What You Need to Know About Toroidal Transformer Inrush Current Toroidal Transformer Inrush Current can cause some serious damage if not appropriately managed. Inrush current can cause circuit breakers to trip and fuses to blow. Additionally, it can cause a complete failure of the transformer itself. And if that weren’t enough to give you a headache, excessive inrush current can also limit the total number of devices which can be … Continue Reading
What Do RT1, RT2, T1, and T2 Have In Common? They are the main components of Thermistor Beta Calculations as it relates to temperature measurement, compensation, and control. And if you are an engineer in an industry such as automotive or HVAC where things like coolant and air intake temperatures are crucial to the safety and performance of a vehicle or unit, chances are you will deal with beta calculations … Continue Reading
Award-Winning Hyperloop Pod Uses NTC Thermistors A team of engineers use NTC thermistors in their design for a high-speed transportation pod. The thermistors accurately sense temperatures and create a map of the application’s heat. Teslarati recently conducted an interview with members of the Badgerloop team, 3rd-place winners of SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod design competition in January. The Hyperloop is Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s “fifth mode” of transportation where passengers in a … Continue Reading
OBJECTIVE Ametherm inrush current limiters are used in many applications today that require suppression of surge current when power is first applied to the system. One of the popular applications of Ametherm inrush current limiters is in power factor correction circuits. This article provides a solution for finding the correct power factor correction (PFC) circuit for an inductive load. This solution is suitable for applications that include ballasts, LED drivers, … Continue Reading
By Balaji Santhanam, Hubble Power Systems Mehdi Samii, Ametherm Inc. Originally Published in Power System Design Magazine As electronic systems continue to become more compact, temperature plays an increasingly important role in system reliability and power efficiency. Many engineers are already familiar with how temperature can affect reliability; if a system becomes too hot, device operation can become unpredictable. Using a simple temperature sensor like a thermistor, the host processor can monitor … Continue Reading
Recently, the SFGate released an article about how thermistors are used to measure temperature change in Lake Tahoe. The article states that over the past 40 years, global warming has caused the temperature of lakes to rise, affecting the natural habitat for fish species and algae blooms. Scientists at the Tahoe Environmental Research Center carefully monitor the lake’s temperature using thermistors carried by large ocean buoys. Signals from the buoys transmit data via satellite to scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in … Continue Reading
What’s an ACCU-CURVE™ Thermistor? ACCU-CURVE™ thermistors are used for high-accuracy temperature sensing, control, and compensation in medical, industrial, and automotive applications. They also deliver long-term stability and reliability, while offering interchangeability over a broad temperature range. This eliminates the need to individually calibrate or provide circuit compensation for part variability. Accurate temperature measurement to ±0.2°C is available over the 0°C to 70°C temperature range. Standard ohmic values at 25°C range from 2,252 to 100,000 ohms. ACCU-CURVE™ Thermistor vs. … Continue Reading
To use a temperature sensor in a control or compensation circuit, the detection circuit must provide an output in a usable format. For analog circuits, the output is usually a resistance. For digital control and compensation, the measurement needs to be converted to a digital format for processing by an MCU. This is commonly achieved by reading the measurement as a voltage using an analog to digital converter (ADC). Semiconductor-based sensors … Continue Reading
The time has come for Ametherm to go digital! While pen and paper remain true to our hearts, the engineers here at Ametherm want to share their wealth of the research, development and knowledge of inrush current limiters and thermistors at a more consistent and rapid pace. What better way than to… tweet it? Or, share it on Facebook. Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! … Continue Reading
When designing a temperature detection circuit, it is important that you don’t pay for more than what is actually needed. By understanding the requirements of an application, an optimal temperature sensor can be selected that minimizes cost without compromising performance, accuracy, or reliability. There are several factors to consider when selecting a sensor. They are outlined in the table below. Temperature Sensor Selections NTC Thermistor Platinum RTD Thermocouple Semiconductor … Continue Reading
To use a temperature sensor in a control or compensation circuit, the detection circuit must provide an output in a usable format. For analog circuits, the output is usually a resistance. For digital control and compensation, the measurement needs to be converted to a digital format for processing by an MCU. This is commonly achieved by reading the measurement as a voltage using an analog to digital converter (ADC). Semiconductor-based sensors … Continue Reading
We are excited to announce that we are now offering ACCU-CURVE™ series thermistors. These are a new series of interchangeable thermistors used for temperature sensing, control, and compensation. They are best suited for applications that require a high degree of measurement accuracy over a wide temperature range. Common applications include medical, industrial, and automotive. Read the full press release here. Why choose the ACCU-CURVE™ series? The ACCU-CURVE™ series offers faster … Continue Reading
We have exciting news! U.K.- based Rhopoint Components now carries our series of NTC disc thermistors acquired from Measurement Specialties (formerly RTI electronics). These components deliver high stability and maximum sensitivity for temperature measurement, compensation, and control. You can read the full press release here. NTC Disc Thermistor Applications NTC disc thermistors offer extreme precision and temperature measurement for various applications. They are used in a wide range of industries including aerospace, military, appliance, medical, and automotive. … Continue Reading
Have you ever turned on a transformer and heard a loud humming sound? What about having a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker? These signs can all indicate transformer inrush current. Transformer inrush current describes a spike in current that occurs when you initially turn on your transformer. This spike can be up to 10 times higher than normal current. Why does inrush current occur? It can happen because large transformers demand a huge amount of … Continue Reading
Since 1994, Ametherm has provided the most reliable and effective inrush current limiting solutions available. We deliver on that promise through innovative design, quality manufacturing, and exceptional customer support.