# Measuring forward voltage of diodes?



## Crookedtooth (Jun 27, 2020)

Hey all! I recently got a Peak DCA55 and have been measuring some things. Here something I am failing to understand...

BAT41s are supposed to have a forward voltage of about 0.38v, yet when I measure with my DCA55 it says the forward voltage is around 0.621v.

Am I missing something? Is the test current different than it needs to be using the DCA55? Is measuring forward voltage better with a multimeter?

I guess my real question is how do I find the forward voltage of my diodes? ?

I’m sure I will ask more questions regarding the DCA55, but for now that is my big one.

Thanks!


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## Nostradoomus (Jun 27, 2020)

I usually use a multimeter for that, maybe compare the two?


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jun 28, 2020)

Any idea what current the DCA55 uses to measure diodes?  I'm guessing around 10mA based on your reading and the BAT41 datasheet.


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## Nostradoomus (Jun 28, 2020)

I think it’s 5ma


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## Crookedtooth (Jun 29, 2020)

@Nostradoomus @Chuck D. Bones Thanks for the input!
Sorry for the delay, but just got my new multimeter and wanted to have that for this little experiment.
I laid out 6 BAT41's that I have on hand, and a) hooked up to DCA55, ran test (the test current is 4.347 average), b) diode test on Extech, c) diode test on 115. Here are the results:

BAT41DCA55Extech ex330Fluke 1151 (Blue - schottky?).610.308.3512 (Blue - schottky?).614.309.3533 (glass).620.314.3604 (glass).630.316.3635 (glass).621.314.3596 (glass).616.315.359

So what do you guys think?


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jun 29, 2020)

Looks like they are probably legit BAT41s.  Would be interesting to know the test currents on the Extech & Fluke.  You can use one meter to measure the other.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jun 30, 2020)

Here's some diode data I collected last night with my curve tracer.  I tested one of each part number.



 

Same data, plotted on log-linear scales.  Now we can see the same S-shaped curve that we see in the BAT41 datasheet.


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## Crookedtooth (Jun 30, 2020)

Whoa, interesting! Thanks for doing some tests.
So I am confused - and I am 100% not versed too well in electronics, so I am sure I am totally just missing something - but aren't diodes open or closed without much of a curve? I thought it would be more "on" or "off", like a square wave, once it hits the forward voltage value.
Would germanium diodes or other small signal diodes react differently?


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jun 30, 2020)

It's a very simplistic view to think of diodes as ON or OFF.  When you're designing power supplies, that might be good enough.  A more accurate description of a diode's behavior is that the current is the exponent of the voltage (up to a point).  With guitar pedals, we use diodes to re-shape the guitar's waveform and the shape of the diode curve makes a huge difference. It's not just about forward voltage (Vf), although that is an important factor because it sets the compression and volume of the signal. Germanium and Schottky diodes have the lowest Vf.  Silicon rectifiers (1N4004, etc) are higher, small-signal diodes (1N4148) are higher than that and PIN diodes (BA283) are higher still.  Then come the LEDs.  I posted a set of LED curves somewhere here, can't find it at the moment...

There are other factors that influence how a diode shapes the tone in a dirt pedal, such as diode resistance and capacitance.  Diodes in a dirt pedal is a very fertile topic.  You can find many discussions on the FSB and DIY forums.


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## Crookedtooth (Jun 30, 2020)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> It's a very simplistic view to think of diodes as ON or OFF.  When you're designing power supplies, that might be good enough.  A more accurate description of a diode's behavior is that the current is the exponent of the voltage (up to a point).  With guitar pedals, we use diodes to re-shape the guitar's waveform and the shape of the diode curve makes a huge difference. It's not just about forward voltage (Vf), although that is an important factor because it sets the compression and volume of the signal. Germanium and Schottky diodes have the lowest Vf.  Silicon rectifiers (1N4004, etc) are higher, small-signal diodes (1N4148) are higher than that and PIN diodes (BA283) are higher still.  Then come the LEDs.  I posted a set of LED curves somewhere here, can't find it at the moment...
> 
> There are other factors that influence how a diode shapes the tone in a dirt pedal, such as diode resistance and capacitance.  Diodes in a dirt pedal is a very fertile topic.  You can find many discussions on the FSB and DIY forums.


Right on. That all makes sense the way you are describing it - thank you!
So do you think it's safe to just measure at least the forward voltage with just a multimeter for all diodes?
I'll troll some of those other forums you mentioned and am thankful to have this forum/space to learn about all of this. I'll see if I can find your LED graph too (was it maybe for that General Tso compressor LED?). Thanks!


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jun 30, 2020)

Measuring Vf with a DMM will give you one point on the graph.  You need to know the DMM's test current in order to know which point on the graph that is.  If you know the diode's part number, it makes more sense to look up the datasheet and get the V-I curve from there.


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## Crookedtooth (Jul 1, 2020)

Got an email from Fluke when I asked about the test current for their diode test and they said it was specified with a test current of <1.2 mA.


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## Crookedtooth (Jul 1, 2020)

Adding to my confusion here - looking at Small Bear's inventory and he even lists using both a multimeter and DCA and getting different measurements: http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/germanium-diode-russian-d9b/


> V fwd .25 to .3 V on my DVM, .35 to .45 on the PEAK DCA. The colored band is the anode on these.


So now I am even more confused which device to use.
For instance, klon(e)s are supposed to have the "magical" .35v diodes, right? So which device is measuring that .35v "correctly" to match that spec?


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jul 2, 2020)

So it could be 1mA or 1uA and it would meet that requirement.  If you want to know what the test current is, you can measure it with another DMM.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jul 2, 2020)

I don't know what to make of it when someone reports a diode voltage, for the reasons given above.  My thinking is that the thing that makes the real Klon diodes "magic" is the shape of the V-I curve. Since Finnegan won't divulge his deepest design secrets, and why should he, we won't know how to discern the "magic" diodes from any other germanium diode.  The best we can hope to do is find a diode pair that sounds good to us.


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