14/02/2017 OpAmpTester

OpAmpTester
Ifriedanopamptheotherday,butcouldntproveitimmediately.AllIknewwasthatitwasntworking
inthecircuit,butIdidntknowifthechipwasdeadorifitwasjustoneofthosepickychipsthatdemands
specialcare.So,Iriggedupasimplego/nogoDIP8dualopamptester:plugthechipin,applypower,
andseeiftheLEDslightup.

Theschematic(singlechannel):

Thefinisheddualchanneltester:

Thecircuitwillworkwithanyopamp.Fortunately,therearejustafewstandardpinouts,andthecircuit
ischeap,soyoucanbuildjustafewversionsandcoveralmosteverypossibility:

Singlechannelopamppinout Dualchannelopamppinout Quadchannelopamppinout

Theunlabeledpinsonthesinglechannelpinoutareusedforvariouspurposesondifferentchips.You
shouldleavethesepinsdisconnectedwhenbuildingasinglechannelversionofthiscircuit.

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14/02/2017 OpAmpTester

TheoryofOperation
Thisisaverysimplecircuit.Sincemostopampsworkbestoffofadualsupply,wesplitthesinglesupply
voltageintwoequalhalveswithaTLE2426railsplitter.Wewanttogivetheopampswetestthe
greatestpossiblechancetopassourtest.Ifthetestfails,thereshouldbenoquestionthatitsbecausethe
opampisdeadiftheuserbeginstodoubtthetestingcircuit,thereslittlepointinhavingthecircuitin
thefirstplace.TheTLE2426alsoensuresthatthepowersupplydoesntgetunbalanced,whichcanthrow
theresultsoffbadly.Ididtryasimpleresistordividerpowersupply,anditdidgetunbalancedeasily,
evenwithworkingchips.Youcouldriganothertypeofvirtualgroundpowersupply,ifyoudontlikeor
cantgettheTLE2426.

R1andR2forman0.55voltagedivider.Subtract0.5thesupplyvoltageandyougetareferencevoltage
of+0.05(1/20)thesupplyvoltagerelativetovirtualgroundgoingintotheopamps+IN.Withafresh
9Vbattery(~9.5V),youget0.475Voutofthedividerrelativetovirtualground.Wedividethevoltage
downthisfarbecauseoneofthethingswewanttotestabouttheopampisitsabilitytoamplifytheinput
voltage.Sincetheopampisconfiguredforagainof7.8,theoutputcanbeashighasabout3.7V.

Theanalysissofarassumestheopampisideal.Theloadontheopampwithafresh9Vbatteryanda
1.8VLEDisabout9mA,andthehighestoutputvoltagecanbewithinabout0.5VofV+.Notallopamps
candrivesuchaloadwithouttheoutputvoltagesagging,andotherscantswingthatclosetotheV+rail,
soyoumightneedafreshbatteryormorethan9V!togettheLEDstolightupwithsomeopamps.

Thelowvoltagelimitonthiscircuitdependsonyouropampandbatteryconfiguration.Assumingan
idealopamp,youget1mAthroughtheLEDwithabouta5.2Vsupply.ThatgivesadecentamountofLED
brightnesswithyouraverageredLED.Manyopampscantrunonsuchalowvoltage,anda9Vbatteryis
prettymuchdeadbythatpoint,sothereisntanypointintalkingaboutlowervoltages.

Itsaboutassimpleasyoucouldwant.Thecircuitsuppliesalowinputvoltagetoeachoftheopamps
channels,triestousetheopamptoamplifyit,andifthechipisworkingproperly,theLED(s)willlight
up.

Ihavetestedthiscircuitonfourknowndeaddualopamps,andthreefailtolightupeitherLED,andthe
othercausesoneLEDtoflashintermittentlyandtheotherLEDfailstocomeon.Knowngoodopamp
chipshavelitbothLEDsinallmytestssofar.

Thisarticleiscopyright20022016byWarrenYoung,allrightsreserved.

UpdatedSunJan18201504:24MST GobacktoElectronics Gotomyhomepage

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