step by step procedure to calibrate NI 4130 using Calibration executive 3.4

[Ibarra]

Our company just purchased Calibration Executive and other hardwares necessary in calibrating PXI 4130,4110 and PXI-6251/6259.

We currently have the following setup to calibrate our NI PXI 4130 SMU:

  • NI PXI 1042 Chassis

  • NI PXI 8108 Controller
  • NI PXI-4071 Digital Multimeter
  • NI APS-4100 Auxilliary Power Supply for PXI-4130
  • Fluke 5700a

Can someone give a step by step procedure to do calibration using the Cal Exe software? We found this manual http://digital.ni.com/manuals.nsf/websearch/EB53C88E7EB640828625762400519455 but it isn't based on cal exe rather on the LabVIEW driver. Sorry, but we really have no idea on how to use it.

Thanks in Advance!

Cris Ibarra

[BotondB]

Hi Cris, 

if you have Calibration Executive installed just start it and go to the Help menu and click Calibration Executive Help (or just press CTRL+F1). This help file will always be a good information source for you, it's a good practice to check it if you never calibrated the device you are about to calibrate. 

If you have the software running open the drop down menu next to the Device Types label just below the menu bar and select PXI-4130 in your case. The Calibrate button will became active, please click it. 

A wizard will pop up it will ask for different kinds of information about the "customer" of this calibration, than about the standards, then the environment (temperature and humidity) and at the last page about the board itself (serial number and DAQmx ID). You will know that you filled in everyrhing necessary on a page of the wizard when the next button becames active. 

After the wizard the calibration will start with a warm-up (my recomendation is to wait and don't cancel) than CalExec will show you connection diagrams on how you should connect your instruments to the DUT (4130), of course you will have to connect the 5700 to the PC over GPIB. 

The software will show you the progress and if the previous steps were passed or failed. 

I hope this helps!

Best Regards
Botond

[Ibarra]

Hi Botond,

Thanks for you answer.

Another question, is there a particular chassis slot where I need to put my DUT (let's say 4130) ? And after the calibration is done, what is the proper way to remove my DUT?

Kind Regards,

Cris

[BotondB]

Hi Cris, 

all slots that fit your PXI board will work, the PXI slots are the same (except the timing slots, but that's only important for the timing boards). As a general rule all boards made by NI have an icon on the top of the white metal piece on the front of the product and if that icon matches the one on the chassis' slot you should be fine. 

I recommend always turning off the PC when removing PXI boards, for the 4130 it's a good practice to remove the external power source's connector before removing the board from the chassis. 

Regards:

Botond

[Ibarra]

Hello Botond,

Good Day!

How about the GPIB address of my 5700? What address I will assign to my instrument? Is there a constant address to be consider?

Regards,

Cris

[J-Barticus]

Hi Cris,

There should not be a specific GPIB address required for the calibration setup. When you are setting the standards for the 5700 you will select the address that corresponds to the device, you can find the given/set address by opening Measurement and Automation Explorer and double clicking on the Fluke device. The same goes for other devices you have to select the address for, they may also be represented by the device name such as 'Dev 2' or 'PXI1Slot2'.

-Jake B.

[Ibarra]

Hello Jake,

Thanks for the Info..I have tested now my Cal EXE system in 4130 DUT but it doesn't work smoothly and it showed me this error at the end of the test.

"Error -1074118645 occurred at niDCPower Cal Adjust Current Limit.vi
at step Adjust Current Programming AccuracyThe calculated calibration constant is invalid.  Repeat the calibration.  If the error persists, contact National Instruments Technical Support.
Invalid Value
Gain:  1.662387e6
Status Code: -225100
This error code is undefined. Undefined errors might occur for a number of reasons. For example, no one has provided a description for the code, or you might have wired a number that is not an error code to the error code input.
Additionally, undefined error codes might occur because the error relates to a third-party object, such as the operating system or ActiveX. For these third-party errors, you might be able to obtain a description of the error by searching the Web for the error code (-1074118645) or for its hexadecimal representation (0xBFFA400B)."

My 4130 failed in Verifying Current Programming Accuracy and Verifying Current Measurement Accuracy in all current limit ranges except on 1A and 2A.. Please help..

TIA,

Cris

[Brandon_G.]

Hey Cris,

Can you send us detailed photos of your setup when performing this test?  The error message indicates that the gain constant is invalid, which often happens when their is a misconnection.  The gain seems suspiciously high and I suspect if the DMM is measuring much less than the expected voltage, the resulting gain will be high.  Before running the automated calibration, I would manually configure the calibrator to the resistance values in Table 4 in the Calibration Manual, connect the wiring per Figure 2, set the calibrator to External sense (4-wire mode), set the 4130 to the appropriate current level using Soft Front Panels, and verify the voltage is correct using the DMM (you can use SFP for this as well).  If it's not, this should help you troubleshoot what's not working/connected properly (ie connections, calibrator, 4130, DMM, etc).

Let us know what you find when you have a chance.

Thanks!

[Ibarra]

Hello,

I've attached a diagram what my set up look like. Pardon me for not the actual picture. But it is the same as the actual set up.  😃

 

I connected my Channel 1 of 4130 to the Normal Output of Calibrator. And my NI 4071 DMM to the Aux terminal which I supposed is a SENSE. Is my connection correct?

By the way my Calibrator is not 5700, rather it is 5520A Fluke. Anyway, does Calibration Exe automatically set my 5520A calibrator to 4-wire?

TIA,

Cris

[Brandon_G.]

Hey Cris,

Unfortunately the 5520A is not a supported instrument for the 4130 calibration procedure because it will not meet the accuracy requirements to properly calibrate the 4130.  The procedure requires either a 5700A or 5720A and the automated calibration procedure was only tested with these two calibrators.  Do you have a 5700A/5720A you can try the calibration with?  The 5700A/5720A will be automatically configured through GPIB, however I suspect the 5520A is behaving differently and is not configuring to the proper settings.  Please let us know what you find when you get the chance.

Thanks,

Brandon G