A Guide to Low Resistance Measurement Contents
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Tried. Tested. Trusted. A Guide to Low Resistance Measurement Contents 02-03 Introduction 04-05 Applications 06 Resistance 06-09 Principles of Resistance Measurement 09-10 Methods of 4 Terminal Connections 10-19 Possible Measurement Errors 14-18 Choosing the Right Instrument 18-24 Application Examples 25-33 Useful Formulas and Charts 34 Find out more Tried. Tested. Trusted. With resistance measurement, precision is everything. This guide is what we know about achieving the highest quality measurements possible. The measurement of very large or very small cable characteristics, temperature coefficients quantities is always difficult, and resistance and various formulas to ensure you make the best measurement is no exception. Values above 1G possible choice when selecting your measuring Ω and values below 1 both present measurement instrument and measurement technique. Ω problems. We hope you will find this booklet a valuable Cropico is a world leader in low resistance addition to your toolkit. measurement; we produce a comprehensive range of low resistance ohmmeters and accessories which cover most measurement applications. This handbook gives an overview of low resistance measurement techniques, explains common causes of errors and how to avoid them. We have also included useful tables of wire and 2 Tried. Tested. Trusted. 3 Applications There are many reasons why the resistance of material is measured. Here are a few. Manufacturers of components thus avoiding the joint or contact from Resistors, inductors and chokes all have to becoming excessively hot, a poor cable joint or verify that their product meets the specified switch contact will soon fail due to this heating resistance tolerance, end of production line and effect. Routine preventative maintenance with quality control testing. regular resistance checks ensures the best possible life performances. Manufacturers of switches, relays & connectors Electric motor & generator manufacturers Verification that the contact resistance is below There is a requirement to determine the pre specified limits is required. This can be maximum temperature reached under full load. achieved at end of production line testing, To determine this temperature, the temperature ensuring quality control. coefficient of the copper winding is used. The resistance is first measured with the motor or Cable manufacturers generator cold i.e. at ambient temperature, the Must measure the resistance of the copper unit is then run at full load for a specified period wires they produce, resistance too high means and the resistance measured again. From the that the current carrying capability of the cable change in resistance value, the internal is reduced; resistance too low means that the motor/generator temperature can be manufacturer is being too generous on the determined. Our ohmmeters are also used to cable diameter using more copper than he measure the individual coils of a motor winding, needs to, which can be very expensive. to ensure there are no short or open circuit turns and that each coil is balanced. Installation & maintenance of power cables, switchgear & voltage tap changers The automotive industry These require the cable joints and switch Requirement to measure the resistance of robot contacts to be of the lowest possible resistance welding cables to ensure that the weld quality 4 Tried. Tested. Trusted. does not deteriorate, i.e. battery lead crimp connectors, air bag detonator resistance, resistance of wiring harness, and quality of crimp connectors on components. Fuse manufacturers For quality control, resistance bonding measurements on aircraft and military vehicles, it is necessary to ensure that all equipment installed in aircraft is electrically connected to the air frame, including galley equipment. Tanks and other military vehicles have the same requirements. Producers and users of large electrical currents all need to measure distribution of joint resistance, busbars, and connectors to electrodes for electroplating. Railway utilities Including trams and underground railways (Metro) - for the measurement of power distribution cable joints, including the resistance of rail track joints, because the rails are often used for signalling information. 5 RESISTANCE Resistance Ohm’s Law V = I x R (Volts = Current x Resistance). The Ohm ( ) is a unit of electrical resistance equal to that oΩf a conductor in which a Volt Amp current of one ampere is produced by a potential of one volt across its terminals. Ohm's law, named after its discoverer the German Volt physicist Georg Ohm, is one of the most important, Resistance = Current basic laws of electricity. It defines the relationship between the three fundamental electrical quantities: current, voltage and resistance. When a voltage is There exists a variety of resistance measuring applied to a circuit containing only resistive instruments that will calculate and display the elements, current flows according to Ohm's Law, resistance reading without the need for which is shown below. calculations by the user. These measuring instruments will employ either a two wire or a Current I fouRr wire measurement technique. Where: Kelvin Double Bridge I = Electrical Current (Amperes) The Kelvin Bridge is a variation of the V = Voltage (Voltage) Wheatstone bridge which enables low R = Resistance (Ohms) V resistances to be measured. The R measurement range would typically be 1m to 1k with the smallest resolution of 1µ Ω. The limΩitations of the Kelvin bridge are:- Ω PRINCIPLES OF RESISTANCE 1. requires manual balancing MEASUREMENT 2. sensitive null detector or galvanometer is required to detect balance condition Ammeter Voltmeter method 3. measurement current needs to be This method goes right back to basics. If we use reasonably high to achieve sufficient R a battery as our voltage source, a voltmeter to sensitivity measure the voltage and an ammeter to measure the current in the circuit, we can calculate the The Kelvin Double Bridge has generally been resistance with reasonable accuracy. replaced by digital ohmmeters. Whilst this method can provide good measurement results, it is not a practical DMM - Two-wire Connection solution to everyday measurement needs. A simple digital multimeter can be used for R 6 Tried. Tested. Trusted. higher values of resistance. They employ the 2 wire method of measurement and are only DMM suitable for measuring values above 100 and Test meter Terminals where high accuracy is not required. Ω Resistance of test leads 0.02 R1 R2 When measuring the resistance of a each 1 metre lead component (Rx) a test current is forced through the component and the test meter R3 Connection resistance R4 measures the voltage at its terminals. The meter then calculates and displays the resulting resistance and is known as a two- RX wire measurement. It should be noted that the DMM measures:- Rx + R1 + R2 + R3 + R4 meter measures the voltage at its terminals and not across the component. As a result of When measuring larger resistance values this this, the voltage drop across the connection additional lead resistance error can be leads is also included in the resistance ignored, but as you can see from the chart calculation. Good quality test leads will have a below, the error becomes significantly higher resistance of approximately 0.02 per meter. as the measured value decreases, and totally In addition to the resistance of thΩe leads, the inappropriate below 10 . resistance of the lead connection will also be Ω included in the measurement and this can be as high as or even higher in value than the leads themselves. TABLE 1 Examples of possible measurement errors Test lead Connection Rx measured at DMM Error Error % RX resistance R1 + R2 resistance R3 + R4 terminals = Rx + R1 + R2 + R3 + R4 1000 0.04 0.04 1000.08 0.08 0.008 Ω 100 Ω 0.04 0.04 Ω 100.08 Ω 0.08 Ω 0.08 Ω 10 Ω 0.04 0.04 Ω 10.08 Ω 0.08 Ω 0.8 Ω 1 Ω 0.04 0.04 Ω 1.08 Ω 0.08 Ω 8 Ω 100 Ωm 0.04 0.04 Ω 180 m Ω 0.08 Ω 80 Ω 10 m Ω 0.04 0.04 Ω 90 m Ω 0.08 Ω 800 Ω 1 m Ω 0.04 0.04 Ω 81 m Ω 0.08 Ω 8000 Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω 100 µ 0.04 0.04 Digital80o.1hm mmeters – 4 wire0.0c8onnection 8000 Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω 7 T P C To measure true DC, resistance ohmmeters Voltage measured across Rx typically use 4 wire measurement. DC current is passed through the Rx and through the RX ohmmeter’s internal standard. The voltage across Constant the Rx and the internal standard is then measured current source and the ratio of the two readings is used to calculate the resistance. With this method the current only needs to be steady for the few milliseconds required for the ohmmeter to make both readings, but it requires two measurement Four wire connection circuits. The voltage measured is very small and a The four wire (Kelvin) method of measurement is µV measurement sensitivity is usually required. preferred for resistance values below 100 , and all Cropico milliohmmeters and microhmmeΩters use this method. These measurements are made using 4 separate wires. 2 wires carry the current, known I I Voltage measured Voltage measured t t as the source or current leads and pass current n n across Rx across ohmmeter e e r r r r internal standard through the Rx. The other 2 wires known as the u u C C RX Rstd sense or potential leads, are used to sense the voltage drop across Rx. Whilst some small current Alternatively a constant current source is used to will flow in the sense leads, it is negligible and can pass a current through the Rx. The volt drop be ignored. The volt drop across the ohmmeter’s across the Rx is then measured and the resistance sense terminals is therefore virtually the same as the calculated.