Keysight Technologies

Resistance; DC Current; AC Current; and

Frequency and Period Measurement
Errors in Digital Multimeters

Application Note
Introduction

When you make measurements with digital multimeter (DMM), common

errors will occur. The following discussion will help you eliminate potential
measurement errors and achieve the greatest accuracy with a DMM. This
paper covers resistance; DC current; AC current; and frequency and period
measurement errors.

For a discussion of system cabling errors and DC voltage measurement errors,

see application note part number 5988-5511EN. For an overview of AC voltage
measurement errors, see application note part number 5988-5513EN.

Note:
The Keysight 34461A, a 6½ -digit, high-performance DMM with both benchtop and system
features, will be used as an example throughout this application note.
03 | Keysight | Resistance; DC Current; AC Current; and Frequency and Period Measurement Errors in Digital Multimeters - Application Note

Resistance Measurement Errors

The Keysight 34461A offers two methods for measuring resistance: 2-wire and 4-wire Ω. For
both methods, the test current flows from the input HI terminal and then through the resistor
being measured. For 2-wire Ω, the voltage drop across the resistor being measured is sensed
internal to the multimeter. Therefore, test lead resistance is also measured. For 4-wire Ω,
separate “sense” connections are required. Since no current flows in the sense leads, the
resistance in these leads does not give a measurement error.

Errors for DC voltage measurements (see application note part number 5988-5511EN) also
apply to resistance measurements. However, there are additional error sources that are unique
to resistance measurements.

Power dissipation effects

When measuring resistors designed for temperature measurements (or other resistive devices
with large temperature coeffi cients), be aware that the multimeter will dissipate some power
in the DUT. If power dissipation is a problem, select the multimeter’s next higher measurement
range to reduce the errors to acceptable levels. Table 1 shows several examples.

Table 1. Examples

Range Test Current DUT power at full scale

100 Ω 1 mA 100 μW
1 kΩ 1 mA 1 mW
10 kΩ 100 μA 100 μW
100 kΩ 10 μA 10 μW
1 MΩ 5 μA 25 μW
10 MΩ 500 nA 2.5 μW

Settling time effects

The Keysight 34461A has the ability to insert automatic measurement settling delays. These
delays are adequate for resistance measurements with less than 200 pF of combined cable and
device capacitance, which is particularly important when measuring resistances above 100 kΩ.
Settling due to RC time constant effects can be quite long. Some precision resistors and
multi-function calibrators use large parallel capacitors (1000 pF to 0.1 μF) with high resistor
values to filter out noise currents injected by their internal circuitry. Non-ideal capacitances in
cables and other devices may have much longer settling times than expected just by RC time
constants, due to dielectric absorption (soak) effects. Errors will be measured when settling
after the initial connection and after a range change.

High-resistance measurement errors

When you measure large resistances, significant errors can occur due to insulation resistance
and surface cleanliness. You should take the necessary precautions to maintain a “clean”
high-resistance system. Test leads and fixtures are susceptible to leakage due to moisture
absorption in insulating materials and “dirty” surface films. Nylon and PVC are relatively poor
insulators (109 Ω) compared to PTFE insulators (1013 Ω). Leakage from nylon or PVC insulators
can easily contribute a 0.1% error when measuring a 1 MΩ resistance in humid conditions.
04 | Keysight | Resistance; DC Current; AC Current; and Frequency and Period Measurement Errors in Digital Multimeters - Application Note

DC Current Measurement Errors

When you connect the multimeter in series with a test circuit to measure current, a
measurement error is introduced, caused by the multimeter’s series burden voltage. A voltage
is developed across the wiring resistance and current shunt resistance of the multimeter, as
shown in Figure 2.

Rs
I

Ideal
Vs Vb R Meter

LO

Vs = Source voltage
Rs = DUT source resistance
Vb = Multimeter burden voltage 100 xV b
Error (%) =
R = Multimeter current shunt Vs

Figure 2

AC Current Measurement Errors

Burden voltage errors, which apply to DC current, also apply to AC current measurements.
However, the burden voltage for AC current is larger due to the multimeter’s series inductance
and the measurement connections.

The burden voltage increases as the input frequency increases. Some circuits may oscillate
when performing current measurements due to the multimeter’s series inductance and the
specific measurement connections.

Frequency and Period Measurement Errors

The Keysight 34461A uses a reciprocal counting technique to measure frequency and period
to generate constant measurement resolution for any input frequency. The 34461A’s AC
voltage measurement section performs input signal conditioning. All frequency counters are
susceptible to errors when measuring low-voltage, low-frequency signals. The effects of both
internal noise and external noise pickup are critical when measuring “slow” signals. The error
is inversely proportional to frequency. Measurement errors will also occur when you attempt
to measure the frequency (or period) of an input following a DC offset voltage change. To avoid
this, allow the multimeter’s input DC blocking capacitor to fully settle before making frequency
measurements.

Conclusion
When measuring small resistance or low current, it is important to take extra precautions to
make quality measurements. Once the system settling times have been determined, the reading
delay times can be set to optimize measurement time and increase system throughput.

For more information about the Keysight 34461A DMM, go to www.keysight.com/find/34461A

05 | Keysight | Resistance; DC Current; AC Current; and Frequency and Period Measurement Errors in Digital Multimeters - Application Note

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© Keysight Technologies, 2013 - 2017
Published in USA, March 9, 2017
5988-5512EN
www.keysight.com