[sdiy] temperature testing

[matt holland]

Perfect, thanks Neil. I guess "Incubator" is the magic search term.
definitely hobby budget! Hopefully I can find an equivalent in the states.
So I'm guessing your process with the incubator is manually stepping up the
temperature with a stabilizing period in between, with the thermocouple for
the accurate temperature readout? Is the superglue for the thermocouple?

I like the fridge idea for single point measurement. What would be the
downside to say, unplugging the fridge and taking measurements while it
warms up to ambient? Temp changing too fast to be sure the data is accurate?

Multiple thermocouples... to be certain you aren't being misled by hotspots
on the PCB?

thx,
mh




On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 2:13 AM, Neil Johnson <neil.johnson71 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Matt,
>
> > searched a bit through the archives and didn't find anything so... how do
> > you all go about testing your circuits over temperature? i imagine
> there's a
> > decent amount of dust cleaner and hair dryers involved but i'm hoping
> some
> > of you have some recommendations for something resembling a hobbyist
> budget
> > temp chamber to make things a bit more objective and repeatable.
>
> I use a Gallenkamp "economy incubator size 1" that I picked up on ebay
> for very little.  It's quite large, but gives a stable temperature
> environment.  It only heats, so that's anything above ambient.  It
> doesn't have a fan, which for some tests can cause problems (air flow
> cooling) and for home use it's good enough.
>
> I also have a fridge in the same room, which is mainly used for
> keeping beer cool, although it can also be used for single-point low
> temperature tests (about 4 Celsius).  For anything inbetween I need to
> wait for winter....
>
> Oh, and to do this properly you need a bunch of thermocouples,
> superglue, and a means of recording the temperature against the other
> parameters you're measuring.  At work we use an Agilent 34970A and
> relay cards to monitor 5-6 points on the unit under test.
>
> Cheers,
> Neil
> --
> http://www.njohnson.co.uk
>
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