FAQ: What should I use to measure high currents accurately?

It is difficult to measure high currents accurately for several reasons.

The first is that the you need a shunt with a very low temperature coefficient. Keysight power supplies typically use shunts with values less then 10PPM per degree C.

The second requirement is for the shunt to have low thermal EMF (Seebeck constant).

The third is the shunt value needs to be small to minimize self heating effects (I*I*R).

Fourth, the shunt should be well cooled.

Since the shunt value is usually very small the voltage generated will be small as well and you need an accurate DMM to measure these low voltages. There is a great write up about this at the following link http://powersupply.blogs.keysight.com/2013/11/how-to-make-more-accurate-current.html

Applies to: All models

Select Home to return to the table of contents for more FAQs. Visit our Power Products Forum for additional topics and discussions. Read technical postings on our Power Blog – Watt’s Up?

6030A, 6031A, 6032A, 6033A, 6035A, 6038A, 6060B, 6063B, 6621A, 6622A, 6623A, 6624A, 6625A, 6626A, 6627A, 6628A, 6629A, 6641A, 6642A, 6643A, 6644A, 6645A, 6651A, 6652A, 6653A, 6654A, 6655A, 6671A, 6672A, 6673A, 6674A, 6675A, 6680A, 6681A, 6682A, 6683A, 6684A, 6690A, 6691A, 6692A, E4356A, 6611C, 6612C, 6613C, 6614C, 6631B, 6632B, 6633B, 6634B, 66309B, 66311B, 66312A, 66319B, 66319D, 66321B, 66321D, 66332A, 66000A, 66001A, 66002A, 66101A, 66102A, 66103A, 66104A, 66105A, 66106A, 6811B, 6812B, 6813B, AC6801A, AC6802A, AC6803A, AC6804A, E4360A, E4361A, E4362A, E4366A, E4367A, E4368A, E3620A, E3630A, E3631A, E3632A, E3633A, E3634A, E3640A, E3641A, E3642A, E3643A, E3644A, E3645A, E3646A, E3647A, E3648A, E3649A, E36102A, E36103A, E36104A, E36105A, E36106A, N3300A, N3301A, N3302A, N3303A, N3304A, N3305A, N3306A, N3307A, N5740A, N5741A, N5742A, N5743A, N5744A, N5745A, N5746A, N5747A, N5748A, N5749A, N5750A, N5751A, N5752A, N5761A, N5762A, N5763A, N5764A, N5765A, N5766A, N5767A, N5768A, N5769A, N5770A, N5771A, N5772A, N6700B, N6701A, N6702A, N6705A, N6705B, N6710B, N6711A, N6712A, N6715A, N6715B, N6731B, N6732B, N6733B, N6734B, N6735B, N6736B, N6741B, N6742B, N6743B, N6744B, N6745B, N6746B, N6773A, N6774A, N6775A, N6776A, N6777A, N6751A, N6752A, N6753A, N6754A, N6755A, N6756A, N6761A, N6762A, N6763A, N6764A, N6765A, N6766A, N6781A, N6782A, N6785A, N6786A, N6783A-MFG, N6783A-BDA, N6784A, N6950A, N6951A, N6952A, N6953A, N6954A, N6970A, N6971A, N6972A, N6973A, N6974A,N6976A, N6977A, N7950A, N7951A, N7952A, N7953A, N7954A, N7970A, N7971A, N7972A, N7973A, N7974A, N7976A, N7977A, N8731A, N8732A, N8733A, N8734A, N8735A, N8736A, N8737A, N8738A, N8739A, N8740A, N8741A, N8742A, N8754A, N8755A, N8756A, N8757A, N8758A, N8759A, N8760A, N8761A, N8762A, N8920A, N8921A, N8923A, N8924A, N8925A, N8926A, N8928A, N8929A, N8930A, N8931A, N8932A, N8934A, N8935A, N8937A, N8937APV, N8940A, N8941A, N8943A, N8944A, N8945A, N8946A, N8948A, N8949A, N8950A, N8951A, N8952A, N8954A, N8955A, N8957A, N8957APV, PA2201A, U8001A, U8002A, U8031A, U8032A