What do a shunt do , anyway ?
I was looking at a meter and it said shunt required , Why ?
Forum Discussion
Most precision Manganin shunts are either 50 or 100 MILLIVOLTS
From one side to the other a decent handheld digital multimeter will work as a gauge to measure voltage drop this amperage passing across the shunt.
Lets do A REAL EASY EXAMPLE
A 100 amp gauge rated for 100mv shunt
A 100 MILLIVOLT shunt.
Many handheld meters have a particular setting that has a limit of 200 MILLIvolts let's start out by switching the dial to millivolts, 200
Pass some stable amps across the shunt like headlights or heater blower.
Polarity matters so if you get the meter red and black mixed up there will be a - sign before the numbers. Got it?
Let's use headlights. Touch the leads across the shunt.
The meter reads 13 millivolts.
This calculation is simple because it's a 100 amp meter hooked to a 100 millivolt shunt.
13 millivolts here translates to THIRTEEN AMPS.
Muse on that and then gently include kickers like the 75 millivolt shunt you have. A bit confusing because a 100 amp meter rated for 75 millivolts needs a 75 millivolt drop of voltage across the shunt to equal 100 amps. Let's stop there.
From one side to the other a decent handheld digital multimeter will work as a gauge to measure voltage drop this amperage passing across the shunt.
Lets do A REAL EASY EXAMPLE
A 100 amp gauge rated for 100mv shunt
A 100 MILLIVOLT shunt.
Many handheld meters have a particular setting that has a limit of 200 MILLIvolts let's start out by switching the dial to millivolts, 200
Pass some stable amps across the shunt like headlights or heater blower.
Polarity matters so if you get the meter red and black mixed up there will be a - sign before the numbers. Got it?
Let's use headlights. Touch the leads across the shunt.
The meter reads 13 millivolts.
This calculation is simple because it's a 100 amp meter hooked to a 100 millivolt shunt.
13 millivolts here translates to THIRTEEN AMPS.
Muse on that and then gently include kickers like the 75 millivolt shunt you have. A bit confusing because a 100 amp meter rated for 75 millivolts needs a 75 millivolt drop of voltage across the shunt to equal 100 amps. Let's stop there.
