Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I've been spending some time improving my very very basic electronics skills. The other day I watched a video of someone fixing a switched mode power supply. They tested a diode on a curve tracer. But, there was no explanation of what the curve tracer was or how it functioned. Obviously, the thought was, those watching would know what the machine did. And thanks to your video, I'm now in-the-know about the basics of curve tracers and their importance of diagnosing components thoroughly. Thank you!
If you want help on Electronics Basics and the functioning of a switched Mode Power Supply i'm happy to get on skype with you or whatever and explain that to you and put you on the right path
@@martinkuliza Much appreciated! And, at some point, I *may* run some questions by you... Currently, I've got a 1993 Chevy C1500 pickup truck that, once heat soaked, bucks and barfs. I've played with the cheap little DS211 oscilloscope toy on fuel pump armature commutator checking, primary and secondary ignition wave forms. But, the toy o-scope just doesn't have the ability to sample or store enough data. I really should just drop the dime on the Pico 25Mhz four-channel and be done with it. Hell, you can't diagnose a modern car without a scope these days. And too, the Pico would be nice for my other electronics endeavors. Thanks for your kind offer of assistance reply!
There's a lot of projects to build a simple or medium complexity one yourself nowadays, on YT and the web. I'm interested in replicating one as well. For common semiconductors, most of the time you don't need a curve tracer to go to 100's of volts to test things any more, so they can be a bit simpler/safer than the equipment shown here.
1:55 QUESTION in an OPEN you have 0V 0A why would you get a straight line ? If X is Voltage and Y is Current why wouldn't it be just a dot on the screen ? A Straight line implies there is no Current but there is Voltage the SHORT CIRCUIT makes sense in a short... There is no Voltage but there is massive current so yes..... Vertical Line is expected
The explanation is at 1:34 . Your assumption that an OPEN is 0 V 0 A is wrong. An open means infinite resistance, meaning that the voltage can be any value and the current is 0 A. The curve tracer varies the voltage using a rectified sine wave voltage source and as the voltage changes, it sweeps the display horizontally. There is 0 current as this happens, so there is no vertical deflection and you get a horizontal line.
@VoidElectronics No it's not Open Circuit means..... A Break in the circuit Meaning Voltage and Current cannot flow the Infinite resistance part of it is a separate attribute Open Circuit is not defined by Infinite resistance it is defined by a BREAK in the circuit in an O/C , Voltage cannot be ANY Value. The voltage is 0V in an Open Circuit we all know this, it's not a debate if we have a straight line it would imply 0 Current but presence of voltage so Logically if we have No current and No voltage, that would be A DOT... Correct ? and if we have Current and no Voltage that's a Vertical Line and if we have Voltage and no Current that's a Horizontal line so on that Horizontal line there had to have been voltage which means it was not an Open Circuit
@@martinkuliza My final argument on this is that the assumption that an open is 0 V had lethal consequences for people stealing grounding bonds from railway infrastructure. As soon as you OPEN the grounding bond, you get a massive voltage across the ends. How about that?
Generally speaking, you cannot test ICs because each IC would need its own dedicated testbench for that. At most, you can check the internal ESD diodes that most ICs have or some people like to check the characteristics of a presumably faulty IC compared to a known good one, but that's not the most reliable and scientific way to test an IC. As for IGBTs and triacs, yes, of course you can test them with this. 😁
5:17 OL isn't OVERLOAD OL stands for OVER LIMIT there is no overload, what is happening is.... Your test meter (DMM) is saying I have reach the LIMIT of what i can test. Hence it is OVER the LIMIT of it's test capabilities there is no overload
It makes sense, however the meaning of OL is inconsistent among resources and manufacturers. It's literally called an overload on Fluke's website: www.fluke.com/en/learn/blog/digital-multimeters/accuracy-precision#:~:text=If%20the%20measurement%20is%20higher,setting%20without%20overloading%20the%20multimeter.
@VoidElectronics Then the person who wrote that is incorrect. Just because it's a Fluke Website doesn't mean that some Engineer wrote the content , it's probably the graphic design people who were tasked with the website Why don't you consider the logic of what i said. as this explanation goes back to the 60s and 70s OL is Over Limit because you've reached the limit of your multimeter Overload doesn't make sense because when you go into Continuity and you get OL, How is there an Overload and when you are measuring Resistance. How do you get overload ? You don't this is something that started to be used in the 90s, But it's silly and it's wrong but it's a common mistake so i understand But yeah, the fluke thing suprises me and i will be calling them about it but i can assure you .. They are wrong in Electronics Accuracy is important. and carelessness is not Using OL as Overload is careless let's apply logic to it Does a resistor OVERLOAD a circuit when the meter is in resistance mode or Did the meter reach the upper limit of what resistance it can measure apply logic to this and you'll see that it's Over Limit and not Over Load Go into older manufacturer documents and you'll see it's Over Limit anyway.... Back to the curve tracer if there is a line Horizontally that implies there is Voltage but no current WE KNOW that when we have an Open Circuit we have no voltage and no current so.. it's weird don't you think i would have expected a dot now when you said... LET'S CHECK OUR PREDICTION You're not really predicting though. You already know the outcome and you're catering your explanation to it so let's ask what is a dot on the curve tracer Relative to the a Horizontal line and also i'd like to ask this .... when you were testing Transistors and talking about step voltages and you got that multi step trace well... I have a curve tracer. i put it on a transistor I didn't get the steps I just got (let's call it) 1 step why is that do you think ?
A good intro to curve tracers - and you have some nice gear there!
Thanks! Yeah, I think the nixie multimeter deserves its own video. What do you think?😁
@@VoidElectronics go for it!
@@VoidElectronics nA range is pretty cool, when most DMMs nowadays only go to uA.
@@ivolol Cool but so noisy it's almost useless. I think it needs a recap and some repairs. 😁
@@VoidElectronicswell tut tut, that's great electronics video repair and exploration video right there 😁
got this randomly in my recommendations, very good video!
@@healLV Thank you so much! 😁
Clean and concise explanation. Good job!
@@tornadoflore Thank you! 😁
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
I've been spending some time improving my very very basic electronics skills. The other day I watched a video of someone fixing a switched mode power supply. They tested a diode on a curve tracer. But, there was no explanation of what the curve tracer was or how it functioned. Obviously, the thought was, those watching would know what the machine did.
And thanks to your video, I'm now in-the-know about the basics of curve tracers and their importance of diagnosing components thoroughly.
Thank you!
If you want help on Electronics Basics and the functioning of a switched Mode Power Supply
i'm happy to get on skype with you or whatever and explain that to you and put you on the right path
@@martinkuliza Much appreciated! And, at some point, I *may* run some questions by you...
Currently, I've got a 1993 Chevy C1500 pickup truck that, once heat soaked, bucks and barfs. I've played with the cheap little DS211 oscilloscope toy on fuel pump armature commutator checking, primary and secondary ignition wave forms. But, the toy o-scope just doesn't have the ability to sample or store enough data.
I really should just drop the dime on the Pico 25Mhz four-channel and be done with it. Hell, you can't diagnose a modern car without a scope these days.
And too, the Pico would be nice for my other electronics endeavors.
Thanks for your kind offer of assistance reply!
I had a look on ebay for one of these but you can probably guess I had no luck !
There's a lot of projects to build a simple or medium complexity one yourself nowadays, on YT and the web. I'm interested in replicating one as well. For common semiconductors, most of the time you don't need a curve tracer to go to 100's of volts to test things any more, so they can be a bit simpler/safer than the equipment shown here.
1:55 QUESTION
in an OPEN you have 0V 0A
why would you get a straight line ?
If X is Voltage and Y is Current
why wouldn't it be just a dot on the screen ?
A Straight line implies there is no Current but there is Voltage
the SHORT CIRCUIT makes sense
in a short... There is no Voltage but there is massive current so yes..... Vertical Line is expected
The explanation is at 1:34 . Your assumption that an OPEN is 0 V 0 A is wrong. An open means infinite resistance, meaning that the voltage can be any value and the current is 0 A. The curve tracer varies the voltage using a rectified sine wave voltage source and as the voltage changes, it sweeps the display horizontally. There is 0 current as this happens, so there is no vertical deflection and you get a horizontal line.
@VoidElectronics
No it's not
Open Circuit means.....
A Break in the circuit
Meaning Voltage and Current cannot flow
the Infinite resistance part of it is a separate attribute
Open Circuit is not defined by Infinite resistance it is defined by a BREAK in the circuit
in an O/C , Voltage cannot be ANY Value.
The voltage is 0V in an Open Circuit
we all know this, it's not a debate
if we have a straight line it would imply
0 Current but presence of voltage
so Logically if we have No current and No voltage, that would be A DOT... Correct ?
and if we have Current and no Voltage
that's a Vertical Line
and if we have Voltage and no Current
that's a Horizontal line
so on that Horizontal line there had to have been voltage which means it was not an Open Circuit
@@martinkuliza My final argument on this is that the assumption that an open is 0 V had lethal consequences for people stealing grounding bonds from railway infrastructure. As soon as you OPEN the grounding bond, you get a massive voltage across the ends. How about that?
can you test ic, igbt, triac using this?
Generally speaking, you cannot test ICs because each IC would need its own dedicated testbench for that. At most, you can check the internal ESD diodes that most ICs have or some people like to check the characteristics of a presumably faulty IC compared to a known good one, but that's not the most reliable and scientific way to test an IC. As for IGBTs and triacs, yes, of course you can test them with this. 😁
5:17 OL isn't OVERLOAD
OL stands for OVER LIMIT
there is no overload, what is happening is.... Your test meter (DMM) is saying
I have reach the LIMIT of what i can test. Hence it is OVER the LIMIT of it's test capabilities
there is no overload
It makes sense, however the meaning of OL is inconsistent among resources and manufacturers. It's literally called an overload on Fluke's website: www.fluke.com/en/learn/blog/digital-multimeters/accuracy-precision#:~:text=If%20the%20measurement%20is%20higher,setting%20without%20overloading%20the%20multimeter.
@VoidElectronics
Then the person who wrote that is incorrect.
Just because it's a Fluke Website doesn't mean that some Engineer wrote the content , it's probably the graphic design people who were tasked with the website
Why don't you consider the logic of what i said. as this explanation goes back to the 60s and 70s
OL is Over Limit
because you've reached the limit of your multimeter
Overload doesn't make sense because when you go into Continuity and you get OL, How is there an Overload
and when you are measuring Resistance.
How do you get overload ?
You don't
this is something that started to be used in the 90s, But it's silly and it's wrong
but it's a common mistake so i understand
But yeah, the fluke thing suprises me and i will be calling them about it
but i can assure you .. They are wrong
in Electronics Accuracy is important.
and carelessness is not
Using OL as Overload is careless
let's apply logic to it
Does a resistor OVERLOAD a circuit when the meter is in resistance mode
or
Did the meter reach the upper limit of what resistance it can measure
apply logic to this and you'll see that it's Over Limit and not Over Load
Go into older manufacturer documents and you'll see it's Over Limit
anyway....
Back to the curve tracer
if there is a line Horizontally
that implies there is Voltage but no current
WE KNOW that when we have an Open Circuit we have no voltage and no current
so.. it's weird don't you think
i would have expected a dot
now when you said... LET'S CHECK OUR PREDICTION
You're not really predicting though.
You already know the outcome and you're catering your explanation to it
so let's ask
what is a dot on the curve tracer
Relative to the a Horizontal line
and also i'd like to ask this ....
when you were testing Transistors and talking about step voltages and you got that multi step trace
well... I have a curve tracer.
i put it on a transistor
I didn't get the steps
I just got (let's call it) 1 step
why is that do you think ?