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A project log for Watt-A-Live INA209 Power Monitor Shield Wing

A 6.4A-2uA current/voltage/power monitor based on the TI INA209 with dedicated GND usable as Shield, Wing, Breakout or Breadboard.

magicwolfiMagicWolfi 11/18/2019 at 18:000 Comments

... always. 

During testing I noticed a significant difference between measured and expected current values. "Well hidden" in the datasheet (page 3 Electrical characteristics) is this line:

Vin- is the culprit here: Basically the part has a pull-down resistor connected to its negative measuring input pin! Really? This 'feature' draws 3.125uA typical per volt of bus voltage, which messes up low current measurements. And this is only a typical value. Every part has to be tested to find its real value. 

This is one of the reasons, I decided to change the low current shunt resistor from 500 Ohm to 5 Ohm and bury my dream of measuring nA with this device. 

On a side note: The widely popular INA219 has the exact same issue.

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