ELECTRICAL MEASURING
INSTRUMENTS
ENGR. JOED CERILLO
Voltmeter
• A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electrical
potential difference between two points in an electric
circuit. Analog voltmeters move a pointer across a scale in
proportion to the voltage of the circuit; digital voltmeters
give a numerical display of voltage by use of an analog to
digital converter.
Types of Voltmeter (Analog Voltmeter)
• A moving coil galvanometer can be used as a
voltmeter by inserting a resistor in series with the
instrument. The galvanometer has a coil of fine wire
suspended in a strong magnetic field. When an
electric current is applied, the interaction of the
magnetic field of the coil and of the stationary
magnet creates a torque, tending to make the coil
rotate. The torque is proportional to the current
through the coil. The coil rotates, compressing a
spring that opposes the rotation. The deflection of
the coil is thus proportional to the current, which in
turn is proportional to the applied voltage, which is
indicated by a pointer on a scale
What is Galvanometer?
• A galvanometer is an electromechanical instrument
used for detecting and indicating an electric current. A
galvanometer works as an actuator, by producing a
rotary deflection (of a "pointer"), in response to electric
current flowing through a coil in a constant magnetic
field. Early galvanometers were not calibrated, but
their later developments were used as measuring
instruments, called ammeters, to measure the current
flowing through an electric circuit.
• Galvanometers developed from the observation that the
needle of a magnetic compass is deflected near a wire
that has electric current flowing through it, first
described by Hans Christian Ørsted in 1820. They were
the first instruments used to detect and measure small
amounts of electric currents. André-Marie Ampère, who
gave mathematical expression to Ørsted's discovery and
named the instrument after the Italian electricity
researcher Luigi Galvani, who in 1791 discovered the
principle of the frog galvanoscope – that electric
current would make the legs of a dead frog jerk.
How do Analog voltmeter work?
• A moving coil galvanometer of the d'Arsonval
type.
• The red wire carries the current to be
measured.
• The restoring spring is shown in green.
• N and S are the north and south poles of the
magnet.
Digital Voltmeter
• A digital voltmeter (DVM) measures an unknown input voltage by
converting the voltage to a digital value and then displays the voltage
in numeric form. DVMs are usually designed around a special type of
analog-to-digital converter called an integrating converter.
• DVM measurement accuracy is affected by many factors, including
temperature, input impedance, and DVM power supply voltage
variations. Less expensive DVMs often have input resistance on the
order of 10 MΩ. Precision DVMs can have input resistances of 1 GΩ or
higher for the lower voltage ranges (e.g. less than 20 V). To ensure
that a DVM's accuracy is within the manufacturer's specified
tolerances, it must be periodically calibrated against a voltage
standard such as the Weston cell.
• The first digital voltmeter was invented and produced by Andrew Kay
of Non-Linear Systems (and later founder of Kaypro) in 1954.
Ammeter
• An ammeter (from Ampere Meter) is a measuring
instrument used to measure the current in a circuit.
Electric currents are measured in amperes (A), hence
the name. Instruments used to measure smaller
currents, in the milliampere or microampere range,
are designated as milliammeters or microammeters.
Early ammeters were laboratory instruments which
relied on the Earth's magnetic field for operation. By
the late 19th century, improved instruments were
designed which could be mounted in any position and
allowed accurate measurements in electric power
systems. It is generally represented by letter 'A' in a
circle. Ammeters have very low resistance and are
always connected in series in any circuit.
Moving-coil
The D'Arsonval galvanometer is a moving coil ammeter.
It uses magnetic deflection, where current passing
through a coil placed in the magnetic field of a
permanent magnet causes the coil to move. The
modern form of this instrument was developed by
Edward Weston, and uses two spiral springs to provide
the restoring force. The uniform air gap between the
iron core and the permanent magnet poles make the
deflection of the meter linearly proportional to
current. These meters have linear scales. Basic meter
movements can have full-scale deflection for currents
from about 25 microamperes to 10 milliamperes.
Moving magnet Ammeter
• Moving magnet ammeters operate on essentially
the same principle as moving coil, except that
the coil is mounted in the meter case, and a
permanent magnet moves the needle. Moving
magnet Ammeters are able to carry larger
currents than moving coil instruments, often
several tens of Amperes, because the coil can
be made of thicker wire and the current does
not have to be carried by the hairsprings.
Indeed, some Ammeters of this type do not have
hairsprings at all, instead using a fixed
permanent magnet to provide the restoring
force.
Electrodynamic Ammeter
• An electrodynamic movement uses an
electromagnet instead of the permanent
magnet of the d'Arsonval movement. This
instrument can respond to both alternating
and direct current and also indicates true
RMS for AC.
Moving-iron Ammeter
• Moving iron ammeters use a piece of iron which moves when acted
upon by the electromagnetic force of a fixed coil of wire. The
moving-iron meter was invented by Austrian engineer Friedrich
Drexler in 1884. This type of meter responds to both direct and
alternating currents (as opposed to the moving-coil ammeter,
which works on direct current only). The iron element consists of a
moving vane attached to a pointer, and a fixed vane, surrounded
by a coil. As alternating or direct current flows through the coil
and induces a magnetic field in both vanes, the vanes repel each
other and the moving vane deflects against the restoring force
provided by fine helical [Link] deflection of a moving iron
meter is proportional to the square of the current. Consequently,
such meters would normally have a non linear scale, but the iron
parts are usually modified in shape to make the scale fairly linear
over most of its range. Moving iron instruments indicate the RMS
value of any AC waveform applied. Moving iron ammeters are
commonly used to measure current in industrial frequency AC
circuits.
Hot-wire Ammeter
• In a hot-wire ammeter, a current passes
through a wire which expands as it heats.
Although these instruments have slow
response time and low accuracy, they
were sometimes used in measuring radio-
frequency current. These also measure
true RMS for an applied AC.
Current Clamp Meter
• In electrical and electronic engineering, a
current clamp or current probe is an
electrical device with jaws which open to
allow clamping around an electrical
conductor. This allows measurement of the
current in a conductor without the need to
make physical contact with it, or to
disconnect it for insertion through the probe.
Current clamps are typically used to read the
magnitude of alternating current (AC) and,
with additional instrumentation, the phase
and waveform can also be measured. Some
clamps meters can measure currents of 1000 A
and more. Hall effect and vane type clamps
can also measure direct current (DC).
Ohmmeter
• An ohmmeter is an electrical instrument
that measures electrical resistance, the
opposition to an electric current. Micro-
ohmmeters (microhmmeter or
microohmmeter) make low resistance
measurements. Megohmmeters (also a
trademarked device Megger) measure large
values of resistance. The unit of
measurement for resistance is ohms (Ω).
Megaohmmeter
• Megohmmeter or megger is a special type of
ohmmeter used to measure the electrical
resistance of insulators. Insulating components,
for example cable jackets, must be tested for
their insulation strength at the time of
commissioning and as part of maintenance of
high voltage electrical equipment and
installations. For this purpose megohmmeters,
which can provide high DC voltages (typically in
ranges from 500 V to 5 kV, some are up to 15 kV)
at specified current capacity, are used.
Acceptable insulator resistance values are
typically 1 to 10 megohms, depending on the
standards referenced.
KWh Meter
• An electricity meter, electric meter, electrical meter, or
energy meter is a device that measures the amount of
electric energy consumed by a residence, a business, or an
electrically powered device.
• Electric utilities use electric meters installed at
customers' premises for billing purposes. They are
typically calibrated in billing units, the most common one
being the kilowatt hour (kWh). They are usually read once
each billing period.
• When energy savings during certain periods are desired,
some meters may measure demand, the maximum use of
power in some interval. "Time of day" metering allows
electric rates to be changed during a day, to record usage
during peak high-cost periods and off-peak, lower-cost,
periods. Also, in some areas meters have relays for
demand response load shedding during peak load periods.
Multimeter
• A multimeter or a multitester, also known as a VOM (volt-
ohm-milliammeter), is an electronic measuring instrument
that combines several measurement functions in one unit.
A typical multimeter can measure voltage, current, and
resistance. Analog multimeters use a microammeter with
a moving pointer to display readings. Digital multimeters
(DMM, DVOM) have a numeric display, and may also show a
graphical bar representing the measured value. Digital
multimeters are now far more common due to their cost
and precision, but analog multimeters are still preferable
in some cases, for example when monitoring a rapidly
varying value.
• A multimeter can be a hand-held device useful for basic
fault finding and field service work, or a bench instrument
which can measure to a very high degree of accuracy.
Multimeters are available in a wide range of features and
prices. Cheap multimeters can cost less than US$10, while
laboratory-grade models with certified calibration can
cost more than US$5,000.
Oscilloscope
• An oscilloscope, previously called an oscillograph, and
informally known as a scope or o-scope, CRO (for cathode-
ray oscilloscope), or DSO (for the more modern digital
storage oscilloscope), is a type of electronic test instrument
that graphically displays varying signal voltages, usually as a
two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of
time. Other signals (such as sound or vibration) can be
converted to voltages and displayed.
• Oscilloscopes display the change of an electrical signal over
time, with voltage and time as the Y- and X-axes,
respectively, on a calibrated scale. The waveform can then
be analyzed for properties such as amplitude, frequency,
rise time, time interval, distortion, and others. Modern
digital instruments may calculate and display these
properties directly. Originally, calculation of these values
required manually measuring the waveform against the
scales built into the screen of the instrument.
• The oscilloscope can be adjusted so that repetitive signals
can be observed as a continuous shape on the screen. A
storage oscilloscope can capture a single event and display
it continuously, so the user can observe events that would
otherwise appear too briefly to see directly.
Reading a KWh meter
Light meters
• Light meters or light detectors are also used in illumination. Their
purpose is to measure the illumination level in the interior and to
switch off or reduce the output level of luminaires. This can greatly
reduce the energy burden of the building by significantly increasing the
efficiency of its lighting system. It is therefore recommended to use
light meters in lighting systems, especially in rooms where one cannot
expect users to pay attention to manually switching off the lights.
Examples include hallways, stairs, and big halls.
• There are, however, significant obstacles to overcome in order to
achieve a successful implementation of light meters in lighting systems,
of which user acceptance is by far the most formidable. Unexpected or
too frequent switching and too bright or too dark rooms are very
annoying and disturbing for users of the rooms. Therefore, different
switching algorithms have been developed:
• difference algorithm, where lights are switched on at a lower light
level than they switch off, thus taking ensuring the difference between
the light level of the 'on' state and 'off' state is not too big
• time delay algorithms:
• a certain amount of time must pass since the last switch
• a certain amount of time at a sufficient illumination level must
pass.
Tachometer
• A tachometer (revolution-counter, tach, rev-
counter, RPM gauge) is an instrument measuring
the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a
motor or other machine. The device usually
displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a
calibrated analogue dial, but digital displays are
increasingly common. The word comes from
Greek ταχος (tachos "speed") and metron
("measure"). Essentially the words tachometer
and speedometer have identical meaning: a
device that measures speed. It is by arbitrary
convention that in the automotive world one is
used for engine and the other for vehicle speed.
In formal engineering nomenclature, more
precise terms are used to distinguish the two.
Infrared thermometer
• An infrared thermometer is a thermometer which infers temperature from a
portion of the thermal radiation sometimes called black-body radiation emitted
by the object being measured. They are sometimes called laser thermometers
as a laser is used to help aim the thermometer, or non-contact thermometers or
temperature guns, to describe the device's ability to measure temperature from
a distance. By knowing the amount of infrared energy emitted by the object and
its emissivity, the object's temperature can often be determined within a
certain range of its actual temperature. Infrared thermometers are a subset of
devices known as "thermal radiation thermometers".
• Sometimes, especially near ambient temperatures, readings may be subject to
error due to the reflection of radiation from a hotter body—even the person
holding the instrument[citation needed] — rather than radiated by the object
being measured, and to an incorrect assumed emissivity.
• The design essentially consists of a lens to focus the infrared thermal radiation
on to a detector, which converts the radiant power to an electrical signal that
can be displayed in units of temperature after being compensated for ambient
temperature. This permits temperature measurement from a distance without
contact with the object to be measured. A non-contact infrared thermometer is
useful for measuring temperature under circumstances where thermocouples or
other probe-type sensors cannot be used or do not produce accurate data for a
variety of reasons.
Thermal Imaging Camera
• A thermal imaging camera consists of five components: an optic system,
detector, amplifier, signal processing, and display. Fire-service specific
thermal imaging cameras incorporate these components in a heat-
resistant, ruggedized, and waterproof housing.[3] These parts work
together to render infrared radiation, such as that given off by warm
objects or flames, into a visible light representation in real time.
• The camera display shows infrared output differentials, so two objects
with the same temperature will appear to be the same "color". Many
thermal imaging cameras use grayscale to represent normal temperature
objects, but highlight dangerously hot surfaces in different colors.
• Cameras may be handheld[6] or helmet-mounted.A handheld camera
requires one hand to position and operate, leaving only one free hand
for other tasks, but can be easily transferred between firefighters. The
majority of thermal imaging cameras in use in the fire service are
handheld models.
• Thermal cameras are an extremely effective tool for testing electrical
systems for component damage, excessive heat and for ensuring overall
system efficiency. They can be used absolutely everywhere from
domestic installations to testing inside complex industrial-based
systems, making them an incredibly versatile testing tool.
