Poll: What's the best way to connect a Thermocouple/RTD probe to a PCB?
There are many different kinds of thermocouple and/or RTD probes. What's the best way to connect a Thermocouple or RTD Probe to a printed circuit board (PCB).
Vote below or share your thoughts in the comments section.
When I read the title, I was hoping it was the other way round. How to attach a thermocouple to measure the PCB temperature!? I am still in need of that, for my hotplate project.
For thermocouples (which use exotic wire compounds) proper thermocouple connectors are usually the best way to avoid issues. Note they always need a temperature reference at the same temperature as the connector where the exotic wire connects to copper wire. It makes sense to put the reference temperature sensor on the card, so that is where the thermocouple connector should be as well.
For RTDs, whatever is in keeping with the rest of the connector architecture for the card is probably adequate.
I'd say when prototyping on a budget, screw-terminal blocks would be my choice.
For a production run (or when precision is needed), there are many color-coded PCB friendly connectors available on the market which are polarized and are made with thermocouple-compatible materials to reduce errors.
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