Thermocouple sensor alternative

Due to the cost of the thermocouple sensor board, I've been experimenting with alternatives. My first idea was to use the MAX6675 SPI thermocouple reader, so that's the first board I built. The MAX6675 has a +/- 3C accuracy over the 0-1024C range, which should be good enough for our work. If we want better accuracy, another build approach must be taken, which is where my next board will come in. More on that next time.

Build cost for this unit is quite low; the MAX6675 costs $6.12 @ 100, and Maxim quotes $3.88 @ 1000.

Not tested yet, but here are some pictures of the sensor board.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2009 12:00AM by Annirak.

Well, I have the sensor wired up. Reading it was really straight forward. I will post code in the next few days for anyone who wants it.

I definitely think that this should be our next-get thermocouple sensor. It's far cheaper than a AD595, it's easy to use, and it's scalable. We can use as many of them as we have slave-select I/O pins.

Brendan

Updated the builder's blog with new info regarding this project.
[builders.reprap.org]

Hi Annirak

How do you embed a picture into a forum post?

Fred

use the attach a file link