Arbiter Systems 918B Operation Manual Download

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Model 918B

Phase Angle Multimeter

Operation Manual

Arbiter Systems, Inc.
Paso Robles, California
U.S.A.

Printed in U.S.A.

Summary of Contents for 918B

Page 1: ...Model 918B Phase Angle Multimeter Operation Manual Arbiter Systems Inc Paso Robles California U S A Printed in U S A ...

Page 2: ...ledge are accurate as of September 5 2001 However due to production changes and availability of parts these diagrams are subject to revisions and modifications Check with Arbiter Systems at the address below for any revisions made since this publish date Arbiter Systems Inc 1324 Vendels Circle Suite 121 Paso Robles CA 93446 805 237 3831 www arbiter com techsupport arbiter com ...

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Page 5: ...Line 9 2 1 2 Operation from the Internal Battery 10 2 1 3 Battery Test 10 2 1 4 Charging the Internal Battery 10 2 1 5 Auto Power Off 11 2 2 Power On 11 2 2 1 Initial Configuration 11 2 3 Measurement of DC Volts 18 2 4 Measurement of AC Volts 19 2 5 Measurement of AC Amperes 20 2 6 Measurement of Volt Amps Apparent Power 22 2 7 Measurement of Volt Amps Reactive Reactive Power 24 2 8 Measurement of...

Page 6: ...Using Delta Phase for Phase Comparison Measurements 42 3 3 1 Using Fixed Offsets in Delta Phase Mode 43 3 4 Watt Hour Measurement 44 3 5 Making Voltage to Voltage Phase Angle Measurements 45 4 0 Specifications 47 4 1 Measured Parameters 47 Voltage RMS and DC 47 Phase 48 Frequency 48 4 2 Calculated Parameters 49 4 3 General Specifications 50 Warranty 53 List of Figures Figure 1 918B Front Panel 7 F...

Page 7: ...sion and distribution The following parameters are measured directly by the 918B DC Volts 0 2 V to 1 kV AC rms Volts 0 2 V to 1 kV AC rms Amperes 0 02 A to 20 A 0 002 A to 1000 A Frequency 45 Hz to 500 Hz Phase Angle 0 to 360 degrees The following parameters are calculated based on measured values Watts Vrms Irms cos Θ 0 004 W to 20 kW 1000 kW Volt Amps Vrms Irms 0 004 VA to 20 kVA 1000 kVA VA Rea...

Page 8: ...sting of eight pushbuttons Auto ranging simplifies operation by minimizing user keystrokes or the ranges can be set manually A Hold function allows the user to freeze the values for all parameters at the press of a button A Minimum Maximum function permits recording of the individual minimum and maximum values that occur for each function within a time frame that is controlled by the user A unique...

Page 9: ...m Arbiter Systems for use with the 918B Phase Angle Multimeter Maintenance and Calibration Manual part no PD0011100A Auxiliary voltage adapter 10 750 V for direct voltage to voltage phase angle measurements Model 09184A Plug in CT adapter 0 002 2 0 A direct input Model 09182A Plug in CT adapter 0 02 20 A direct input Model 09182B 1000 Amp Clamp on Current Transformer Model 09113A must be used with...

Page 10: ... high voltages Failure to do so could result in personal injury or death Do Not Connect Input Terminal to Voltages in Excess of 25 Volts From Earth Ground The 918B was designed for use with the input connected to ground or circuit neutral Application of more than 25 volts with respect to earth ground may result in the potential for electric shock or damage to the instrument This precaution is of p...

Page 11: ...o the instrument Return the instrument to Arbiter Systems for service and repair to ensure that the safety features are maintained The preceding safety precautions may appear in other sections of this manual where appropriate for the specific operations being described 1 6 Factory Service Should the instrument need to be returned for factory service please contact the Arbiter Systems Service Depar...

Page 12: ... also offers an extended warranty available in one year increments You may purchase the extended warranty at any time before your standard one year warranty expires Please contact our sales department for more information about our extended warranty ...

Page 13: ...X POWER AT POWER ON USE HOLD KEY TO CHANGE CT RATIO USE PHASE KEY TO CHANGE PHASE MODE Vdc VA VAR RANGE Vrms Arms W Whr HOLD SHIFT PHASE PF START PHASE FREQ MIN MAX CURRENT TRANSFORMER TERMINALS ARE AT SAME POTENTIAL AS VOLTAGE INPUT USE PROPER PRECAUTIONS FUSED Figure 1 918B Front Panel ...

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Page 15: ...l measurement functions can be performed while the instrument is connected in this manner To operate the 918B from the ac line connect the 3 5mm 1 8 mini plug into the power jack on the rear panel and plug the power supply into an ac line socket 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 gr...

Page 16: ... performed the display will change briefly to read Battery Test 2 1 4 Charging the Internal Battery To charge the 918B internal batteries connect the power pack to the ac line and the power inlet jack on the rear panel Internal power management circuitry will automatically evaluate the charge state of the battery and select one of two charging rates A high charging rate is applied initially until ...

Page 17: ...al Battery When the instrument is turned back on it will return to the same set of operating conditions that were present when auto power off occurred provided the power pack remained connected the entire time that the unit was off 2 2 Power On To begin operation of the 918B first verify that any voltage and or current connections to the inputs are in compliance with the limits shown on the front ...

Page 18: ...ufacturers can result in instability and or unsatisfactory operation The 918B includes a provision for changing the current transformer configuration should this become necessary One possible scenario necessitating this type of change would be as follows Example Measuring 1000 Amps In order to measure currents of up to 1000 Arms one could use an Arbiter Systems Model 09113A 1000 1 clamp on current...

Page 19: ... 09111A clamp on 1000 1 20A current transformer Note The calibration constants for this configuration apply specifically to the 20A clamp on CT supplied with and having the same serial number as the 918B Use of other CTs may result in reduced accuracy 2A DIRECT Accessory CT Calibrated for the Arbiter Systems 09182A 100 1 2 0A plug in current transformer 20A DIRECT Accessory CT Calibrated for the A...

Page 20: ...ion with the Arbiter Systems Model 09184A Auxiliary Voltage Adapter to allow the 918B to perform voltage to voltage phase angle measurements Refer to Section 3 5 for further information 2 2 1 2 Changing the Phase Convention When used for measurement of the phase angle between a voltage and current the 918B will display a value which is dependent upon the phase convention that is being employed The...

Page 21: ...ng will be between 180 degrees and 180 degrees For negative readings interpret them as having the current leading the voltage by the displayed number of degrees Example Phase Convention Lead 0 360 A measurement example using the standard 918B phase convention is illustrated in Figure 2 of this manual and also for reference on the back panel of the instrument This diagram shows the values for diffe...

Page 22: ...16 Operation Current Lags Voltage Example Phase 300 DEG PF 0 500 LAG VA 100 VA W 50 0 W VAR 86 6 VAR Figure 2 Phase Convention Lead 0 360º 100 Vrms 1 0 Arms ...

Page 23: ...transformer configuration Immediately following this another display will occur showing one of the four phase convention settings from above depending on which one had been previously selected and stored 3 During the two second display pressing the PHASE button will cause the instrument to show the next available choice for phase convention Repeated pressing of the PHASE button will cause the disp...

Page 24: ...ed to the terminal 3 Connect the black lead to the circuit neutral or ground or the point to be used as the reference for the measurement 4 Connect the red test lead to the voltage to be measured The voltage present between the two test leads will be indicated on the front panel display Voltage Ranges For the voltage input the 918B has four different operating ranges Depending on the level of volt...

Page 25: ...olts The 918B Phase Angle Multimeter is capable of rms voltage measurements of between 0 2 and 1000 volts over a frequency range of 45 to 500 hertz Because an rms to dc converter is employed the value displayed will be the true rms value of the voltage measured For measurement of ac voltage the current input is not used CAUTION Do not exceed 25 volts peak with respect to earth ground on the voltag...

Page 26: ...ating modes of the 918B you can freeze the values for all measured parameters by simply pressing the HOLD button You can then switch between all of the different modes and determine their respective values at the time HOLD was pressed Pressing HOLD a second time restores the instrument to normal operation Min Max Readings Recording of minimum and maximum values is suspended for any period of time ...

Page 27: ...n the CT input and the CT output 4 Although not critical for current only indication this will be of particular importance for measurement of parameters involving phase angle such as power factor watts and vars which will be covered in subsequent sections of this manual 5 After the connections are made the display will indicate the ac current flowing in the circuit Current Ranges For the current i...

Page 28: ...nt Power The value of volt amps VA is defined as the product of the rms voltage and the rms current without regard to the phase angle Using the supplied 1000 1 current transformer the 918B is capable of measuring volt amp values of up to 20 000 For instructions on using other current transformers with different ratios refer to section 2 2 1 1 For volt amp measurement with the 918B both the voltage...

Page 29: ...al or ground or the point to be used as the reference for the measurement 7 Connect the red test lead to the voltage to be measured The value displayed will be the product of the rms voltage and the rms current in the circuit Operating Ranges For voltage inputs the 918B has four different operating ranges For current inputs the 918B has three different operating ranges De pending on the levels of ...

Page 30: ...ues is suspended for any period of time that the hold function is active However all previously recorded values are retained Refer to section 3 2 for more information on minimum and maximum value recording 2 7 Measurement of Volt Amps Reactive Reactive Power Volt amps reactive is a parameter that is similar to volt amps but which takes into account the phase angle between the voltage and current V...

Page 31: ...zero Figure 3 illustrates the relationship between voltage lead polarity and current transformer orientation 5 Plug the supplied test probes into the voltage input terminals with the red wire connected to the terminal and the black wire connected to the terminal 6 Connect the black lead to the circuit neutral or ground or the point to be used as the reference for the measurement 7 Connect the red ...

Page 32: ...ay ranges auto ranging operation and range hold operation For the circuit below with a phase angle of zero between voltage and current the 918B will indicate zero degrees phase V I LOAD A C S O U R C E 918A CLAMPON CT Figure 3 Current Transformer Orientation ...

Page 33: ...parameters by simply pressing the HOLD button You can then switch be tween all of the different modes and determine their respective values at the time HOLD was pressed Pressing HOLD a second time restores the instrument to normal operation Min Max Readings Recording of minimum and maximum values is suspended for any period of time that the hold function is active However all previously recorded v...

Page 34: ...to be measured making certain that the jaws close completely Note the and symbols and the arrow indicating the phase relationship between the CT input and the CT output 4 If a current flowing in the same direction as the arrow is exactly in phase with a voltage present on the voltage lead with respect to the voltage lead the watts value displayed on the 918B will be maximum Figure 3 illustrates th...

Page 35: ...If an input value falls below the bottom of the lowest range in auto range mode or below the bottom of a held range the display will begin to flash Measurements can still be made but the input is outside of its specified range and accuracy cannot be guaranteed If the input falls to a value too low to actually permit a measurement the display will indicate Input Low Hold Mode When making measuremen...

Page 36: ...onsidered 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 ...

Page 37: ...the power factor for the circuit and will have a value between 1 0 and 1 0 The display will also indicate LEAD or LAG depending on whether the current is leading or lagging the voltage in phase Operating Ranges For voltage inputs the 918B has four different operating ranges For current inputs the 918B has three different operating ranges Depending on the levels of voltage and current applied to th...

Page 38: ...t the time HOLD was pressed Pressing HOLD a second time restores the instrument to normal operation Min Max Readings Recording of minimum and maximum values is suspended for any period of time that the hold function is active However all previously recorded values are retained Refer to section 3 2 for more information on minimum and maximum value recording 2 10 Measurement of Frequency The 918B is...

Page 39: ...age in a circuit is desired use the following connection procedure 1 Plug the supplied test probes into the voltage input terminals with the red wire connected to the terminal and the black wire connected to the terminal 2 Connect the black lead to the circuit neutral or ground or the point to be used as the reference for the measurement 3 Connect the red test lead to the voltage to be measured Th...

Page 40: ...essed Pressing HOLD a second time restores the instrument to normal operation Min Max Readings Recording of minimum and maximum values is suspended for any period of time that the hold function is active However all previously recorded values are retained Refer to section 3 2 for more information on minimum and maximum value recording 2 11 Measurement of Phase Angle The 918B is capable of measurin...

Page 41: ...ty and current transformer orientation 4 Plug the supplied test probes into the voltage input terminals with the red wire connected to the terminal and the black wire connected to the terminal 5 Connect the black lead to the circuit neutral or ground or the point to be used as the reference for the measurement 6 Connect the red test lead to the voltage to be measured The value of the phase angle b...

Page 42: ...mply pressing the HOLD button You can then switch between all of the different modes and determine their respective values at the time HOLD was pressed Pressing HOLD a second time restores the instrument to normal operation Min Max Readings Recording of minimum and maximum values is suspended for any period of time that the hold function is active However all previously recorded values are retaine...

Page 43: ... 3 1 1 Description of Ranges In order to accommodate a wide variation of values the 918B divides the voltages and currents applied to the inputs into several different ranges The table that follows illustrates the relationship between the value applied to the voltage or current input and the resultant range that is utilized The table also shows which of the eight digits will be used to display a g...

Page 44: ...gh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 000 1 Current Transformer 09113A with 09182A Display Digits Range Low High 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 A 1 0 02A 0 2A X X X X M P 2 0 2A 2A X X X X S 3 2A 20A 10A X X X X 10A X X X X A 1 2A 20A 10A X X X X M 10A X X X X P 2 20A 200A 100A X X X X S 100A X X X X 3 200A 1000 X X X X 1000A X X X X ...

Page 45: ...automatic range selection The operating ranges are selected automatically depending on the levels of voltage and current present on the inputs During the transition from one range to the next the display will momentarily blank indicating that a range change is taking place 3 1 3 Manual Range Selection The 918B has a provision for manually selecting and holding a particular measurement range This c...

Page 46: ...e held It will be impossible to select or hold a range lower than the one being used OVLD Out of Range Indication If a range is held and the upper limit of the range is exceeded by more than approximately 10 the 918B will indicate an out of range condition by displaying the message OVLD When the instrument is operated in one of the modes which utilize both the voltage and the current inputs and a ...

Page 47: ...the minimum or the maximum values you can switch to other modes to determine their respective minimum or maximum values Hold Mode The instrument will continue to record values while displaying minimum or maximum values If a new input level appears which is beyond either of the previous minimum or maximum values it will automatically overwrite the existing stored value and update the display If you...

Page 48: ...he hold mode 3 3 Using Delta Phase for Phase Comparison Measurements The 918B features a Delta Phase function which allows phase comparisons between two signals at the same frequency using a third synchronous signal as a reference This permits measurement of the phase relationship between for example all of the phases in a three phase system A typical application of the Delta Phase function would ...

Page 49: ...rent lagging voltage After selecting the offset value the 918B will indicate zero because the phase angle at the inputs is equal to the offset value All of the 918B measurement functions which involve phase W PF vars and phase will account for the entered offset For example if the offset entered is 30 degrees lag and the instrument is used to measure a circuit in which the current lags the voltage...

Page 50: ...ase mode if it is not already set to the phase mode by pressing PHASE 2 Once the unit is in the phase mode pressing PHASE again will clear the offset value and return the instrument to normal phase mode operation 3 4 Watt Hour Measurement The Model 918B has a provision for measurement of watt hours Watt hour recording begins as soon as the instrument is turned on Procedure 1 To review watt hours a...

Page 51: ...ower mode as may be expected 4 It is necessary to press the W key twice in order to return to the power measurement mode 3 5 Making Voltage to Voltage Phase Angle Measurements Continuous phase angle measurements between two voltage sources can be performed with the 918B using an optional Auxiliary Voltage Adapter Arbiter Systems Model 09184A The adapter is plugged into the current input and a sing...

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Page 53: ... of reading 1 digit maximum Current RMS with Supplied 1000 1 Current Transformer Note These specifications apply to operation using the 20A clamp on CT supplied with and having the same serial number as the 918B Use of other CTs may result in reduced accuracy Ranges automatic or manual selection Range 1 0 02 to 0 2 A Range 2 0 2 to 2 A Range 3 2 to 20 A Accuracy 0 2 of reading 0 05 of full scale t...

Page 54: ... degrees typical 1 0º maximum with supplied clamp on CT and current greater than 0 1 Arms and voltage greater than 1 Vrms Frequency Range 45 to 500 Hz Accuracy 0 01 of reading 1 digit Resolution 0 01 Hz for frequencies less than 100 Hz 0 1 Hz for frequencies of 100 Hz or more ...

Page 55: ...e rms voltage the rms current and the sine of the phase angle between the two Range 0 004 var to 20 kvar with supplied 1000 1 current transformer Accuracy Derived from the individual uncertainties of the voltage current and phase measurements 1 5 of VA max Power Calculated as the product of the rms voltage the rms current and the cosine of the phase angle between the two Range 0 004 W to 20 kW wit...

Page 56: ...o 9999 kWh Accuracy Derived from the individual uncertainties of the voltage current and phase measurements 0 6 of reading at 1 Arms 120 Vrms and 0 typical 4 3 General Specifications Supply Power Battery Internal 9 6V 0 5Ah nickel cadmium rechargeable 25 hours minimum operating time with full charge AC Line Plug in transformer 15V 150mA output 120V Charging 60Hz 5 W input Unit can be operated with...

Page 57: ...cs Outline Dimensions 182mm H x 122mm W x 43 mm D 7 2 x 4 8 x 1 7 Weight Instrument 1 kg 2 2 lbs Shipping 2 3 kg 5 lbs Environmental Temperature Operating range 0 to 50 C Operating typical 25 C Storage range 40 to 75 C Humidity Non condensing ...

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Page 59: ...epay all shipping charges to Arbiter Systems and Arbiter Systems shall pay shipping charges and return the product to Buyer However Buyer shall pay all shipping charges duties and taxes for products returned to Buyer in a country other than the United States of America THE WARRANTY SET FORTH HEREIN CONSTITUTES THE ONLY WARRANTY OBLIGATIONS OF ARBITER SYSTEMS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED STATUTORY BY OPERA...

Page 60: ...EVELOP PLEASE PROCEED AS FOLLOWS 1 Notify Arbiter Systems Inc specifying the instrument model number and serial number and giving full details of the difficulty Service data or instrument return authorization will be provided upon receipt of this information 2 If instrument return is authorized forward prepaid to the manufacturer If the instrument is not covered by this warranty an estimate will b...

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