INA3221 Breakout Modified to Take 3 Independent Voltages - Tutorial - Please ASK Questions

[@Equality7-2521]

I have one of these boards, at first glance it looks similar(identical) to your board. Same colour, the top screen print looks the same, except!, the three large through pin holes on the top right are labeled VPU, GND, GND. On the rear the "channel" tp holes are labeled VIN(123)+ and VIN(123)-. A multi meter confirmed it is wired as per your modification ie. all 3 shunt resistors are independent!!

[@robotpad8891]

Hurray! How old is it, do you know? Hope the manufacturer changed it to unlock the TI chip's capability.

[@tvm73827]

This was an incredibly useful video and BTW it is also very well made. Without using any fancy bells and whistles you have been able to express both your intent and results of your work very well. Alerted to the issue I looked for a breakout board (on Amazon, where else?) without common ground (high side) and seem to have found it. My goal is to accomplish the following (a) PWM voltate/current detection (b) bi-directional detection (the motor can turn both ways). Hopefully my board will work without any modifications. If not I will come back here 😀. Finally, unless it is proprietary it would be useful if you could publish the circuit diagram of your test circuit in the comment section.

[@OleBrinch]

A very useful an well explained tutorial. I really liked the way you combined paper and PCB. I have a few INA3221's around but found the same stupid implementation on the PCB as you did. I ended up using 2 x INA226, but this mod makes the INA3221 quite useful. I will sign up in the hope of more to come :D

[@robotpad8891]

Thank you! Really happy it resulted in your sensors being more useful :)

[@bryanst.martin7134]

I have a project where I am removing the shunt resistors and wiring in a high current shunt (200A + 500A) Both yield 0.05v @ rated current. So the trick is the conversion ratio between the two. I have two different INA3221 boards which are differing in their circuit make up. Purple boards have common grounds and the Black ones do not.

[@robotpad8891]

Cool! Not sure how the 0.05 V compares to typical measurements across the standard shunts, but if it's the same I guess there's an op amp or something in the signal path because that's a tiny voltage range to feed into an ADC. Anyway, in your case I suppose you could either multiply the unaltered current measurement by your calculated conversion factor, or set the shunt resistances in the INA3221 configuration if that's available.

[@MadnessMotorcycle]

I just purchased three black boards from Ali Express and all three have common grounds.

[@bryanst.martin7134]

@@MadnessMotorcycle Yay! :-( Looks like things have changed. What a bummer. Unless it isn't a problem for you.

[@amro00]

First of all, thanks alot for such a great tutorial its really valuable one, i have a question can i skip cutting the ground points and only cut channels connected wires so i will connect "solder" the shunt two points directly to my load + termianl and power supply + termial, to avoid cutting the ground points as its painful :).

[@robotpad8891]

Great question! Repurposing the ground terminals makes the board quite nice and easy to use, but it's not strictly required. As long as you make sure you break the links between the shunt resistors (first two x's which appear in the vid) you can get away with soldering directly to the shunt resistors.

[@scome98]

Good tutorial. I have the same board and learned that it comes in two different versions. One as you showed and one with a separate supply. I just ordered some of the other version for my next project, but your solution works great in a pinch. Thanks for sharing.

[@robotpad8891]

I wondered if they might have addressed the issue with an updated version. Glad to hear you found this useful!

[@SeregaMaklaud]

спасибо добрый человек, благодаря этой простой модификации модуль работает так, как мне и хотелось, странно что китайцы не сделали так изначально

[@robotpad8891]

I'm heartened that you find this useful. Indeed, it is a puzzling decision to present a chip in a way which limits its fundamental capabilities.

[@jimmym2719]

Awesome mode!👍. Good idea. 😊

[@robotpad8891]

Cheers!

[@brembati]

Great tutorial. What about the board GND - does it need to be connected to the 3 PSUs common ground? Are there any restrictions on the maximum voltages for V1 V2 and V3?

[@sadiedeee]

This was helpful when the ebay seller sent me the wrong module (the old version), works as intended with this mod.

[@robotpad8891]

Excellent!

[@Equality7-2521]

Tried twice to reply to your reply on my comment about the ina3221 board that is the same as your mod, but failed?! Anyway in reply to your question, I got the board from China on eBay on 28 Jan 2022. The packaging had a date on it '22-01-11' and a part# 'LH3C592-PP'. I have now tested(SwitchDoc labs library) it, and it works with 3 independent supplies. It is surprisingly accurate only 0.02V different to a Fluke 117 multi-meter at 5V. I was initially confused, as I could not find any information about the board in that(good) configuration. Thanks to your video I was able to move ahead. If this was your first video it is very well done, keep up the good work.

[@robotpad8891]

Noting the suitably ambiguous date on the packaging 😂 I could not find any traceability info or a useful datasheet for my board, hence the study of the TI documentation itself. Thinking about the accuracy, at least for the current measurement - maybe there's a way to effectively calibrate the sensor, for example by configuring a value for the shunt resistances. Don't know, but I guess the R's need to be precisely known and matched in any case. Appreciate your feedback - thank you 😁

[@poclab]

Thanks for such detailed explanation! Good luck with all projects

[@RubenEA3GRW]

Excellent explanation, very simple and didactic. Thanks.

[@robotpad8891]

Really appreciate the feedback - thank you! My first attempt at an instructional video

[@jimmym2719]

Awesome mode!👍. Good idea. 😊thanks for sharing

[@deadlistcach]

Hello, on datasheed it says 26volts max operating voltage. this module can read 28 volts maybe 30v. can you try pls.

[@robotpad8891]

Hi @deadlistcach, I don't have a datasheet for the breakout board, but looking at the one for the INA3221 (www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/ina3221.pdf ), the absolute maximum bus voltage is 26 V, as you said. I'm not sure where you have got 28 V from, but it's not within TI's spec, so I wouldn't try it. Best of luck with your application.

[@deadlistcach]

@@robotpad8891 thank you, best way is buy module and try.

[@0ffGridTechClub]

Awesome !

[@alexpol8938]

Здоровья тоби, добрый человек! Щастья и процветания!

[@robotpad8891]

Благодарю за теплые слова! Желаю вам счастья, удачи и благополучия!

[@jeffvenqueleir2036]

Verry nice

[@____________________________.x]

So what's the maximum current this board can measure? I didn't see it listed in the specs

[@robotpad8891]

Don't know how I missed this comment - I apologise! My guess is it's just the rated current of the shunt resistors.

[@____________________________.x]

@@robotpad8891 That sounds reasonable, thanks

[@elektrik_shemotehnik]

Дякую!!!

[@robotpad8891]

Будь ласка! 😀

[@edwarburbano9946]

@