Reading 4-20ma signal on arduino

Question

I want to read a 4-20 mA analog signal from a 24V flowmeter. I've read the simplest way is to convert it into 1-5V signal using a 250 ohm resistor. The thing is I want my reading to be precise so my question is; is there any resolution loss when converting it to 1-5V?

I've also looked up on current to voltage converting boards similar to this one: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14544

but I don't think they can detect 4mA signal.

I am a beginner in this so need some guidance here.

Majenko · Answer

Using a resistor is the "Normal" way, yes. 250Ω will give you 1-5V, yes, which means that you get 4/5 of the actual resolution of the ADC at your disposal.

That means instead of 0-1023 you're actually reading 204-1023, or 819 possible values. Spread over 16ma (or 4V, which are the same thing) that gives you about 20µA resolution.

If you really really care about that extra 1/5 of the resolution you can instead use a 300Ω resistor to give you 1.2 to 6V, then pass that through a subtracting amplifier (see this post) and subtract 1.1V from it (you need to create that 1.1V, of course).  That will give you 0.1 to 4.9V, which then covers more of the ADC's available range (20-1002, or about 16µA resolution).

Is it worth it? Probably not. Any increase in resolution will likely be swamped by the inaccuracy of the resistor and potential drift though self heating.

Reading 4-20ma signal on arduino

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