ELECTRICAL MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

Analogue Instrument
An analogue instrument is one in which the magnitude of the measured quantity is indicated by means of a pointer. Instruments of this category include moving coil instruments, oscilloscope etc.

Analogue Instrument

Digital Instruments

A digital instrument is one whose display is presented in the form of a series of decimal values.

VOLTMETER

A voltmeter is used to measure the potential difference between two points of a circuit. It is thus connected in parallel with the circuit as shown. The voltmeter must have high resistance so that the current flowing through the voltmeter and the power absorbed by the circuit are minimum possible.

AMMETERS

An ammeter is used to measure the flow of current in a circuit. It is thus connected in series with the circuit under test as shown, So that current to be measured or a fraction of it passes through the instrument itself. The ammeter must be capable of carrying this current without injury to itself and without abnormally increasing the resistance of the circuit into which is inserted. For this reason, an ammeter is designed to have low resistance.

Watt Meter

A wattmeter, as its name implies, measure electric power given to or develop by an electronic apparatus or circuit. In a d.c circuit, power (P = VI) can be easily determined from voltmeter and ammeter readings. But in an a.c circuit, power (P = VI Cos ) depends not only on voltage and current but also on the phase shift between them.

Energy Meters

WATT-HOUR METERS: The watt-hour meter is an instrument for measuring energy. Since energy is the product of power and time, the watt-hour meter must take into consideration both of these factors. In principle, the watt-hour meter is a small motor whose instantaneous speed is proportional to the POWER passing through it. The total revolutions in a given time are proportional to the total ENERGY, or watt-hours, consumed during that time.

Basic Principal

The basic principle of the ammeter and of the voltmeter is the same, deflecting torque is produced when current flows through their operating coils. In the ammeter, the deflecting torque is produced by the current we wish to measure. In the voltmeter, the deflecting torque is produced by a current which is proportional to the potential difference to be measured.

Moving Iron Type

Moving Iron instruments depend for their action upon the magnetic effect of current, and are widely used as indicating instruments. In this type of instrument, the coil is stationary and the deflection is caused by a soft-iron piece moving in the field produced by the coil. This type of instrument is principally used for the measurement of alternating currents and voltages. There are two basic forms of moving iron instruments. Attraction type Repulsion type

Attraction Type

Working Principle: When the current to be measured is passed through the coil, a magnetic field is produced which attracts the iron rod inwards, thereby deflecting the pointer which moves over a calibrated scale.

Repulsion Type

Working Principle: When the current to be measured is passed through the fixed coil, it set up its own magnetic field which magnetizes the two rods with same polarity so that they repel one another, with the result that the pointer is deflect and causes the pointer to move from zero position.

Moving Coil Instruments

It consists of (a) A rectangular coil with many turns (b) A powerful radial magnetic field between curved pole pieces N and S and a soft iron cylinder (c) Springs to control the angle of rotation of the coil (d) A uniform (linear) scale for measuring the current. The moving coil instrument operates through the interaction of two magnetic fields; the permanent magnet field and the field due to the current flowing through a current carrying conductors The moving coil instrument is commonly used in voltmeters, ammeters and ohmmeters. It responds only to direct current. It is used in rectifiertype instruments to measure alternating current and voltage There are two types of moving coil instruments

Types of moving coil

PMMC(PERMANENT MAGNET MOVING COIL) DYNAMOMETER TYPE

PMMC(PERMANENT MAGNET MOVING COIL)

A permanent magnet moving coil instrument consists basically of a permanent magnet to provide a magnetic field and a small lightweight coil is wound on a rectangular soft iron core that is free to rotate around its vertical axis. When a current is passed through the coil windings, a torque is developed on the coil by the interaction of the magnetic field and the field set up by the current in the coil. The aluminum pointer attached to rotating coil and the pointer moves around the calibrated scale indicates the deflection of the coil

DYNAMOMETER TYPE MOVING COIL

DYNAMOMETER TYPE WATTMETER

The principle of operation of the electrodynamometer-type wattmeter is the same as that for dynamoelectric machines. The deflection torque is produced by the interaction of two magnetic fluxes. One of the fluxes is produced by a fixed coil which carries a current proportional to the load current and therefore called the current coil. The other flux is created by a movable coil which carries a current proportional to the load voltage and thus called the voltage or potential coil. A high non-inductive resistance is connected to the potential coil so that its current is almost in phase with the load voltage.