Wheatstone bridge calculation

arduinothermistorwheatstone-bridge

R4 is thermistor with R25 value of 5 Ohm, Beta is 3150. V should be at most 1V because I want to use internal 1V1 reference voltage. V supply is 5V. I don't really want to use OpAmp to keep it simple. The problem is also to draw as less current from power supply as possible. Accuracy can be 2-3C, range is 20-80C.

I tried to use some Wheatstone bridge calculators, but I don't get the bridge balanced and to draw acceptable current.

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Best Answer

enter image description here This should get you close. By my calcs, in your range the thermistor will be going from about 1 ohm to about 6 ohms. With a 1K resistor to hold currents down to milliamps, you need a gain of about 35 to keep your max voltage at 1V. This circuit has a gain of 34 using standard 5% resistor values. You might need to change to a rail-to-rail op amp if you're going to power it with a one-sided supply.