Permanent Magnet Moving Coil Ammeter

Out line
Overview Working principle Construction Working Features

Purpose
Describe the basic theory of the galvanometer. Describe the basic theory of the D'Arsonval meter movement. State the proper procedure for connecting an ammeter to a circuit. Define ammeter sensitivity.

Overview
A moving coil ammeter is the DArsonval galvanometer It is used to detect small electric current Moving-coil meters are only usable directly for DC, not AC Full-scale deflection for currents from about 25 A to 10 mA

Principle

Permanent Magnet Moving Coil Principle of Working

 Current Sensitivity of the galvanometer as the deflection per unit current. This current sensitivity is, /I = NAB/k A convenient way for the manufacturer to increase the sensitivity is to increase the number of turns N

Construction
Five essential parts of a Galvanometer. 1. A U-shaped permanent magnet with concave poles. 2. Flat rectangular coil of thin enameled insulated wire C. 3. A soft iron cylinder 'B'. 4. A pointer or needle. 5. A scale.

Construction

Construction

Working
D.c Ammeter:

Extension of Ammeter range

Extension of Ammeter range
Rsh: Shunt external resistor

Extension of Ammeter range

Direct D.c Ammeter Method (Ayrton Shunt):

Extension of Ammeter range

Indirect D.C Ammeter Method:

Example 1

Example 2

Example 2

Example 3

Example 3

Features
Errors in PMMC Instruments

The main sources of errors in moving coil instruments are due to

Weakening of permanent magnets due to ageing at temperature effects. Weakening of springs due to ageing and temperature effects. Change of resistance of the moving coil with temperature.

The main advantages of PMMC instruments:

The scale is uniformly divided. The power consumption is very low The torque-weight ratio is high which gives a high accuracy. The accuracy is of the order of generally 2% of full-scale deflection. Using different values for shunts and multipliers may use a single instrument for many different current and voltage ranges. Since the operating forces are large on account of large flux densities, which may be as high as 0.5 Wb/m, the errors due to stray magnetic fields are small. Self-shielding magnets make the core magnet mechanism particularly useful in aircraft and aerospace applications.

The chief disadvantages are

These instruments are useful only for D.C. The torque reverses if the current reverses. If the instrument is connected to a.c., the pointer cannot follow the rapid reversals and the deflection corresponds to mean torque, which is zero. Hence these instruments cannot be used for a.c. The cost of these instruments is higher than that of moving iron instruments.

Summary

Reference