Current consumption is different between ampere meter measurement and source meter measurement using PPK II

RE: Current consumption is different between ampere meter measurement and source meter measurement using PPK II

Daniel01 — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 22:45:52 GMT

Hello, thank you for your advice. In the end, I used this configuration and the measurement turned out well.

RE: Current consumption is different between ampere meter measurement and source meter measurement using PPK II

Simonr — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 11:41:58 GMT

Hi Daniel

In order to measure current consumption on the nRF52832 DK all you need is to cut SB9. If you want to restore normal DK function, you can apply a jumper onto header P22, and then remove it whenever you want to measure current again.

SB12 only necessary to short if you are using the an external power supply on P21 to power the board, and if so, you will also need to desolder/cut SB12 to reconnect the protection diode to be able to safely power it with the USB on J2.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Current consumption is different between ampere meter measurement and source meter measurement using PPK II

Daniel01 — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:36:08 GMT

Hello, I have a question. I have the PCA10040 version 3.0.4. To correctly measure the current consumption, I need to solder SB12, but to continue programming normally, do I need to desolder SB12? Or can I keep it soldered and continue programming normally?

RE: Current consumption is different between ampere meter measurement and source meter measurement using PPK II

Simonr — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 08:15:34 GMT

First off, make sure the DEBUG flag isn't set in the preprocessor settings, and then open the dropdown folder where Debug is set now, and you should be able to select "Release" or "Common" there instead.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Current consumption is different between ampere meter measurement and source meter measurement using PPK II

Tai — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 23:12:23 GMT

Thanks Simonr!

You referred to the link to check if my application is using DEBUG mode or not. However, the relies from that post didn't show how to disable it.

Yes, I noticed that my current application is also under DEBUG mode, so could you let me know how to disable it? I can't choose Private configurations (i.e Common) in the top left. Thanks!

RE: Current consumption is different between ampere meter measurement and source meter measurement using PPK II

Simonr — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 08:17:44 GMT

The DEBUG flag is usually set in the preprocessor settings, or if you build your project in DEBUG mode. See this link for more information on that. When the DEBUG flag is active the application prints debug information over UART or RTT (depending on which one is defined) and the application is not built with power optimization in mind.

With the PPK2 you should also power the device with a "clean" power source rather than with USB to get the most accurate power measurement possible as using USB as the power source is likely to add some noise to the current consumption measurements.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Current consumption is different between ampere meter measurement and source meter measurement using PPK II

Tai — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 00:32:35 GMT

Update: I changed my setup for source meter method with the reference setup from PPK II user guide. I got the same current consumption as measured with ampere meter method.

Here is very helpful post for those who is trying to measure current consumption with custom board - here

Reading more information with this topic in another post, it mentioned about disabling NRF_LOG_ENABLED and verifying the DEBUG flag to significantly reduce the current consumption. Could you please help me to explain the DEBUG flag and how does it effect to power consumption?