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November 16, 2015

HOW TO BUILD A
THERMOCOUPLE
AMPLIFIER
by: Bil Herd

37 Comments
April 6, 2015

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A Thermocouple is a terrific way to measure temperature. The effects of temperature
change on dissimilar metals produces a measurable voltage. But to make that
measurement you need an amplifier circuit designed for the thermocouple being used.

IF YOU MISSED IT

While researching Zero Drift Amplifiers as a follow-up to my video on Instrumentation

Amplifiers I noticed the little schematicthe front page of the LTC1049 datasheetwhich
is shown here. I thought it was an ideal example of an analog application where some
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gain and some gain

helper were needed to
accomplish our useful
little application of
amplifying a
thermocouple probe.
In the video I dont really
talk much about the
thermocouples
themselves other than the
type I see most of the
time which is type K. If
youre not already familiar
with the construction of
these probes you can find
Linear Technology LTC 1049 Low Power Zero-Drift
an informative write-up on
Operational Amplifier
thermocouples and the
with Internal Capacitors
different types onthe
Wikipedia pageand you
might also want to check
out the Analog Devicesapp note if you would like to know more. What I will cover is a
reliable and precise way to read from these probes, seen in the video below and the
remainder of the post after the break.

How to Measure a Thermocouple Probe using an Amplifier ...

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Different thermocouples sensors have a different temperature coefficients meaning

that they will generate different amounts of voltage for the same change in
temperature, usually specified in volts per degree of Celsius (v/C). Knowing the
temperature coefficient of a sensor is only half the equation, we also need to nail down
the zero point, meaning that we establish a calibrated reference point. Applying a
known temperature such as immersing the sensor in ice water would be a simple if
inconvenient way to establish a known reference temperature. Basically we could zero
out and measure the change in volts per degree C from there. Below is a graph
showing

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Alternatively we could use a Cold Junction Compensator (CJC) such as the LT1025, a
chip made to not only replicate the different temperature coefficients of the various
thermocouples, but also give us a pretty reasonable calibration.
Behind the scenes the CJC acts as another thermocouple or thermometer and
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changes the voltage as seen by the

thermocouple, which is at room temperature
in our case, and also corrects for some other
non-linearities. With the thermocouple being
driven by the CJC the output of the
thermocouple is then fairly linear and fairly
calibrated.
For this quick demo I went one step further
and used a chipset from Linear Technology
called the LTK001(PDF) which is comprised
of an LT1025 CTC and a matched amplifier
known separately as the LTKA0x. A quick
glance at the specifications for the LTKA0x
shows a lot about why it works in this
application: it has a high open loop gain and
very low input currents and input current

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Thermocouple Temperature
Response
errors. Analog Devices
has a good write-up on
open loop gain(PDF), we
can talk more about bias
current and errors in the
future.

LT1025 Micropower Thermocouple Cold Junction

Compensator

The schematic I used is

here and was a
composite of a couple of
different sample circuits, if
I were to do this circuit as
a production run I think I
would include a trim pot
as well (and a calibration
procedure.).

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The PCB layers are shown below and I can make the Gerbers available if anyone is
interested.The bottom is a ground plane fill which is why ground traces arent easy to
spot.
Using this circuit you can realize a simple thermocouple amplifier which should give
you enough gain to interface to your favorite controller providing it has an Analog to
Digital Converter (ADC). As this reads out in millivolts per degree Celsius you will have
to do the conversion to Fahrenheit in software which should be straightforward.

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Posted in Featured, how-to, slider

Tagged amplifier, bil herd, k-type thermocouple, op-amp, thermocouple

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37 THOUGHTS ON HOW TO BUILD A

THERMOCOUPLE AMPLIFIER
Thinkerer says:
April 6, 2015 at 7:19 am

Once upon a time thermocouples required special connectors since using

ordinary screw terminals would make an additional pair of dissimilar-metal
junctions. Can you compensate that out of these circuits?
Reply

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SOI Sentinel says:

April 6, 2015 at 7:26 am

I deal with thermocouples industrially, and generally, the amplifier

connection is to normal screw terminals these days. Its a single point and
they are compensated for, I believe. Now, if you have other junctions along
the way, then yes, you must use the correct matched set of terminals/plugs
to get an accurate reading.
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Bil Herd says:

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April 6, 2015 at 7:56 am

We used to account for things like the kovar leads on TO-5 cases
having a small additive temperature coefficient depending on
whether it was inside a feedback loop or not, etc. etc.
These days with software usually involved with a measurement, a
good calibration procedure can usually take out a lot issues that
creep in, with the results being better the closer to ideal the original
signal is.
Also the Cold Junction Compensator uses an approximation for
bow correction and appears to spread the approximation out over
the various outputs, another source of error at some level.
Reply

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Marvin says:
April 6, 2015 at 8:25 am

If all your other dissimilar junctions are at the same temperature the
Seebeck EMF is equivalent to a single junction of the first and last metals.
Reply

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HansPeterHaastrup says:
April 6, 2015 at 11:23 pm

If you want to measure in the 0.01s of degrees, then no the only option
is to have a well defined hot and cold junction. Im working in a company
that does measure in that range using thermocouples and yes, there is
quite some material controlling being done on the physical side of things
Reply

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Don says:
April 7, 2015 at 3:23 am

Dealing with industrial signal converters, there is usually a temperature

reference bonded to a leg of the terminal block to provide an accurate
CJC.
Reply

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netbeard says:
April 6, 2015 at 7:50 am

Unless youre measuring insanely high temperatures, theres no good reason not
to use a pt100 or pt1000 RTD instead of a thermocouple. Theyre more
reproducible, no drift, and no need for cold junction compensation.
Reply

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DainBramage says:
April 6, 2015 at 8:40 am

Yes, there is. You can make any amount of thermocouples cheaply,
quickly, and easily. All you need is the thermocouple wire itself and a way
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to weld the tip. RTDs, not so much. From a maintenance perspective, it

makes a lot more sense to keep a spool of thermocouple wire on hand,
than needing a drawer full of spare RTDs. Also, when a thermocouple
breaks, you can replace it in seconds with a pair of wire cutters and a
propane torch.
Reply

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chango says:
April 6, 2015 at 8:48 am

Or weld it with a big cap. Non precious metal thermocouple wire (T)
are cheap and come spooled and jacketed in zip cord like insulation.
Reply

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Matt says:
April 6, 2015 at 1:51 pm

Or a rewound savaged transformer from a microwave oven

Im currently using these when I need to weld small stuff (or
melt something just for the sake of it)
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tekkieneet says:
April 7, 2015 at 1:45 am

I used DIY carbon arc welder alligator clip with mechanical

pencil lead and a small adjustable bench supply (less than 10V
and an amp or so). Worked pretty to weld the twisted end of
the wires into a nice small round junction.
I tried using the plasma arc from my solid state Telsa coil
adjusted all the way down to 10-ish watts, but it was too hot
and harder to control.
Reply

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christoph says:
April 8, 2015 at 6:22 am

How exactly is the big-cap-welding done? I have some Type K

wire left and Id like to give it a try.
Reply

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Matt says:
April 6, 2015 at 8:31 am

I tend to use the good old OP07 and any cheap temperature sensor for cold
junction compensation. Data processing is done in software. Works really well
with three-point calibration (ice water, boiling water, melting solder) the accuracy
is 2-5K with respect to +/- 0.5K calibrated temp sensor.
Reply

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chango says:
April 6, 2015 at 8:44 am

This is the way to go, especially where youre measuring high

temperatures. An OP07 and TMP35 each feeding into separate ADCs on a
micro is usually good enough. Way cheaper than those fixed function
thermocouple amp ICs.
Reply

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Bil Herd says:

April 6, 2015 at 9:05 am

We used to use the OP01 and OP05 which suffered from some
popcorn noise back in the 70s, and then the OP07 when it came
out, all from from PMI. They used to make some great stuff, looks like
they were bought by Analog Devices. We used to add a matched
transistor pair to the front end of an OP07 as our instr amp.
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Frank Buss says:

April 6, 2015 at 9:15 am

Another way to use a thermocouple is the MAX31855. Just connect the

thermocouple, no other parts needed, digital output. Ive tried it, works even with
an external multiplexer for more than one thermocouple, and on a breadboard:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/de.sci.electronics/YEWNNwx-bXI/NTcdnWah44J
Reply

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Bil Herd says:

April 6, 2015 at 9:17 am

Cool Frank.
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joo says:
April 7, 2015 at 3:38 am

One pitfall with the MAX31855 you can have, is to rely on the internal fixed
amplification. With the J-type version the sensitivity is set to 57.953 V/C
which is fine if you measure 1000C, at say 200C according to a J-type
datasheet you would need 53.895 V/C, which results in a whopping 15K
error.
Reply

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Artenz says:
April 6, 2015 at 10:56 am

I usually grab an AD7792. It comes with pre-amp, 50/60 Hz filtering, current

source to detect broken sensor, and extra ADC channels for measuring cold
junction with NTC. Only needs NTC, resistor, and a few caps as external
components.
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Bil Herd says:

April 6, 2015 at 11:12 am

Cool. I like being able to mux in a gain and zero reference and null out in
software providing the mux is mostly neutral.
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chris says:
April 6, 2015 at 11:10 am

There is a widely used thermocouple amplifier from analog devices, the ad595:
http://www.analog.com/en/products/amplifiers/specialtyamplifiers/thermocouple-interface-amplifiers/ad595.html
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Bil Herd says:

April 6, 2015 at 11:12 am

Cool. My last vid used AD so I switched it up to Linear Tech.

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mr.jb.swe says:
April 6, 2015 at 11:10 am

I think an Attiny861 with differential gain could be used as a simple stupid

alternative
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Bil Herd says:

April 6, 2015 at 11:21 am

All depends on what you want to get out of it which is the cool part of
designing. There is often a near-infinite number of ways to do the same
thing.
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Ken says:
April 6, 2015 at 1:40 pm

This is kinda an old school analog approach?

Today, youd use a thermocouple to digital converter like a Maxim MAX31855.
Okay that part sucks for RF susceptability and reading below freezing
temperatures.
But calibrating and drift of thermocouple amps is a hassle.
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Bil Herd says:

April 6, 2015 at 4:36 pm

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This circuit is mostly pre-calibrated, the amp is a zero-drift type which

typically do their own drift correction which is what led to showing it.
Reply

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Ren says:
April 6, 2015 at 3:16 pm

Okay, my first impression on reading the title of this blog was amplifying sound
using thermocouples
The World Book Encyclopedia I had as a child had a candle powered radio
build instruction which used a multitude of
dissimilar metal junctions to power a small amplifier for a crystal diode AM
receiver.
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Bil Herd says:

April 6, 2015 at 4:37 pm

There are thermocouples that directly power a valve just from the voltage
they produce which is kinda cool.
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tmk says:
April 6, 2015 at 11:22 pm

I added a safety valve on my vintage stove that just does that. A

thermocouple is heated by the pilot light, which provides enough
juice to keep a valve open.
Reply

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Antti says:
April 10, 2015 at 5:17 am

You can make this without electricity by using closed tube

which flame heats. As pressure grows inside tube it keeps
valve open.
Reply

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Marvin says:
April 7, 2015 at 5:02 pm

Its possible to evaporate thermocouples onto split mica or blown glass

with so little thermal lag that they are microphonic responding to the
change in temperature caused by adiabatic compression of air of the
sound waves.
Ok, its mostly off topic but someone mentioned sound and I may not get
another chance to drop that into a conversation this lifetime. :P
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Bil Herd says:

April 7, 2015 at 5:38 pm

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I figured there was a path between motion and voltage in there but
assumed that it would be limited to low frequency. It is hard to work
the word adiabatic into a casual conversation. :)
My question would then be would there be desirable qualities of a
sound (pressure) made this way compared to other methods?
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Eric says:
April 7, 2015 at 1:36 pm

Bil,
Would it be possible to get the gerbers (or Eagle) files you offered?
Thanks!
Reply

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Bil Herd says:

April 7, 2015 at 5:45 pm

Hi Eric, I am working now on getting that up for you, I will follow-up when
done.
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Bil Herd says:

April 7, 2015 at 7:18 pm

A zip containing the gerber files is at

http://www.herdware.com/shop/analog/thermocouple-amplifier/ closer to
the bottom. It is zipped in a way to be compatible with OSKPark format I
believe. You can email me at bilherd@hackaday.com if you have any
questions.
Reply

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Eric says:
April 8, 2015 at 9:08 am

Hi Bill,
Thanks! Ill just buy one since you have them for sale it saves me
from making yet another Mouser order. Thanks for making them
available.
Eric
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Theo says:
August 2, 2015 at 1:29 am

I like LTs explanation of why you need an IC for cold junction compensation.
In the LT1025 datasheet, they are talking about the cold junction traditionally
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being held in a slurry of ice water and say To date, IC manufacturers efforts to
make microminiature thermos bottles have not been totally successful.
Therefore, an electronically simulated cold-junction is required for most
applications.
I love it when someone sneaks a joke into a datasheet.
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