Silicone Diode Temperarue Sensors

[JKerce]

I am using a compactdaq system.  Will the c-series 9217 RTD module work for measuring temperatures with silicone diode temperature sensors, or is there a better choice?

[Kevin.MN]

If you could provide the spec sheet for those temperature sensors, I can provide a more targeted answer, but based on typical silicon diode sensors, this is your answer.

The 9217 may not be the right module. There also may not be a "right" temperature module.

A silicon diode is not a typical RTD sensor which poses two problems:

1) The RTD modules provide 0.1-1 mA of excitation current, while silicon diodes typically require ~10 uA excitation current.

2) They also have a ranges of 0-400Ω (for 1 mA excitation) and 0-4000Ω (for .1mA excitation), which correlate to ~0.4V. The forward voltage drop across a diode is ~0.7V. 

You could try building your own system using a current source and a voltage input module, but NI does not have a out-of-the-box solution to interface with these sensors. If you can provide a spec sheet, I can address it more specifically, but it doesn't look good. Is there a specific reason you are using silicon diode resistors as opposed to a more standard RTD or thermocouple?

[JKerce]

Hi Kevin,

Thank you very much to the reply.  We do have a work around for the SD temp sensors but I was wanting to know if NI had a c series module that would do the job.  It would make things easier it they did.  Thanks again for the info.