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WTC3243
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The AD590 family of temperature sensors are appropriate for temperature control applications where a wide range of operating temperatures are desired and linearity of response may be more important than precision and accuracy. The AD590 offers a linear, positive temperature coefficient response (higher temperatures produce higher currents/voltages) over a wide temperature range (approximately -50 degrees C to +150 degrees C) but will not offer the precision and stability that a thermistor will be able to offer with its more narrow operating temperature range (about 60 degrees C). A thermistor offers a higher resolution per degree C and will therefore offer more accuracy and therefore higher stability than an AD590 in most applications.
The nonlinear response of a thermistor does not sacrifice accuracy since the Steinhart-Hart equation modeling of a thermistor's response provides a very accurate temperature versus resistance response curve for the specific thermistor when the thermistor's A, B, and C constants are known.
The larger the mass of a temperature sensor, the slower its thermal response time will be. A larger mass may improve stability but may sacrifice in the area of responsiveness of the system. The smaller the mass of a sensor the faster it will be able to physically respond to changes in temperature.
Wavelength Electronics offers a number of different resistance values of thermistors; 5 k Ohm - TSC605, 10 k Ohm - TCS610, 20 k Ohm - TCS620, 50 k Ohm - TCS650 and 100 k Ohm - TCS651, in a standard "bead head" configuration. These are all 1% tolerance sensors on 30 AWG wire leads. Wavelength also offers a 10 k Ohm micro-thermistor (TCS10K5) that is quite a bit smaller than the standard "bead head" and has leads comprised of 38 guage wire leads. |
