Strain Gauge Amp accepts wider supply voltage

25th March 2008

ES Admin

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The ICA6 InCell analogue strain gauge conditioning amplifier is the latest edition to the InCell amplifier range, available from Celsum Technologies. With strain gauges with resistances of greater than 1 kilohm, the ICA6 can be powered by a unipolar 14 - 24V DC supply, although, with 350 ohm strain gauge bridges, supply voltages of 14 - 18V DC may be used.

The output from the ICA6 is ±10V DC, it uses a 3-wire output/supply connection, and the miniature design, with a diameter of 19,5mm and height of 7.6mm, allows it to be either mounted in the strain gauge pocket on a load cell, or, via the integral mounting hole, in other ways. The low weight of the ICA6, at about 2 grammes, make it ideal for mass-sensitive strain measurement applications. The ICA6 is useful and cost-effective in wide range of applications, from production, through research and development, to in-field trials.

The operating temperature range is from -40 to +85°C, and the unit is reverse-polarity protected to -30V. The bridge excitation voltage supplied by the ICA6 is 5V, and bridges with resistances from 330 ohms to 5,000 ohms and sensitivies from 0.5 to 150 mV/V may be connected. The output load is 5,000 ohms, and the bandwidth is from DC to 1,000 Hz. Potentiometers are provided to allow zero adjustment of ±2% of full scale, and span ±8% of full scale. Linearity is 0.02% of full range.

The ICA6, in common with other amplifiers, is available in the industrial stability, S, version or the very high stability, H option. The ICA6S has a zero temperature stability of typically 0.0009% full range/°C, and a span temperature stability of 0.0025% full range/°C. The ICA6H version has a zero temperature stability of typically 0.0004% full range/°C, and a span temperature stability of 0.0020% full range/°C.

Other conditioning amplifiers in the InCell range are the ICA1, which gives a 0.1 - 10.1V output, the ICA2, with an output of 0.1 - 5.1V, the ICA3 (±10V output), the ICA4 (4-20 mA output, 3 wire) and the ICA5 (4-20mA, 2 wire). An ATEX approved version of the ICA5 is undergoing certification and will be available shortly.

Said Roy Carter, Managing Director of Celsum Technologies, The ICA6 is a very useful addition to the ICA InCell range, as a lot of industrial control systems are based around a 24V power supply. The ICA range is just one facet of our suite of strain gauge conditioning amplifiers. We have the SGA analogue amplifer, which has a wide bandwidth (to 6kHz), and the DCell and DSC miniature digital strain gauge amplifiers, which allow direct connection of your strain gauge sensors to computer-based interfaces. Also, we have several instruments which will allow the control of processes based on strain gauge inputs, such as weighing.