Little bigger piezo + Spectrum Analyser = destroyed input?

[William_K]

Hello guys

Will start dealing with little thicker and beefier piezos soon and a SA will be invoved in that.

It's a very known fact that if you mechanically move a piezo it generate a voltage and if fast and hard enough that could be very high, it feels very much that this is something that had to be though about when testing this, or? The same with a waveform generator, any risk involved at all?

The SA cost 2k+ so I want to be dam sure about this and thus I ask before I test.

Regards William

[tautech]

Why a SA and not a DSO ? 

[xrunner]

Why a SA and not a DSO ? 

Yea really. Or -

Let me ask this. What are you trying to observe William_K? The wideband frequency spectrum of a piezo? Just attach a BNC cable to the input of your spectrum analyzer and at the other end a small coil of wire to the center conductor. Do not attach this to the piezo! Simply move it near enough to observe the spectrum.

[William_K]

Sure a DSO could work as well I guess, but there is a TG on the SA so I though using that somehow for it all? There might be more than one resonance in it due to reasons I cant go it to and thus I would like to see a little bit over and under its resonance frequency what is happening there.

[AVGresponding]

Inverse parallel diodes across the input?

[William_K]

That could be a choice I think, thanks. I would prefer so it could free running to what ever voltage it would, but that could be clamped with diods or even a zener I guess then.

[AVGresponding]

It'll clip, yes, but then you have a chance to reduce the input amplitude until it doesn't.