Measuring MKR 1010 WiFi Power Consumption (gone wrong)

Salutations,

I was about to do a power consumption study of an Arduino MKR 1010 so I could choose a suitable battery for the project.

Setup:

  • Arduino MKR 1010
  • Multimeter
  • Power Supply (5.0V - 3.0A)

Measuring:
The Multimeter connects in series with the power supply and the Arduino and that should be all.

Measure

The Multimeter had the terminals in the same positions as the photo (same multimeter too). And the dial set to 200m (A)

Test Program:
A simple sketch that pings my computer, and my PC listens for those pings.

Problem:
When connected and powered by USB with my laptop the program works fine.
But when I set it up like the above image I don't get any prompt on my laptop aka no ping is being sent.
Meanwhile the multimeter oscillates between 73.5mA and 80mA with the dial at 200mA

BUT!
If I change the red terminal to the 10A outlet on the multimeter...

  • I start reciving packets at my laptop.
  • The multimeter indicates 0.3mA with the dial at 200mA.
  • The multimeter indicates 0.05A with the dial at 10A

I know almost 0 of electronics and this... This I don't understand, anyone could give me a HInt of what is happening here?

Could be your meter has a high burden voltage.

Try a Google search on 'multimeter burden voltage' for lots of info.

1 Like

That might be it, because without multimeter works.

Solution:

Get another multimeter or amperimetric clamps?

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.