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Diode resistance

vick5821

Jan 22, 2012
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Hey guys, what's actually diode resistance means ? And how to measure it ? Anode of the multimeter to the cathode of diode ?

Thank you
 

jackorocko

Apr 4, 2010
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A diodes resistance is not linear. As a forward biased diode has very little resistance as opposed to a diode that is reversed bias(within max limits of the device), as long as you are talking about normal diodes. Things change when you start talking about other types of diodes.
 
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vick5821

Jan 22, 2012
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A diodes resistance is not linear. As a forward biased diode has very little resistance as opposed to a diode that is reversed bias, as long as you are talking about normal diodes. Things change when you start talking about other types of diodes.

I am using an analog multimeter, why the black lead is connected to the anode of diode ? Why in this way ?
 

vick5821

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I am using an analog multimeter, why the black lead is connected to the anode of diode ? Why in this way ?

Let's talk about transistor

If the terminals of the transistor is not know, how do I determine which is the base..I assume I never know about anything in transistor
 

jackorocko

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Well a diodes resistance will change with temperature as well. So the best way to know the resistance is to take the Vfd and divide it by the current. Ohms law!
 

jackorocko

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Let's talk about transistor

If the terminals of the transistor is not know, how do I determine which is the base..I assume I never know about anything in transistor


Depends on the type of transistor you're testing. Google will surely help you in this matter
 

duke37

Jan 9, 2011
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On the resistance ranges, an analog meter normally gives a positive voltage on the black lead and a negative voltage on the red lead. You can check this with another meter.

A digital meter normally measures the voltage across a diode when a small current is passed through it. Germanium or Schottky 200mV, silicon 600 to 700mV.

Resistance is not a good terminology for diode characteristics.
 

(*steve*)

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Some diodes (particularly Zener diodes) have this as one of their published characteristics.

It is non-linear, so it is always defined as a fixed point (usually a current) and at a particular temperature. At this current the resistance is defined as being dv/dr.

And you can't measure it in a meaningful way on a multimeter.

You do it be measuring the voltage drop at two currents (preferably 2 currents that are only slightly different) and then using r = (v1 - v2)/(i1 - i2) as an approximation. he measurements have to be done quickly to prevent heating of the junction to become significant (which it will do more rapidly at higher currents and at lower differences in current)
 

vick5821

Jan 22, 2012
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On the resistance ranges, an analog meter normally gives a positive voltage on the black lead and a negative voltage on the red lead. You can check this with another meter.

A digital meter normally measures the voltage across a diode when a small current is passed through it. Germanium or Schottky 200mV, silicon 600 to 700mV.

Resistance is not a good terminology for diode characteristics.

How do you verify this ?
 

(*steve*)

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How do you verify this ?

Connect one multimeter's leads (with the multimeter on a resistance range) to another multimeter's leads (on a voltage range) and check the polarity
 

vick5821

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Testing a diode with a multimeter

The techniques used for each type of meter are very different so they are treated separately:

Diodes
a = anode
k = cathode

Testing a diode with a DIGITAL multimeter

Digital multimeters have a special setting for testing a diode, usually labelled with the diode symbol.
Connect the red (+) lead to the anode and the black (-) to the cathode. The diode should conduct and the meter will display a value (usually the voltage across the diode in mV, 1000mV = 1V).
Reverse the connections. The diode should NOT conduct this way so the meter will display "off the scale" (usually blank except for a 1 on the left).
Testing a diode with an ANALOGUE multimeter

Set the analogue multimeter to a low value resistance range such as × 10.
It is essential to note that the polarity of analogue multimeter leads is reversed on the resistance ranges, so the black lead is positive (+) and the red lead is negative (-)! This is unfortunate, but it is due to the way the meter works.
Connect the black (+) lead to anode and the red (-) to the cathode. The diode should conduct and the meter will display a low resistance (the exact value is not relevant).
Reverse the connections. The diode should NOT conduct this way so the meter will show infinite resistance (on the left of the scale).

Why is this so ? How's the current flow ?
 
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