[O/C]Testing HS Temperatures with the Tenma Data-Logging Dual Thermocouple

Overclockers.com · Jul 9, 2010

Testing Heatsink Temperatures with the Tenma 72-7712 Data-Logging Dual Thermocouple
by Archer0915

The 72-7712 Digital Thermometer from Tenma Test Equipment is a dual thermocouple meter with internal logging capability, USB output for saving logged data, and software up-link. This unit can become an integral part of a PC testing arsenal by allowing for isolation of case hot spots, heat sink testing, and liquid nitrogen/dry ice work. The limitations start to change and the performance bar can be raised when you know where it is hot and where it is not.

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JoeC · Jul 9, 2010

Very nice equipment, great article, I like to see the upgrade. It is nice to have secondary data points to get a whole picture.

I like the "T" Type for sink and grease testing as it is smaller and less intrusive for holes drilled in sinks or grooves cut into the IHS.

Ambient at the fan to Intel spec will help nail the temps to an even finer resolution.

Another thing you can do for case cooling, something we use on consulting projects.

Remove the side panel and replace it with a plastic panel that has small holes drilled one inch apart in a grid pattern across the whole sheet.

Attach the thermocouple to a round stick (I use wooden shishkabob skewers) and mark the length in one inch increments.

Start at a point on the grid and measure 1 inch depth, 2 inch, 3inch etc. till you reach other side, now move to the next grid point.

This will give you a full 3 dimensional thermal profile of the case helping to troubleshoot and identify hot spots, dead air or recirculating air.

Cover unused holes with tape

There are air probes you can use also but if its hot thermally chances are you have located a low air flow point anyway, the exact number is not that important 99% of the time.

Good stuff

nightelph · Jul 9, 2010

Thats a great idea Joe, I'll remember it.

Archer0915 · Jul 9, 2010

V6 gt

I will have a review of the Cooler Master V6GT up in a few days that has a little more content on the pan test as well as a link to an article specifically on the test.

We need multipage ability, these things can get long.

macklin01 · Jul 12, 2010

Very nice.

Out of curiosity, is the data format truly in xls format, or is it a simple tab-delimited text file (or comma-separated, etc.) with the extension changed to .xls to force an association with MS Excel? I've seen that in lots of technical software: just rename it to <filename>.txt, and it pops open just fine in any old text editor.

If it is truly writing in the binary .xls format (with all the extra formatting for the file header structure, etc.), then that's too bad. There's no need to tie to a relatively complex proprietary format when it really is just text data at the end of the day.

Archer0915 · Jul 12, 2010

macklin01 said:
Very nice.

Out of curiosity, is the data format truly in xls format, or is it a simple tab-delimited text file (or comma-separated, etc.) with the extension changed to .xls to force an association with MS Excel? I've seen that in lots of technical software: just rename it to <filename>.txt, and it pops open just fine in any old text editor.

If it is truly writing in the binary .xls format (with all the extra formatting for the file header structure, etc.), then that's too bad. There's no need to tie to a relatively complex proprietary format when it really is just text data at the end of the day.

I will have to check.

David · Jul 12, 2010

The V6GT review is up here: http://www.overclockers.com/cooler-master-v6gt/

macklin01 · Jul 12, 2010

Archer0915 said:
I will have to check.

Thanks, and do let me know. Data portability is nice, so I'm certainly curious.

macklin01 · Jul 12, 2010

@David:

Thanks for the link. It's nice to see the new equipment at work.

One thing I noticed: the link reference here:

Using a pan and riser made for testing heat sinks on a conventional heat source (described in more detail here: Testing)

is either very slow or dead.

It would be good to link to the OC forums article here. Sort of like the "methods" paper that we'd always refer to in our later journal articles.

Archer0915 · Jul 12, 2010

macklin01 said:
@David:

Thanks for the link. It's nice to see the new equipment at work.

One thing I noticed: the link reference here:

is either very slow or dead.

It would be good to link to the OC forums article here. Sort of like the "methods" paper that we'd always refer to in our later journal articles.

I had problems with the site earlier but it seems fine now.

Archer0915 · Jul 12, 2010

@macklin01
Link post 13
Here is a file exported from the meter to the included software and then xls.

It does not open as text in wordpad It will open though

macklin01 · Jul 12, 2010

Very odd.

It's definitely binary. But I see "JFIF" in the first several bytes, so it appears to be written in the JPEG file exchange format. I guess that makes it pseudo-open.

In fact, I get the following error in some software (numbers on OSX):

Import Warning - This is a tab delimited document, not a valid Excel document. The data might look different.

I'm glad it opens fine in Excel in Windows, so it appears to have a JFIF handler. It looks like our guess was partly right, in that it was renamed .xls to force an association with Excel. But it does not appear to be an actual bona fide excel file. At least not this file.

Alas, Open Office does not appear to open the file successfully, so it looks like you're locked in to MS to read data from this tool. Interestingly enough, it doesn't read properly in Excel 2008 on OSX for me, either. Stranger still, OSX Preview handles it fine. (via quick view, but not via direct opening.) This makes it look like you're locked into MS Excel on Windows if you want to read the data from your tool.

Lastly, on a hunch I renamed it to Temma7.jfif. It opened right up in OpenOffice, but as an image and not as text. I couldn't copy / paste any cell elements. Is this how it opens in Excel for you as well? As an image "screenshot" of the rows / columns?

Archer0915 · Jul 12, 2010

macklin01 said:
Very odd.

It's definitely binary. But I see "JFIF" in the first several bytes, so it appears to be written in the JPEG file exchange format. I guess that makes it pseudo-open.

In fact, I get the following error in some software (numbers on OSX):

I'm glad it opens fine in Excel in Windows, so it appears to have a JFIF handler. It looks like our guess was partly right, in that it was renamed .xls to force an association with Excel. But it does not appear to be an actual bona fide excel file. At least not this file.

Alas, Open Office does not appear to open the file successfully, so it looks like you're locked in to MS to read data from this tool. Interestingly enough, it doesn't read properly in Excel 2008 on OSX for me, either. Stranger still, OSX Preview handles it fine. (via quick view, but not via direct opening.) This makes it look like you're locked into MS Excel on Windows if you want to read the data from your tool.

Lastly, on a hunch I renamed it to Temma7.jfif. It opened right up in OpenOffice, but as an image and not as text. I couldn't copy / paste any cell elements. Is this how it opens in Excel for you as well? As an image "screenshot" of the rows / columns?

Actually I use OO. I just don't understand that.

View attachment Tenma6.xls
Try this I think I caused the issue last time.

macklin01 · Jul 12, 2010

Did it open as an image or as an array of text data for you as well?

If it's just exporting as an image, then it's pretty damned useless as a data format. (Since you'd want to be able to graph and compare data, do fitting and other analyses, etc.)

Archer0915 · Jul 12, 2010

macklin01 said:
Did it open as an image or as an array of text data for you as well?

If it's just exporting as an image, then it's pretty damned useless as a data format. (Since you'd want to be able to graph and compare data, do fitting and other analyses, etc.)

What I had apparently done was when I opened it in wordpad, I did a save as and got the first file. When I opened the first one I also got a image.

I checked this one and it is fine.
View attachment Tenma6.xls

EDIT: this is what I get now

macklin01 · Jul 12, 2010

Bingo!

Temma6.xls is a tab-delimited, ordinary text file. There is no reason it has to be named .xls except to force file association with Excel / OpenOffice.

I managed it with nano / emacs / vi at a command line here.

Thanks for indulging my curiosity.

It's a little peeve of mine when things are renamed into the wrong file type to force certain programs to handle them. It's not an xls file.

Archer0915 · Jul 12, 2010

I honestly never pay it any mind

there again I also have my areas of anal feelings. Like product reviews that only run benchmarks. Hell anyone can do that. I prefer some content and someone telling my the what and why of the product. A little research goes a long way with me.

macklin01 · Jul 12, 2010

Too true. And nicely done on your multimeter writeup, by the way.

Regarding the file format, I guess I'm just a fan of calling something what it is. If it's a text file, then call it a text file. I can only imagine the frustration of wanting to analyse the data and installing OpenOffice or Excel solely to open the file, when it turns out to just be text anyway. And in general, I just view it as sloppy standards-breaking behaviour.

(It's also an insult to those who actually bother to properly code their applications to write true XLS-formatted files.

)

Archer0915 · Jul 12, 2010

macklin01 said:
(It's also an insult to those who actually bother to properly code their applications to write true XLS-formatted files. )

Now that I agree with

Sadly I have only ever written stuff to output to text. There again I don't do it for anyone but me.

Archer0915 · Jul 12, 2010

JoeC said:
Very nice equipment, great article, I like to see the upgrade. It is nice to have secondary data points to get a whole picture.

I like the "T" Type for sink and grease testing as it is smaller and less intrusive for holes drilled in sinks or grooves cut into the IHS.

Ambient at the fan to Intel spec will help nail the temps to an even finer resolution.

Another thing you can do for case cooling, something we use on consulting projects.

Remove the side panel and replace it with a plastic panel that has small holes drilled one inch apart in a grid pattern across the whole sheet.

Attach the thermocouple to a round stick (I use wooden shishkabob skewers) and mark the length in one inch increments.

Start at a point on the grid and measure 1 inch depth, 2 inch, 3inch etc. till you reach other side, now move to the next grid point.

This will give you a full 3 dimensional thermal profile of the case helping to troubleshoot and identify hot spots, dead air or recirculating air.

Cover unused holes with tape

There are air probes you can use also but if its hot thermally chances are you have located a low air flow point anyway, the exact number is not that important 99% of the time.

Good stuff

Joe it just hit me and for some reason I really don't know why (Busy with family) I did not even consider that you post is actually how I have 2 of my units set up. I use 50% Perf where most put a window, black window unit filter and probe my HVAC thermocouple through to identify fan locations.

I leave the filters on though as to move them can screw up the entire dynamic. I know in you case you tape the holes which also keeps everything in check but I have found that doing things this way affords the luxury of a case that is almost at ambient.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=611748&highlight=wicked

[O/C]Testing HS Temperatures with the Tenma Data-Logging Dual Thermocouple

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