ENSC 120 2021-Spring: Exercise1 Power Supply & DMM

1. Log into the Lab Computer and canvas.sfu.ca using the lab computer. You may access canvas and open any
necessary file. If you want to open a PDF file, please use FOXIT software.

2. Identify the Digital Multi-Meter (DMM) made by FLUKE and switch the instrument ON. Give a few seconds
for the DMM to settle.

Probe setting for

Voltage and Resistance Range selection
measurement buttons

Power Switch

DC Voltage DC Current Resistance

Selection Selection Selection

3. Make sure the RED test lead is connected to Volt/ setting and the BLACK to COM1. Set the DMM to
measure Voltage by pushing the DC_Voltage_Selection button.

4. Locate the DC power supply on the bench. Make sure the lead colours are connected to the power supply
according to the image below – this represents the Standard default lead configuration. CH1 (+) red, (-) black;
GND green; CH2 (+) blue, (-) white; the yellow wire is a spare and normally resides at CH4 either terminal.
The GND connected by green wire is not to be used. Identify the power-switch (lower left of the panel). The
Voltage and Current control knobs of CH1 and CH2. Two buttons that set the Independent, Series and Parallel
configuration (in the middle of the panel). The OUTPUT ON-OFF button. Finally, the meter setting switches,
the top two switches to the left and right of the meter display panel – check both switches to their UP
positions.

Meter Display Meter Display

switch switch

Output Enable
Switch
RHS (CH1)
control knobs
LHS (CH2)
control knobs

Power Switch

1
These are the HOME positions for any DMM. Before switching the DMM OFF, always be sure to check the lead connections to their HOME positions.
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 Setting the Current Limit:
5. Unwind the cables of the power supply from the shelf, separate out the alligator-clip end of the cable and place
it on the desk top as shown below. Blue and White to your left and Red and Black to your right. (All
remaining/unused leads should be gently roll-formed and placed on the shelf at the Power Supply left side).

6. Rotate the CH1 and CH2 Voltage and Current knobs anti-clockwise completely.

7. Make sure the meter display switch is set to CH1 and CH2.

8. Switch the power ON.

9. Electrically short (connect together) the Red and Black alligator clips as shown below

10. Set the power supply in independent mode (the two pushbutton switches at the center of
the panel: both the buttons should be out).

11. Enable the output by pushing the OUTPUT button once. You should see the light below the
OUTPUT switch turn green. This is an important visual reference.

12. Rotate the CH1 Voltage knob slightly more than ¼ turn clockwise .

13. Now turn the CH1 Current knob clockwise  until the right hand side (RHS) meter displays 0.05 Amps
current. Leave the Current knob at this setting. During this step if you do not see the current display go above
zero, then you have to rotate the Voltage knob a bit more clockwise  and continue the process.

14. Remove the short by disconnecting the red and black clips. Observe the C.V./C.C. (Constant
Voltage/Constant Current) indicator LED between the Voltage and Current knobs; upon
completion of this step, this LED should change from red to green.

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15. Now you will see some voltage value displayed in the RHS Voltage display. Without touching the Current
knob, adjust the Voltage knob until the voltage display shows 5 V.

16. You have now set the CH1 of the power supply to 5 V with a 50 mA (0.05 A) Current limit. If you short the
red and black clips, the C.V./C.C. LED should change from green to red and you will see the CH1 power
supply immediately go to zero volts and but the current meter should still show 0.05 A. This is called the
current limit setting. This is a super-important protective technique - if there is an accidental circuit fault or
short, only 50mA can flow through the circuit and this will not cause any damage to the operator, your circuit
or the instrument.
(You have to short the Blue and White alligator clips for this step)
17. Follow similar steps to set CH2 of the power supply to 3 V and 50 mA current limit. You should never touch
the current control knob from now on until you complete the experiment. If you touch the current control
knobs by mistake you have to go back to step 6 and start again from there.

18. Once this is done, ask a TA or the instructor to verify your set-up. The Instructor or the TA will short the Red-
Black and White-Blue alligator clips to see if the current limit is set right. After this check you may proceed
with the rest of the exercise.

DO NOT TOUCH THE CURRENT KNOB UNTIL THE END OF THIS EXERCISE

You can now vary the Right Side (CH1) Voltage Knob and see the RHS voltage value change. Similarly the
LHS (CH2) voltage too. You may connect the DMM (which has been set to voltage mode) to measure the
voltage appearing at the Red-Black clips and White-Blue clips. The Red and Black wire of the DMM denotes
the +ve and –ve polarity reference.

To distinguish between the Red-Black clips of the power supply and the Red-Black clips of the DMM, you
will notice a Yellow Sleeve in the DMM probe clips. See the Photo below

Notice:
DMM probes have
yellow sleeves

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 Setting the Power Supply in Series Tracking Mode:
This mode allows the experimenter to have two identical power sources.

19. SERIES TRACKING mode is set using the two push buttons at the center panel. Earlier,
you used Independent mode (INDEP); both TRACKING buttons out. Now depress the left
side button. You will hear an internal relay click and the power supply will go into the
disable mode – this is a protective feature.

20. In TRACKING mode both the power supply channels (CH1 and CH2) will show the same voltage. Only the
MASTER (CH1 - right side) voltage knob will simultaneously control the voltage value of both channels – the
SLAVE “tracks” the MASTER (hence the panel labels). If you rotate the RHS voltage knob, you will see the
voltages on both channels change and they will be identical. If you want to make any voltage measurements,
you must enable the output and use the DMM to measure the voltage. From the Power Supply, only the Red,
Black and White wires will carry the power. We won’t need the Blue wire while the power supply is set in
Series Tracking mode, so it should be put with the other unused leads.

21. Set the voltage to 6 V appearing on the Power Supply display. The OUTPUT switch should still be disabled.

At this point, our instruments are ready. Proceed with wiring a simple resistor circuit on the given breadboard.
You will find the two resistors needed for this exercise along with the supplied tool kit and breadboard.

22. Get the Exercise-1_Record PDF file from Canvas and open it using Foxit. You can use the Typewriter or
Comment option in Foxit to type-in values in a PDF file. You will be experimenting with a simple circuit
shown below. You have to wire up the circuit on the breadboard, apply a 6 V source as shown and measure
the source voltage and the 3 currents, I1, I2 and I3.

I1

I2 I3

23. Set the DMM in Resistance Measurement mode and measure the values of the two resistors. You have to use
the RANGE button to make sure you get maximum resolution (max number of digits) when you measure.
Record the measured values in the record document.

Wiring the circuit on the bread board:

24. Wire the circuit on the breadboard as illustrated below. Use prepared jumper wires as given. If you are
supplied with raw wire material, trim the wire pieces using the wire-cutter/stripper as you saw in my video.

Form wires with your fingers and avoid sharp bends. Resistor Mangled leads & wires wreck
leads and prepared jumpers shouldn’t be cut. Always inspect each breadboards!!!
jumper-wire and component lead before inserting it into a
breadboard – all must be clean and straight. Use the needle-
nosed pliers to fix imperfections.

See wiring layout suggestion next page:

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 To Power Supply
Jumper - 1
(Red Clip)

R1 R2
Jumper - 2

To Power Supply
(Black Clip)
Jumper - 3

25. Notice the three wires denoted as Jumpers. These jumper wires come handy to measure currents in a circuit
branch2.

26. Connect the top Red wire to the power supply Red clip and the bottom Black wire to the power supply Black
clip.

27. Enable the power by pushing the OUTPUT button on the power supply. This will now apply 6 V to the circuit.

28. You will make one voltage measurement and three current measurements: Set the DMM in voltage
measurement mode. Connect the Red probe of the DMM to the breadboard top bus and the Black probe to the
bottom bus. See image below. Notice, you have to use a wire stub to the DMM probe clip to make the
measurement. Record the voltage reading with max resolution.

Red DMM
Clip

Black DMM
Clip

2
Adhering to, and never deviating from, an internationally standardized wire colour scheme is critical for all electrical assemblies – especially for you! As a general rule,
wire colours have dedicated functions and are never mixed on a given NET. Here, for this lab, it was necessary to insert a yellow jumper into the red +ve net for better
definition within the images and procedure.
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29. To measure current you have to set the DMM in current measurement mode by moving the Red probe to the
current socket and push the A button. See picture below

30. To measure current I1: Connect the Red DMM clip to the top bus and Black DMM clip to the connection point
of the top of 10k resistor. Now remove the Jumper-1 wire. See illustration below

Red DMM
Clip
Black DMM
Clip

Connect the current measurement probes Remove the Jumper to measure the current

31. Once the Jumper-1 wire is removed from the breadboard, the DMM will display the current I1. Using the
DMM’s RANGE button make sure the current measurement is at the highest resolution possible.

32. Put the Jumper-1 back and remove the DMM probes from the breadboard.

33. Repeat this procedure for measuring the currents I2 and I3. See Illustrations below

Red DMM Black DMM

Clip Clip

Introduce the DMM probes across Jumper-2 Remove Jumper-2 to measure I2

34. Record current I2 and Replace Jumper-2

Introduce the DMM probes across Jumper-3 Remove Jumper-3 to measure I3

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35. Record current I3.

36. Disable the power supply by pushing the output button. Remove all connections to the breadboard.

37. Set the DMM probes to Voltage Measurement setup (Home positions). See illustration next page.

Move the DMM probes

to this setting before
you power OFF

38. Switch OFF the power supply and DMM. Roll all wires neatly and shelf the power supply wires. Roll-form
and tuck the DMM wires below the DMM. Discard any debris in the nearest waste bin and tidy the benchtop.
Return the resistors, jumper wires to the tray provided. Put the tool-kit, breadboard and component tray at
your right side next to the computer keyboard.

Make sure you have recorded all the values. Mail yourself a copy of the filled record for you to complete the
exercise at home and submit the document before the deadline date. Check Canvas for the submission details.

If you had done all the reading, watched all the videos and prepared yourself well before coming to this class, you
should have at least an hour left in your 1st day of the in-lab session. If that is the case, I suggest you start the
second exercise. At least you will be able to learn the Function Generator and the Scope operation basics before
leaving the lab. This way when you come to your final lab session you will be able to work more leisurely and
confidently.

If the remaining time is less than an hour, I recommend you wrap-up. Follow the benchtop sanitizing steps. Inform
the TA or the instructor to return the toolkit, breadboard and the resistors before leaving the lab.

Make sure you wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly.

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