Frank's Voltage Reference http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com/electronics/diy-voltage_referenc...

Home Equipment Electronics Organisation Contact

Training Course Do-it-yourself

DIY Projects
ECG Patient Precision Voltage Reference
Simulator
LED Microscope
Conversion
for Multimeter Calibration
X-Ray Phantom
X-Ray Detector
Voltage
Reference
LAN Cable Tester
Cardiac Output
Simulator
Microscope Cabinet
Timer 555 Calculator
Data Sheets created by Frank Weithner
Books + Tutorials

Precision voltage reference for multimeter calibration

Recently I wanted to adjust the end-of-charge voltage of a solar charge controller. I failed.
Each time I checked the state of charge the result was different from my previous
adjustments. After several days I found out that the problem was not the charge controller
or the battery but just the fact that I used two different multimeters. The multimeters simply
showed different voltages.
Becoming curious I collected all multimeters I could get and applied a fixed voltage to all of
them. Here the result:

Unbelievable the differences

between the multimeters. All are
connected to the same power
supply. But which one shows the
right voltage? And is my 10 V
really 10.00 V?

The case is clear: All digital multimeters have to be checked and if necessary, calibrated.
Therefore a reliable reference is needed, either a calibrated voltmeter or a sufficiently
accurate reference voltage. A calibrated multimeter is expensive but a precision voltage
stabilizer is not. For less than 10 you can build a reference voltage source with a precision
of 0.3 % or less. That correspond to the standard of a normal DMM (e.g. the popular
UNI-T61A,B,C,D has 0.5 %). And even better, you can turn a cheap multimeter into a

1 din 6 2/17/2017 4:17 PM

Frank's Voltage Reference http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com/electronics/diy-voltage_referenc...

precision measurement equipment.

Precision stabilizer
A precision voltage reference is nothing else than a power supply with a precision zener
diode or better a precision voltage stabilizer. There are some precision stabilizers on the
market. They all differ in accuracy and price. The output voltage is mostly 5.000 V or
10.00 V.
Here are some precision stabilizers (there are probably more):

Type Output Accuracy Price Data sheet

LT1431 5.000 V 0.4 % 2.50 download
AD581J 10.00 V 0.3 % 9.00 download
AD587J 10.00 V 0.2 % 5.00 download
LM4040 10.00 V 0.1 % 1.00 download
LT1021C 10.00 V 0.05 % 6.00 download
LT1236 10.00 V 0.05 % 7.00 download

When choosing a stabilizer look at the accuracy of the multimeter you want to calibrate and
at the accuracy of the stabilizer. The precision of the multimeter after your calibration can
not be better than the precision of the stabilizer itself.
The disadvantage of precision stabilizer is, that they are very special parts and not always
and everywhere available.

Assembly
The circuit diagram is simple. I have chosen a LT1236 stabilizer just because I could get it
easily. The input voltage is not critical, as long it is between 15 V and 30 V. The capacitors
are against any oscillating. That's it.

A board is not needed. All parts

are mounted between the output
sockets and the switch.

In order to get a second voltage of 1.000 V I added a voltage divider. But that is not really
essential. The value of the resistor combination has to be 9:1. I have chosen 18 K and 2.0
K but any other combination is fine, as long as the current does not exceed the maximum
current of the stabilizer.
But the main problem is the quality of the resistors. They of course also have to have
precision quality. Standard metal film resistors of 1 % or even 2 % are not good enough - in
principle. But a good possibility is to select a pair out of a pile of metal film resistors with
your ohmmeter. Be very careful and critical. Compromises here are out of place.
Another possibility is the following (this is what I did): Instead of taking one 18 K resistor,
I took 10 of 180 K in parallel (plus 10 of 20 K). The idea is that the overall tolerance gets
smaller, because the tolerances compensate each other the more resistors are used. I tested
the method and the result is the following: All 1 % resistors actually had a tolerance of only
0.25 % (each one). Putting all in parallel the tolerance of the overall resistance dropped to
0.04 %.
A suitable enclosure I could not get here in Tanzania, so I mounted everything into my
workshop multimeter. There was just enough space inside and also at the front for the
sockets. An other advantage was, that I could use the internal power supply.

2 din 6 2/17/2017 4:17 PM

Frank's Voltage Reference http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com/electronics/diy-voltage_referenc...

The reference voltage source build

in my workshop multimeter (the
blue and the black socket under
the rotation switch). The red knob
in between is the change-over
switch for 10 V to 1 V.

Perfect. Even after 15 years my

DMM is still in a good shape...

Now we come to the adjustment.

Inside a DMM
The heart of all digital multimeters is a highly integrated IC, the A/D converter with the LCD
or LED display driver. The IC processes and displays a DC voltage in a range of 0-200 mV.
Different voltage dividers selected by the rotation switch (or by an automatic control) extend
this mili-voltmeter to a practical voltmeter. The converters for currents and resistances we
ignore here.
When we now do our calibration we only adjust the reference voltage of this A/D converter,
that means the 200 mV range. The resistors of the dividers are fixed and can not be
adjusted. That makes the work easy.

Just one trimmer

That's easy-peasy - there is only

one trimmer.
Switch to the voltage range you
mostly use (e.g. 200 V), connect
the reference voltage and set the
display to 10.00 V. That's it.

3 din 6 2/17/2017 4:17 PM

Frank's Voltage Reference http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com/electronics/diy-voltage_referenc...

Making a precise measurement equipment

out of cheap multimeter.

How to find the right trimmer

It is easy when you have a simple DMM. There is only one. But some multimeters have
several trimmers. Please do NOT turn the trimmers to find out which is the right one. You
will mess up the measurement ranges of other modes like AC or current. It is much better to
identify the A/D converter and look it up in the data sheet. There you find where the
adjustment trimmer is positioned.
The most common IC is the ICL7106. The IC comes in a 40 pin DIL package or as a square
SMD package. Another common IC is the ES51922 which is used for example in the popular
UNI-T T61 models.

IC Connection Pin Data sheet

ICL7106 40 pin DIL REF HI, REF LO 35, 36 download
ICL7106 44 pin SMD REF HI, REF LO 43, 44 download
ES51922 VR, VRH 37, 38 download

The common ICL7106. Follow the

marked pins and get to the right
trimmer.

enlarge

The M-890G. An example for a

DMM with the ICL7106.

enlarge

4 din 6 2/17/2017 4:17 PM

Frank's Voltage Reference http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com/electronics/diy-voltage_referenc...

The circuit diagram of the popular

Uni-t T61. The calibration trimmer
is marked red.

enlarge

This clamp multimeter has many trimmers.

Identify the A/D converter and follow the
conducting tracks according data sheet.

Do not turn the trimmers to find out the

right one! You will distort the other modes.

By the way, it is always a good idea to bring the equipment first to operating temperature
before making any adjustments. Switch on both, multimeter and reference voltage half an
hour before doing the calibration.

The cheapest meter. This 5 -

multimeter from a local market
somewhere in the heart of Tanzania has
not even a trimmer. But it can be easily
added.

5 din 6 2/17/2017 4:17 PM

Frank's Voltage Reference http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com/electronics/diy-voltage_referenc...

The exception. Here is nothing to adjust.

Obviously the calibration is done with a
special software via the data port (on the
right side in the centre). Fortunately there
was no need for a calibration.

Addendum
I wish I had had this idea before. It has always bothered me that for developing aid projects
a lot of money is spent on top-class equipment. Why must every electrician have at least a
FLUKE 179? I have seen so many expensive tools and measurement equipment which were
cracked or filthy dirty (or simply have disappeared), so that I basically only buy inexpensive
(but reasonable) equipment that I find in local shops. In future everybody will also get an
inexpensive multimeter from me which the technician together with me will calibrate. By
doing so he gets to know his DMM better and hopefully also appreciate the value of his
instrument, especially when he realizes that his DMM after his tuning is at least as precise as
a 10-times more expensive FLUKE 179...

Links and sources

For manuals or circuit diagrams try Workshop equipment manuals.
More information about Multimeters at wikipedia.
Source for electronic components and prices: Reichelt

.: powered by ubuntu linux :.

6 din 6 2/17/2017 4:17 PM