Quick and Dirty 0: Zener Diode Testing
Here’s a Quick and Dirty Zener Diode test and identification method.
You could do it with an ordinary voltage regulated supply as well, with an inline sensitive milliammeter to see the current so that you can keep it below the LED-failure value!
But the current-limited supply is the preferred way.
But just how accurate was this informal Quick and Dirty Zener Test?
For the 1n4742a Zener Diode tested here, the Fairchild data sheet gives the Test Current Iz as 21 mA and the voltage Vz @ Iz is 11.4 min, 12 nominal and 12.6 max.
So this Q&D test, at roughly 25 mA and 11.9 V…. nailed it!
This is the “pilot” start of a new series, TK’s Quick and Dirty, covering random topics in electronics and life, as they occur to me.
NOTE: The TK Quick and Dirty methods are not guaranteed to be completely rigorous, perfectly accurate or theoretically sound. They just work, that’s all.
