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AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook
TableofContents
AmmeterDesign
Chapter8DCMeteringCircuits
Ameterdesignedtomeasureelectricalcurrentispopularlycalledan
ammeterbecausetheunitofmeasurementisamps.
Inammeterdesigns,externalresistorsaddedtoextendtheusablerangeof
themovementareconnectedinparallelwiththemovementratherthanin
seriesasisthecaseforvoltmeters.Thisisbecausewewanttodividethe
measuredcurrent,notthemeasuredvoltage,goingtothemovement,and
becausecurrentdividercircuitsarealwaysformedbyparallelresistances.
Takingthesamemetermovementasthevoltmeterexample,wecanseethat
itwouldmakeaverylimitedinstrumentbyitself,fullscaledeflectionoccurring
atonly1mA:
Asisthecasewithextendingametermovementsvoltagemeasuringability,
wewouldhavetocorrespondinglyrelabelthemovementsscalesothatit
readdifferentlyforanextendedcurrentrange.Forexample,ifwewantedto
designanammetertohaveafullscalerangeof5ampsusingthesamemeter
movementasbefore(havinganintrinsicfullscalerangeofonly1mA),we
wouldhavetorelabelthemovementsscaletoread0Aonthefarleftand5A
onthefarright,ratherthan0mAto1mAasbefore.Whateverextendedrange
providedbytheparallelconnectedresistors,wewouldhavetorepresent
graphicallyonthemetermovementface.
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Using5ampsasanextendedrangeforoursamplemovement,letsdetermine
theamountofparallelresistancenecessarytoshunt,orbypass,themajority
ofcurrentsothatonly1mAwillgothroughthemovementwithatotalcurrent
of5A:
Fromourgivenvaluesofmovementcurrent,movementresistance,andtotal
circuit(measured)current,wecandeterminethevoltageacrossthemeter
movement(OhmsLawappliedtothecentercolumn,E=IR):
Knowingthatthecircuitformedbythemovementandtheshuntisofaparallel
configuration,weknowthatthevoltageacrossthemovement,shunt,andtest
leads(total)mustbethesame:
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leads(total)mustbethesame:
Wealsoknowthatthecurrentthroughtheshuntmustbethedifference
betweenthetotalcurrent(5amps)andthecurrentthroughthemovement(1
mA),becausebranchcurrentsaddinaparallelconfiguration:
Then,usingOhmsLaw(R=E/I)intherightcolumn,wecandeterminethe
necessaryshuntresistance:
Ofcourse,wecouldhavecalculatedthesamevalueofjustover100milli
ohms(100m)fortheshuntbycalculatingtotalresistance(R=E/I0.5volts/5
amps=100mexactly),thenworkingtheparallelresistanceformula
backwards,butthearithmeticwouldhavebeenmorechallenging:
Inreallife,theshuntresistorofanammeterwillusuallybeencasedwithinthe
protectivemetalhousingofthemeterunit,hiddenfromsight.Notethe
constructionoftheammeterinthefollowingphotograph:
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ThisparticularammeterisanautomotiveunitmanufacturedbyStewart
Warner.AlthoughtheDArsonvalmetermovementitselfprobablyhasafull
scaleratingintherangeofmilliamps,themeterasawholehasarangeof+/
60amps.Theshuntresistorprovidingthishighcurrentrangeisenclosed
withinthemetalhousingofthemeter.Notealsowiththisparticularmeterthat
theneedlecentersatzeroampsandcanindicateeitherapositivecurrentor
anegativecurrent.Connectedtothebatterychargingcircuitofan
automobile,thismeterisabletoindicateachargingcondition(electrons
flowingfromgeneratortobattery)oradischargingcondition(electronsflowing
frombatterytotherestofthecarsloads).
Asisthecasewithmultiplerangevoltmeters,ammeterscanbegivenmore
thanoneusablerangebyincorporatingseveralshuntresistorsswitchedwitha
multipoleswitch:
Noticethattherangeresistorsareconnectedthroughtheswitchsoastobein
parallelwiththemetermovement,ratherthaninseriesasitwasinthe
voltmeterdesign.Thefivepositionswitchmakescontactwithonlyoneresistor
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voltmeterdesign.Thefivepositionswitchmakescontactwithonlyoneresistor
atatime,ofcourse.Eachresistorissizedaccordinglyforadifferentfullscale
range,basedontheparticularratingofthemetermovement(1mA,500).
Withsuchameterdesign,eachresistorvalueisdeterminedbythesame
technique,usingaknowntotalcurrent,movementfullscaledeflectionrating,
andmovementresistance.Foranammeterwithrangesof100mA,1A,10A,
and100A,theshuntresistanceswouldbeassuch:
Noticethattheseshuntresistorvaluesareverylow!5.00005mis5.00005
milliohms,or0.00500005ohms!Toachievetheselowresistances,ammeter
shuntresistorsoftenhavetobecustommadefromrelativelylargediameter
wireorsolidpiecesofmetal.
Onethingtobeawareofwhensizingammetershuntresistorsisthefactorof
powerdissipation.Unlikethevoltmeter,anammetersrangeresistorshaveto
carrylargeamountsofcurrent.Ifthoseshuntresistorsarenotsized
accordingly,theymayoverheatandsufferdamage,orattheveryleastlose
accuracyduetooverheating.Fortheexamplemeterabove,thepower
dissipationsatfullscaleindicationare(thedoublesquigglylinesrepresent
approximatelyequaltoinmathematics):
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An1/8wattresistorwouldworkjustfineforR4,a1/2wattresistorwould
sufficeforR3anda5wattforR2(althoughresistorstendtomaintaintheir
longtermaccuracybetterifnotoperatedneartheirratedpowerdissipation,so
youmightwanttooverrateresistorsR2andR3),butprecision50watt
resistorsarerareandexpensivecomponentsindeed.Acustomresistormade
frommetalstockorthickwiremayhavetobeconstructedforR1tomeetboth
therequirementsoflowresistanceandhighpowerrating.
Sometimes,shuntresistorsareusedinconjunctionwithvoltmetersofhigh
inputresistancetomeasurecurrent.Inthesecases,thecurrentthroughthe
voltmetermovementissmallenoughtobeconsiderednegligible,andthe
shuntresistancecanbesizedaccordingtohowmanyvoltsormillivoltsofdrop
willbeproducedperampofcurrent:
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If,forexample,theshuntresistorintheabovecircuitweresizedatprecisely1
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,therewouldbe1voltdroppedacrossitforeveryampofcurrentthroughit.
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Thevoltmeterindicationcouldthenbetakenasadirectindicationofcurrent
AACiscommunity
throughtheshunt.Formeasuringverysmallcurrents,highervaluesofshunt
driven,withProjects
resistancecouldbeusedtogeneratemorevoltagedroppergivenunitof
(//www.allaboutcircuits.com/projects/),
current,thusextendingtheusablerangeofthe(volt)meterdownintolower
Electronics
Textbooks
amountsofcurrent.Theuseofvoltmetersinconjunctionwithlowvalueshunt
(//www.allaboutcircuits.com/education/),
resistancesforthemeasurementofcurrentissomethingcommonlyseenin
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industrialapplications.
andaForum
(//forum.allaboutcircuits.com)
with850,000posts
Theuseofashuntresistoralongwithavoltmetertomeasurecurrentcanbea
byour280,000
usefultrickforsimplifyingthetaskoffrequentcurrentmeasurementsina
members!
circuit.Normally,tomeasurecurrentthroughacircuitwithanammeter,the
CreateYourAccount(//forum.allaboutcircuits
circuitwouldhavetobebroken(interrupted)andtheammeterinserted
betweentheseparatedwireends,likethis:
Ifwehaveacircuitwherecurrentneedstobemeasuredoften,orwewould
justliketomaketheprocessofcurrentmeasurementmoreconvenient,a
shuntresistorcouldbeplacedbetweenthosepointsandleftthere
permanently,currentreadingstakenwithavoltmeterasneededwithout
interruptingcontinuityinthecircuit:
Ofcourse,caremustbetakeninsizingtheshuntresistorlowenoughsothatit
doesntadverselyaffectthecircuitsnormaloperation,butthisisgenerallynot
difficulttodo.Thistechniquemightalsobeusefulincomputercircuitanalysis,
wherewemightwanttohavethecomputerdisplaycurrentthroughacircuitin
termsofavoltage(withSPICE,thiswouldallowustoavoidtheidiosyncrasy
ofreadingnegativecurrentvalues):
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shuntresistorexamplecircuitv110rshunt121rload2015k.dcv112121.pri
ntdcv(1,2).end
v1v(1,2)1.200E+017.999E04
Wewouldinterpretthevoltagereadingacrosstheshuntresistor(between
circuitnodes1and2intheSPICEsimulation)directlyasamps,with7.999E
04being0.7999mA,or799.9A.Ideally,12voltsapplieddirectlyacross15
kwouldgiveusexactly0.8mA,buttheresistanceoftheshuntlessensthat
WHOWEARE
currentjustatinybit(asitwouldinreallife).However,suchatinyerroris
generallywellwithinacceptablelimitsofaccuracyforeitherasimulationora
realcircuit,andsoshuntresistorscanbeusedinallbutthemostdemanding
(/)
applicationsforaccuratecurrentmeasurement.
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Ammeterrangesarecreatedbyaddingparallelshuntresistorstothe
movementcircuit,providingaprecisecurrentdivision.
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