1/8/2016

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.

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

1/9

1/8/2016

AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

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:

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

2/9

1/8/2016

AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

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:

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

3/9

1/8/2016

AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

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
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

4/9

1/8/2016

AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook
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):

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

5/9

1/8/2016

AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

An1/8wattresistorwouldworkjustfineforR4,a1/2wattresistorwould
sufficeforR3anda5wattforR2(althoughresistorstendtomaintaintheir
longtermaccuracybetterifnotoperatedneartheirratedpowerdissipation,so
youmightwanttooverrateresistorsR2andR3),butprecision50watt
resistorsarerareandexpensivecomponentsindeed.Acustomresistormade
frommetalstockorthickwiremayhavetobeconstructedforR1tomeetboth
therequirementsoflowresistanceandhighpowerrating.
Sometimes,shuntresistorsareusedinconjunctionwithvoltmetersofhigh
inputresistancetomeasurecurrent.Inthesecases,thecurrentthroughthe
voltmetermovementissmallenoughtobeconsiderednegligible,andthe
shuntresistancecanbesizedaccordingtohowmanyvoltsormillivoltsofdrop
willbeproducedperampofcurrent:

Welcometo
AllAbout
Circuits!
We'reaglobal

If,forexample,theshuntresistorintheabovecircuitweresizedatprecisely1
communityof
Electronics&EE
,therewouldbe1voltdroppedacrossitforeveryampofcurrentthroughit.
Geeks!

(https://a

sa=L&ai

nj9PgHA

awtJtAw

8416370

toDC_B

fpsp=1&

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
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

andaForum

6/9

1/8/2016

AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

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):
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

7/9

1/8/2016

AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

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.
REVIEW:
Moreaboutus
(/contactus/)
Ammeterrangesarecreatedbyaddingparallelshuntresistorstothe

movementcircuit,providingaprecisecurrentdivision.
CONTENT

CATEGORIES
Shuntresistorsmayhavehighpowerdissipations,sobecarefulwhen

choosingpartsforsuchmeters!
News(/news/)

Latest(/latest/)

Projects(/projects/)
Arduino(/latest/arduino/)
Shuntresistorscanbeusedinconjunctionwithhighresistance
TechnicalArticles(/technicalarticles/)

Power(/latest/power/)
voltmetersaswellaslowresistanceammetermovements,producing

Textbook(/textbook/)

Embedded(/latest/embedded/)

accuratevoltagedropsforgivenamountsofcurrent.Shuntresistors
Downloads(/downloads/)
IoT(/latest/iot/)
shouldbeselectedforaslowaresistancevalueaspossibletominimize
VideoLectures(/videolectures/)
Sensors(/latest/sensors/)
Worksheets(/worksheets/)
DigitalICs(/latest/digitalics/)
theirimpactuponthecircuitundertest.
Forum(//forum.allaboutcircuits.com/)

Test&Measurement(/latest/testand
measurement/)

PrevPage (/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/voltmeterimpactmeasured
CONNECTWITHUS
NextPage
Facebook

circuit/)

(/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterimpactmeasured
YouTube

(https://www.facebook.com/allaboutcircuits)
Twitter(https://twitter.com/AllAboutCircuit)

(https://www.youtube.com/c/AllAboutCircuitsVideo)
circuit/)

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

LinkedIn

8/9

1/8/2016

AmmeterDesign:DCMeteringCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

Twitter(https://twitter.com/AllAboutCircuit)

LinkedIn

ContactUs(/contactus/)

(https://www.linkedin.com/company/allaboutcircuits)
WriteForUs(/writeforus/)

PublishedunderthetermsandconditionsoftheDesignScienceLicense

(https://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html)
SIGNUP

RecommendedArticles
Enteryouremailaddress

Register

IntroducingthePICAXESystem
(/technicalarticles/introtopicaxe/)
EETechMedia,LLC(http://eetech.com/).Allrightsreserved
(/technica
l

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/directcurrent/chpt8/ammeterdesign/

9/9