Precautions and Procedures for Accurate Voltage Measurements

In this section, we will present a simple method of accurate voltage measurements

for V1, V2 and VT. But first, we will summarize the precautions for our reference as
safety comes first.

1. To minimize loading effects of the high-voltage probe impedance, use one that
has very low capacitance and very high resistance. A probe with capacitance of 3pF
and resistance of 100MΩ, such as the Tektronix P6015A, is usually satisfactory. As
discussed previously, since CF is a very small capacitor (typically 4.7pF) and RF is a
big resistor (3MΩ), the probe impedance can greatly affect measurement accuracy.

2. When using an ordinary high-voltage probe (not differential) to measure the

transformer voltage, the oscilloscope earth grounding must be disconnected. This is
to prevent high voltages from being shorted to ground during measurement.

3. When measuring the transformer floating secondary winding, ensure that BOTH
the high-voltage terminal and the ground terminal of the probe are kept away from
low-voltage circuitry. Note that both terminals have high voltages.

For reasons explained earlier, directly measuring lamp voltages when L2 is open is
dangerous as this will increase the transformer output voltage greatly. To measure
the voltages V1, V2 and VT at this condition with reasonable accuracy, a method is
outlined below.

First, the open-lamp voltage V2 can be measured indirectly by capturing the low-
level voltage waveform of the lower divider resistor RV. An ordinary low-voltage
probe can be used and loading effects are negligible. The lamp voltage V2 can then
be calculated from the peak of the half-wave RV voltage and the divider ratio of RF
and RV. RF and RV values must be precisely measured to have minimum error in
the calculated V2.

Then, the voltage V1 can be measured directly using the high-voltage probe. As
discussed previously, this measured V1 will be lower than the actual voltage without
the probe. However, the actual V1 can be calculated by eliminating the effect of the
probe capacitance from the measured V1. Let us take an example. Let CF = 4.7pF,
probe capacitance = 3pF, and measured V1 is 200Vrms. The impedance of CF is
452kΩ and the effective impedance of CF//probe capacitance is about 276kΩ at
75KHz. So, the current through the parallel combination is 200 / 276 = 0.7mA. Then,
if the 3pF probe capacitance is not present, V1 will be equal to 0.7 X 452 =
316Vrms.

Finally, the transformer secondary voltage VT can be measured directly. A high-

voltage probe can be used as long as the oscilloscope ground is isolated as noted in
2.

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