I moved onto the ADC using a thermometer that is supposed to give the temperature as a function of resistance.

I took the connection diagram in the datasheet and connected a 330 ohm resistor from the temperature vout pin and ground.

I obtained the thermistor resistance using the equation I found on a tutorial site for a thermistor with a resistor in series.

Resistance=(5/(Adc_val/1023*5)*330)-330

I used the resistance-temperature table to get the equation in excel that could convert the resistance of the thermistor to a temperature.

When I run the program I get a value much lower than the mercury bulb(+-10 degree less) and as the temperature goes higher the error seems to get smaller.

Is it perhaps necessary to sit with the mercury bulb and do my own calibration with my own values.

 

Without knowing what thermistor you used, and without a schematic, all I can do is guess. First, 330 ohms seems very low; most commonly used is a 10k thermistor and a 10k resistor. Second, the formula you used assumes a 10 bit ADC; is that what you used?

Or maybe you aren't using a microcontroller?

 

You also need to use 1% resistors.

 

Resistance=(5/(Adc_val/1023*5)*330)-330

http://www.electro-tech-online.com/...rect-and-adc-1023-is-just-plain-wrong.132570/ just a side note

 

Po

http://www.electro-tech-online.com/...rect-and-adc-1023-is-just-plain-wrong.132570/ just a side note

Point taken, I've actually been on the fence with this one but I suppose I can put that to rest now.

 

Can you get the "coefficients" for your thermistor? The data sheet usually has them.

 

I

Without knowing what thermistor you used, and without a schematic, all I can do is guess. First, 330 ohms seems very low; most commonly used is a 10k thermistor and a 10k resistor. Second, the formula you used assumes a 10 bit ADC; is that what you used?

Or maybe you aren't using a microcontroller?

It is in fact a 10 bit number read on a microcontroller's AdC pin. The thermistor is a 5k and the best I have in my shelf is a 3k so I tried both a 3k and a 6k combination as a resistor since the data sheet doesn't say much more than it needs to be a resistor.

Seems to make a huge difference as it now seems to be about 5 degress over but definatley a huge impact - thanks for the tip

Edit : eventhough it is reporting 5 degree more than actual, it is 5 degrees more consistantly so by decreasing the calculated temp by 5 degrees seems to always give the accurate temperature.

 

You can substitute a pot for the fixed resistor, and calibrate to agree with the bulb thermometer.

 

Another option is to use a remote diode temperature sensor rather than a thermistor. It depends on your required temperature range.
Remote diodes sense -40 to +125.

 

Would you please post the datasheet for your thermostor or tell us the name of the manufacturer and the part number?