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|   September 24, 2008 at 10:55 AM

This is a pretty cool device. I've used similar ones from Figaro. Any chance of getting some of the other sensors? Hydrocarbons? Gas sensors?

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|   September 26, 2008 at 7:25 AM

Its odd little sensors like this that keep me coming back to sparkfun. I don't even have a use for this thing but I'm going to put one on my next order.

Hmm... maybe some sorta electronic game that you have to be alittle drunk to play...

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|   September 26, 2008 at 4:24 PM

Would this device give a sensible alcohol reading in, say, the airspace in a bottle of wine?? People keep asking the alcohol content of my homebrew...

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|   March 28, 2009 at 8:21 AM

im not sure if it would work for that but you could use a hydrometer there only a couple of bucks. more info here http://www.grapestompers.com/articles/hydrometer_use.htm

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|   November 19, 2008 at 7:13 PM

Does anyone have code to support this sensor? Or a good schematic even? I've got it hooked up, but I can't get a stable reading when blowing over it in open air or through a tube holding the sensor. Any good setups to get a solid reading?

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|   January 26, 2009 at 11:29 PM

I used BabelFish to translate the Portuguese tutorial. I think I've got it set up correctly, but I'm not familiar with sensors.

What does the 24 hour 'Pre-heat' time mean in the data sheet?

Here's what I've got hooked up using the gas sensor break out board:

+5v DC to H1,
ground to GND
+5v DC to A1
Arduino AD Pin 0 to break out board B1
B1 also to a 100K resistor, Resistor to GND.

The unit seems to measure, but the results are in the 924 to 1023 range instead of 0 ish to 1023 range???

The unit is also getting 'warm' to the touch.

Shouldn't I be getting a greater range than 924 to 1023?
Does the sensor need to 'burn in' prior to accurate readings?

Any help appreciated, I'm a neub when it comes to sensors for sure.

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|   October 13, 2009 at 1:28 AM

I think 24 hour pre-heat means you need to "burn in" the sensor over a period of 24 hours.

I'm using a 100kOhm pulldown and got values around 1020 at first, but after about 10 minutes of letting it run, I'm getting values around 840. It seems to be getting lower and lower over time. So I'd suggest letting it run overnight.

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|   December 19, 2009 at 4:51 PM

Does the 24-hr preheat time mean *per-use*!? Or is it just a one-time thing you have to do? I'd assume the latter, since it wouldn't be very practical if you had to warm it up that long before each use...

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|   May 19, 2009 at 11:18 PM

My sensor was getting hot and not working too and then I realized I had the resistor in series with the B instead of the resistor connected to GND. Now it is running cool but still not working yet, maybe letting it bake out will fix that.

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|   May 20, 2009 at 0:21 AM

Yosserg: My sensor was getting hot and not working too and then I realized I had the resistor in series with the B instead of the resistor connected to GND. Now it is running cool but still not working yet, maybe letting it bake out will fix that.

Working with it more I think it does need to be warm when it is running.

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|   May 27, 2009 at 9:40 AM

I've put the sensor to use in the Drunkrina, an Arduino based ocarina that you have to be drunk to play. http://www.wooduino.com/2009/05/drunkrina-drinking-ocarina.html

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|   July 10, 2009 at 5:36 PM

The reason you're getting such a limited range of numbers is due to the fact your resistor is much too high, try 1k to 4.7k. I'm not sure if the datasheet is just plain wrong, or it's just a typo...

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|   September  7, 2009 at 6:52 PM

I also had an almost 5V output using the schematics from the datasheet. When the sensor was cold, the sensing resistance was 1.8M ohms, but when it was heated, it was only 8K ohms. I tested a second device I bought, and discovered that it's sensing resistance was 10M ohms when cold (I haven't tried when it is hot yet). So either one device I bought was defective/severely different from the data sheet, or I damaged it when soldering onto the breakout board (maybe too much heat?).

As you pointed out, a smaller pull down resistor should work, but I'll have to do some experiments to see if the sensor is still behaving correctly.

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|   September  7, 2009 at 9:23 PM

The same company makes CO, CO2 sensors! Any chance of seeing these on sparkfun? that would be awsome to make a global warming indicator circuit.

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|   November 29, 2009 at 9:21 PM

Yosserg:
Working with it more I think it does need to be warm when it is running.

Indeed. While running a CO sensor through the 5v, 48-hour break-in period, I measured 170F internally and 117F on the outer plastic body. The CO sensor temperature will be lower since its measurement cycle is 60sec@5v/90sec@1.4v but it too will still be warm, I suspect.

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|   December  7, 2009 at 0:33 AM

Hi
I am trying to connect this sensor to 3.3v A/D micro controller (avr32)

can you advice about the needed range of RL
if I connect 220K ohm resistors as adviced, I get range above the A/D limit (around 4.7 volts)

the RL I get in my calculation is:
(5/(33+RL)) * RL = 3.3 ===> RL=64 ohm
but I am not sure I am doing the calculation right (where does RS go in those calculation)


thanks

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|   December 10, 2009 at 9:51 PM

Please please please stock the CO2 sensors (and hydrocarbons, etc would be great as well)!! I have no idea how to get my hands on them!