When To Use NTC Thermistor Probes And Why Its Necessary

NTC is an acronym for Negative Temperature Coefficient. An NTC thermistor is a temperature sensor that uses the resistance properties of ceramic/metal composites to measure the temperature. Our NTC sensors offer many advantages in temperature sensing including miniature size, excellent long-term stability, high accuracy and precision.

Understanding the Impact of Thermistor Probes

Given their pervasiveness and range of applications, and despite the large amount of thermistor sizes and shapes, it is impossible to manufacture a universal thermistor probe. The type of thermistor used in automobiles to measure coolant temperature is vastly different from the type of thermistor used to measure temperature for wind turbines.

How to select and integrate thermistor probes into different applications

Like the limitless applications requiring thermistor probes, so too exist the endless methods to mount them, adhere them, and apply them. Some thermistors can get very sophisticated in the ways that they are housed and the methods in which they are mounted.

When talking about a probe, this is referring to the metal or plastic assembly housing that covers the bead thermistor for different applications and functions. These probes come in all shapes, sizes, and mounting options. Some probes are long and narrow with a stainless-steel housing that are used in vehicles for measuring oil or water temperature. Other thermistor probes integrate a threaded tube that are used in engines or medical equipment to detect and monitor temperature. Probes with a design that features a ring lug are often used together with heatsinks or lithium-ion batteries.

Each thermistor probe starts out as a chip that is then encapsulated in either glass or epoxy. Depending on the application, this bead thermistor is then potted in a metal or plastic housing that is customized according to very specific requirements.

When used with an application such as a lithium-ion battery, a thermistor probe with a ring lug can be easily mounted securely to the battery terminal. This thermistor probe can then effectively monitor the battery temperature, so it does not rise above a certain degree.