Better (less-explodey) way to test an inductive sensor?
-
So - I recently grabbed an inductive sensor (LJ12A3-4-Z/BX), NPN, rated between 6-36v. I wanted to make sure that when I hooked it up to my duet, it wouldn't cook the board from the 24v output from my power supply. After a short bit of prodding, my readings came to a halt with a pretty unenthusiastic pop and me taking 5 seconds to realize the LED on the inductive sensor had gone kaput.
Here's what I did:
Entirely unhooked the duet from the power supply.
Clipped the 24+ to the V+ on the sensor from the power supply.
Clipped the v- to the - on the power supply.
Clipped my multimeter common lead to the v- and other lead the V+ and got 24v. (That's good?)
Sat the inductive sensor next to some alan wrenches I had kicking around to get the sensor to stay on, then tried to probe the signal output to make sure it would be a reasonable range after attaching a diode, which is about when it died.Is there a better way to test this? I realize blowing up components is part of the fun of learning electronics, but I'd rather keep my duet safe from my own learning experiences.
-
What you did sounds ok to me, assuming you identified the + and - wires correctly. Maybe you must had a bad sensor.
-
Thanks! I'll give it another go once a replacement arrives in the mail.
