Moving Iron Instruments – Voltmeter and
Ammeter
Construction and basic principle operation of moving-iron
instruments
Moving-iron instruments are generally used to measure
alternating voltages and currents. In moving-iron
instruments the movable system consists of one or more
pieces of specially-shaped soft iron, which are so pivoted as
to be acted upon by the magnetic field produced by the
current in coil.
There are two general types of moving-iron instruments
namely:
1. Repulsion (or double iron) type
2. Attraction (or single-iron) type
The brief description of different components of
a moving-iron instrument is given below:
• Moving element: a small piece of soft iron in the form of
a vane or rod.
• Coil: to produce the magnetic field due to current
flowing through it and also to magnetize the iron pieces.
• In repulsion type, a fixed vane or rod is also used and
magnetized with the same polarity.
• Control torque is provided by spring or weight (gravity).
• Damping torque is normally pneumatic, the damping
device consisting of an air chamber and a moving vane
attached to the instrument spindle.
• Deflecting torque produces a movement on an
aluminum pointer over a graduated scale.
Working:
The deflecting torque in any moving-iron instrument is due
to forces on a small piece of magnetically ‘soft’ iron that is
magnetized by a coil carrying the operating current. In
repulsion type moving–iron instrument consists of two
cylindrical soft iron vanes mounted within a fixed current-
carrying coil. One iron vane is held fixed to the coil frame
and other is free to rotate, carrying with it the pointer shaft.
Two irons lie in the magnetic field produced by the coil that
consists of only few turns if the instrument is an ammeter
or of many turns if the instrument is a voltmeter.
Working:
Current in the coil induces both vanes to become
magnetized and repulsion between the similarly
magnetized vanes produces a proportional rotation. The
deflecting torque is proportional to the square of the
current in the coil, making the instrument reading is a true
‘RMS’ quantity Rotation is opposed by a hairspring that
produces the restoring torque. Only the fixed coil carries
load current, and it is constructed so as to withstand high
transient current.
Moving iron instruments having scales that are nonlinear
and somewhat crowded in the lower range of calibration
Moving iron Instruments
Advantages and Disadvantages of Moving Iron Instruments:
Advantages:
• These are instruments are cheap, robust and simple in
construction.
• They can be used on both A.C. and D.C.
• Have high operating torques.
• These instruments are reasonably accurate.
Disadvantages:
• The scale of these instruments is not uniform
• Errors are introduced due to change in frequency in case of
a.c. measurements (because reactance is increased by
increase of frequency).
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Application:
Measurement of Electric Voltage and Current
• Moving iron instruments are used as Voltmeter and
Ammeter only.
• Both can work on AC as well as on DC.
Ammeter:
• Instrument used to measure current in the circuit.
• Always connected in series with the circuit and carries
the current to be measured.
• This current flowing through the coil produces the
desired deflecting torque.
• It should have low resistance as it is to be connected in
series.
Application:
Voltmeter
• Instrument used to measure voltage between two points
in a circuit.
• Always connected in parallel.
• Current flowing through the operating coil of the meter
produces deflecting torque.
• It should have high resistance. Thus a high resistance of
order of kilo ohms is connected in series with the coil of
the instrument
Advantages:
• The instruments are suitable for use in AC and DC
circuits.
• The instruments are robust, owing to the simple
construction of the moving parts.
• The stationary parts of the instruments are also simple.
• Instrument is low cost compared to moving coil
instrument.
• Torque/weight ratio is high, thus less frictional error.
