products, or if you have any other inquiries.

16. The licensee agrees to allow access to this software only to persons who have been informed of and agree to abide by these conditions.

17. Trademarks: Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. PoKeys, PoKeys55, PoKeys56U, PoKeys56E, PoScope, PoLabs and others are internationally registered trademarks.

Introduction

CurrentSens is the current probe for oscilloscope and measuring equipment that is able to measure AC and DC currents. The goal was to make affordable yet high quality instrument that would allow users to have the capability of measuring time varying currents. The design is simple and intuitive. On one side there is two pole connector that you wire your measured current through. On the other side, we have a BNC connector that you directly connect to the oscilloscope for displaying the waveform of the current. We offer multiple probes that range by their current rating and therefore sensitivity. The current range is traded for sensitivity since output signal is limited to 5V, entire current range have to be represented with that voltage. Sensitivity is represented as how much voltage on the output we get for every ampere of current flowing through the sensor.

Sensitivity is therefore ranging from 25mV/A for highest current range and 125mV/A for the lower current range.
The accuracy of the sensor is 0.7% at the rated current and linearity is 0.1% which is order or magnitude better than comparable current probes and enables really precise and accurate measurements.
Bandwidth of the sensor is 200 kHz meaning currents from DC to that frequency can be measured with almost no loss in signal. Compared to similar current clamp probes that is factor of at least 10 higher and the accuracy of measurement is higher as well.
The connector for current is galvanically isolated from the measuring side, so it is safe to measure on voltages up to 450 V RMS and peak discharge voltages up to 1000 V. Please practice safety precautions when measuring and dealing with high voltages.
The Current Sens has two switches. One is on/off switch with LED on the right. Current Sens is powered by two standard AA or NiMh batteries. If using AA batteries we strongly recommend using alkaline batteries which should not leak and destroy the device. If device is not used for longer period of time it is recommended to remove the batteries. When not using the Current Sens it is recommended to turn it off otherwise it will drain the batteries.
The other switch is for selecting the reference. Current Sens can measure currents in both directions. One way to display that current then is to reference the zero current from 0 V output voltage so the current flowing in negative direction is displayed as negative voltage. But if you want to measure currents with instruments that do not accept negative voltages or ADC-s you want to have zero current in the middle of the output voltage range so you can measure in both

Connectors and pinout

Usage examples

The CurrentSens probe is used for measuring currents in motors, high power DC- DC converters, observing and studying applications, development of new electronics devices, observing transient events etc.

Technical specification

• 25 A max RMS current
• 85 A max peak current
• Bandwidth of 200kHz
• AC and DC current measurements
• Measure on voltages up to 450 V RMS
• Powered by two cell AA or NiMh batteries
• Selectable reference voltage
• Mechanical dimensions [mm]:

Grant of license

The material contained in this release is licensed, not sold. PoLabs grants a license to the person who installs this software, subject to the conditions listed below.

Access
The licensee agrees to allow access to this software only to persons who have been informed of and agree to abide by these conditions.

Usage
The software in this release is for use only with PoLabs products or with data collected using PoLabs products.

Copyright
PoLabs claims the copyright of, and retains the rights to, all material (software, documents etc) contained in this release. You may copy and distribute the entire release in its original state, but must not copy individual items within the release other than for backup purposes.

Liability
PoLabs and its agents shall not be liable for any loss or damage, howsoever caused, related to the use of PoLabs equipment or software, unless excluded by statute.

Fitness for purpose
No two applications are the same, so PoLabs cannot guarantee that its equipment or software is suitable for a given application. It is therefore the user’s responsibility to ensure that the product is suitable for the user’s application.

Mission Critical applications
Because the software runs on a computer that may be running other software products, and may be subject to interference from these other products, this license specifically excludes usage in ‘mission critical’ applications, for example life support systems.

Errors
This manual was continuously monitored for errors during production; however, the user is responsible for error checking the manual once it is used.

Support
There could be errors in these manuals, but if you found some, please contact our technical support staff, who will try to fix the problem within a reasonable time.

Upgrades
We provide upgrades, free of charge, from our web site at www.PoLabs.com. We reserve the right to charge for updates or replacements sent out on physical media.

Trademarks
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. PoKeys, PoKeys55, PoKeys56U, PoKeys56E, PoKeys57U, PoKeys57E, PoKeys57CNC, PoScope, PoLabs, PoExtBus, PoExtBus Smart, PoRelay8, PlasmaSens and others are internationally registered trademarks.

Support: www.PoLabs.com

www.PoLabs.com

References

• PoLabs web store - Polabs
• PoLabs web store - Polabs

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