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Operation
2.9 Measurement of Power Factor
The power factor in a circuit is the ratio of the active power (watts)
to the apparent power (volt amps). If all of the apparent power is
being delivered to the load, then active power equals apparent
power, and the power factor is 1. However, if only 75% of the
apparent power is being delivered to the load, the power factor is
0.75.
In any ac circuit, only two parameters affect power factor: The phase
angle between the voltage and current, and the relative quality of the
waveshapes of each. In typical ac transmission and distribution
systems, the quality of the sinewave is good enough to cause the
phase angle to become the dominant factor. When only the phase
angle is considered, power factor will be equal to the cosine of the
phase angle.
The 918B is capable of displaying any power factor value between
+1 and -1. For measurement of power factor with the 918B, both the
voltage and the current inputs are used.
CAUTION
Do not exceed ±25 volts peak, with respect to earth
ground, on the (-) voltage input. The 918B is designed to operate
with the (-) input connected to earth ground or circuit neutral.
Procedure
1.
To perform power factor measurements with the 918B, switch
the instrument to the power factor mode by first pressing
"SHIFT", followed by "PF".
2.
Connect the output of the clamp-on current transformer (CT) to
the current input of the 918B, using the supplied cable. Be sure
that the (+) and (-) terminals on the CT correspond directly to
the (+) and (-) terminals of the 918B current input.
3.
Clamp the CT around the wire carrying the current to be
measured, making certain that the jaws close completely. Note