MoTeC Global Forum

Hello,

I have read through the ACL VIM manual and found that it says it is possible to measure thermocouples with a vim, however I am confused as to how to actually wire it up and how to configure the channel in the acl manager. Can someone please explain in more detail how to accurately measure a k-type thermocouple with an acl and vim?

Hi,

Assuming a k-type thermocouple with red and yellow wires. The red wire is usually the negative and the yellow wire is positive. The negative must go to the negative side of a differential input in the VIM and the positive must go to the positive side of the same differential input.

If you are using the latest release version of ACL Manager, you will need to click on Inputs.Connections. Then in the left hand side there is a 'tree' of devices right click on ACL and click add. A window will open which will allow you to add different MoTeC CAN devices. Add a VIM and enter the VIM serial number and name then click OK.

Double Click on a Differential Input which is labelled AV D1-D8, Then choose a channel such as "Exhaust Temp 1" then load a calibration. There will be a VIM K-Type Thermocouple at the bottom of the list, choose this and click OK. It will ask you for a compensation channel. This is to allow for any heat sources that may be near your wiring or K-Type thermocouple connector. Most people use a RTC temp senor wired into an AT input that is located near the connector as the compensation channel. Click OK again so that you are back to ACL Manager.

Remember to save your configuration and then send it to your ACL.

Is it acceptable to use the internal VIM temp channel as the temperature compensation? Do I need to wire a jumper to one of the pull-up resistor pins? Do you mean RTD? Not sure what an RTC temp sensor is.