CURRENT CONSUMPTION OF NRF51822 DEVKIT - PCA10001 v1.0

[Matthieu Tardivon]

Hi,

I am using the PCA10001 v1.0 from the development kit and am having trouble measuring the same current as the one from the specification. I am using the ble_app_proximity example and measure 25-30uA between advertising peaks whereas around 3uA are expected. The jumper on P8 was removed during the measurements.

Do you have an explanation for that?

I included the URL of a post with a similar problem on a different board from the development kit (PCA10004) for those who are having such a problem.

[CGherb]

Seeing the same problem. +1

[Ole Morten]

It seems this has been lost, since it hasn't shown up in the unanswered section due to the +1 answer above. Sorry about that.

However, I can't really say that I have any good suggestions on this. Have you tried measuring current consumption when just putting the chip directly in __WFI(), without enabling any peripherals? Also, how do you measure the current consumption? I'd recommend you to make sure to use the current measurement header, since that will make sure that you don't accidentially also factor in other devices on the board. To use this header you must cut the SB16 solder bridge, and then use an amperemeter, or mount a resistor on R4 and then use an oscilloscope.

[Guest]

Yes, that's exactly what I did for the current measurement. I will try to put the chip directly in __WFI() and tell you the result. However, I think there is another problem on this board as I do measure the 3uA on the PCA10001 v2.1 board with the same measurement system.

[Bastiaan]

Yes, that's exactly what I did for the current measurement. I will try to put the chip directly in __WFI() and tell you the result. However, I think there is another problem on this board as I do measure the 3uA on the PCA10001 v2.1 board with the same measurement system.

[Ole Morten]

There is a problem with the first revision chips, as used on PCA10001 version 1.0, that may cause increased current consumption, but I haven't seen any that are as bad as 21 µA in room temperature conditions.

However, if you don't see this problem with version 2.1.0, I suppose it has to be either that or something about the board layout that causes this. I know there have been some changes to the layout, but I don't think any of them should affect current consumption that much.