Automation Solutions microAmper Manual

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Amper,

Amper

milli

Amper

micro

Automation

Solutions

Amper Manual Version 2.01

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Summary of Contents for Automation Solutions microAmper

Page 1 Amper, Amper milli & Amper micro Automation Solutions Amper Manual Version 2.01 Page 1 of 45...
Page 2: Terms And Conditions Of Sale
Automation Solutions LLC Terms and Conditions of Sale Customer and Automation Solutions LLC ("AS LLC") agree that the purchase and sales of AS LLC hardware and software products ("the Products") are made under these terms and conditions, and that AS LLC SHALL NOT BE BOUND BY CUSTOMER'S ADDITIONAL OR DIFFERENT TERMS.
Page 3 SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL IMPLANTS OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT INJURY TO A HUMAN. (2) IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS CAN BE IMPAIRED BY ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FLUCTUATIONS IN ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY, COMPUTER HARDWARE MALFUNCTIONS, COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF COMPILERS AND DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP AN APPLICATION, INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE...
Page 4: General Safety Instructions
GENERAL SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Warnings in this manual appear in either of two ways: Danger warnings – The danger warning symbol is an exclamation mark enclosed in a triangle which precedes letters spelling the word “DANGER”. The Danger warning symbol is used to indicate situations, locations and conditions that can cause serious injury or death: DANGER Caution Warnings - The caution warning symbol is an exclamation mark enclosed in a...
Page 5: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents Terms and conditions of sale. Page 2 General Safety Instructions Page 4 Manual Revisions Page 6 Introduction. Page 7 Specifications Page 10 Operation – Unpacking and Inspection Page 11 Operation – Configuration and Setup Page 13 Operation – Connecting the Amper to Electrical Signals Page 17 Operation –...
Page 6: Manual Revisions
Manual Revisions 0.78 Oct 2007 Release 0.79 Dec 2007 Calibration explanation, add use of clamp on CT’s, load resistor examples corrected. Minor spec changes. 1.00 Dec 2007 ChartLogger re-calibration shown. 2.00 May 2008 Support for hysteresis and pulse counting capability. 2.01 Jun 2008 Cosmetic corrections.
Page 7: Introduction
Amper is typically connected in series with a standard 5A current transformer. The milliAmper is typically connected in series in a 4-20mA current loop. The microAmper, along with a resistor, may measure directly applied Voltages or currents and with a non-contact clamp on current probe it may log currents to thousands of Amps.
Page 8 Fast data logging. The user may set the data acquisition rate, from 20 readings per second to about one per hour; in 50mS increments. Adjustable hysteresis lets the logger accurately catch high speed impulses without creating giant files. Lots of data logging. The amount of data collected using the Amper may be huge. At the fastest data acquisition rate over 1.7 million readings are taken every day.
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Page 10: Specifications
Depends on acquire rate; typically 3-8 years Input Signal Range 0 - 6 Amp nominal, 0 – 30 Amp Surge (Amper) 0 - 100mA (milliAmper) 0 – 1.5V (microAmper) Input Signal Load 0.05 Ohm (Amper) 15 Ohm (milliAmper) 10.0 KOhm (microAmper)
Page 11: Operation - Unpacking And Inspection
5. 2 Pin signal plug 6. Battery (this may already be installed in the Amper) The microAmper may also be supplied with a resistor kit and BNC adapter. If any are missing please contact the vendor for assistance. Amper Manual Version 2.01...
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Page 13: Operation - Configuration And Setup
Configuration and Setup The Amper may need configuring before initial operation, to set suitable parameters such as the site name, sample rate and the local time and date. The AmperSetup program provides a quick and easy way to create these settings and write them to the card, then when the card is inserted into the Amper all settings are automatically updated.
Page 14 The large control buttons initially appear grey such as the date and time in the screen above; clicking on them will change color to indicate that they are operational. One or more may be selected to create the required settings. Set Sample Rate allows changing the sample rate for collected data.
Page 15 Set Time Date. This will update the internal clock and calendar in the Amper. The time and data will be taken from the PC’s clock, and may be seen in the window below the button. Set Store Rate. For most applications this is never used. The Amper will only write to the card when it needs to due to its internal data buffers being full.
Page 16 such as D: or E: corresponds to the current card location, and that the card is not write protected. The configuration files will always need to be in the top or root directory of the card. Amper Manual Version 2.01 Page 16 of 45...
Page 17: Operation - Connecting The Amper To Electrical Signals
Connecting the Amper to Electrical Signals DANGER Only qualified persons may make electrical connections to the Amper datalogger. Ensure all local safety codes and procedures are followed. First ensure any live circuits are disengaged and suitable lockout / tag out procedures are in place.
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Page 19 Amper AC and/or DC current measurement without a CT. DANGER The Amper is not intended for direct connection to high voltage potentials. The electrical isolation between the 2 pin current sensing input and the grounded case is rated at 40 Volts AC or less. Do not connect the input connection directly to any Voltage exceeding 40 Volts with respect to ground.
Page 20 milliAmper AC and/or DC 0-20mA and similar current measurements. DANGER The milliAmper is not intended for direct connection to high voltage potentials. The electrical isolation between the 2 pin current sensing input and the grounded case is rated at 40 Volts AC or less. Do not connect the input connection directly to any Voltage exceeding 40 Volts with respect to ground.
Page 21 First ensure any live circuits are disengaged and suitable lockout / tag out procedures are in place. There is just a single 2 pin connector on the front of the microAmper, one pin is connected to the low Voltage side of the signal to be measured. The other pin is connected to one side of the user supplied Voltage dropping resistor.
Page 22 * supplied with the microAmper Commonly available resistors have 1% accuracy; however they will generally remain very stable over their lifetime and temperature changes. Once the microAmper calibration has been adjusted for the required input extremely accurate measurements may be taken over extended time periods.
Page 23 Using the Amper Setup program calibration settings could be entered as follows: an offset of zero and a span of 10.26 The microAmper may then be used be used to measure up to 50 V and readings displayed in the ChartLogger program will be accurate to within the resistor tolerance of 1%.
Page 24 Virtually all of them may be used with the microAmper, but depending on the model they may need a suitable burden resistor and the calibration settings may need adjusting. There are two basic types, the first outputs a current (typically 1mA per amp sensed) across a burden load resistor (which is often inside a multi-meter set to measure current).
Page 25 The voltage output type probes typically have a BNC connector rather than two banana plugs. A BNC to pigtail adapter is available to connect to the microAmper.
Page 26 example the Fluke i3000S clamp will output 3.0 Volts rms at a 3000 Amp load which would be outside of the microAmpers 1.5 Volt measurement range. If clamps such as this were to be used a resistor in series with the input signal would allow accurate operation at full range. Again, when entering scale values the calibration factor is calculated based on a 300mV input signal, so the span would be adjusted accordingly (and can set rescaled later in the ChartLogger program).
Page 27: Operation - Starting Data Logging
Starting Data Logging At this point any settings that needed to be changed on the Amper have been written to the SD card and the signal of interest is connected to the 2 pin connector. If the battery is not in the Amper open the battery holder and insert the battery;...
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Page 29: Operation - Retrieving Data And Using The Chartlogger Program
Using the ChartLogger Program The ChartLogger program provides a quick and easy way to display, manipulate and print data captured with the Amper. The program itself is provided on the SD card that comes with the Amper. To install the ChartLogger program insert the card in the PC (use the supplied SD/MMC to USB converter if the PC does not have an SD/MMC slot).
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Page 31 After they have been imported the file window will be similar to below. ChartLogger imported the data files to its own logfiles directory, and at the same time it changed the filename to include the year. If present it will also import the scale and offset files to a directory called cnffiles.
Page 32 This example shows a few minutes test over two days of a motor and control relay that were generating electrical interference. Click anywhere on the graph to move the cursor, statistics will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. The graph may be zoomed in / out and scrolled using the buttons at the top, also the small arrows at the axis provide detailed zoom and pan control.
Page 33 Any notes entered will be stored in the ChartLogger directory and will automatically be recalled if this data is reloaded. The example shows the start up current surge for a motor that normally draws about 7 Amps; in locked rotor condition it draws nearly 50 Amps, the drops in current during the locked rotor test are caused by a failing control relay that supplies power to the motor.
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Page 35: Operation - Scaling And Calibrating With Chartlogger
Scaling and Calibrating With ChartLogger As explained earlier ChartLogger may use calibration constants that were generated with the Amper Setup program. Often a scaling factor may not be known, for example an analog transducers own span & offset adjustments may have been changed to match a tank level that contained a liquid with unknown density, or a CT ratio may not be marked.
Page 36 Note New scale Click on the ‘Calculate New Scale and Offset’ button then click OK. The graph will be reloaded using the new calibration values. The next time this data is loaded it will use the latest calibration coefficients. It should be noted that the data stored on the card and PC always remain in raw units for maximum accuracy, after calibration just the calibration coefficients change.
Page 37: Advanced Features - Pulse Counting
(4-20mA nominal input). 820 would set the threshold at 4mA, 2048 at 10mA microAmper with 332K resistor in series (50 Volt full scale input). 1000 = 2.5V threshold, 2000 = 5V threshold, 2400 = 6V threshold, 4800 = 12V threshold.
Page 38 To change back to regular analog logging rename or delete one or both of the bucket.txt and pulse.txt files on the card, or use a card that does not have these files. The pulse configuration files, bucket.txt, pulse.txt and hyster.txt will not be deleted by the Amper so by looking at the card the user may determine what mode the Amper is in.
Page 39: Advanced Features - File Size Reduction Using Hysteresis
Data Reduction - Hysteresis With its fast sampling rate the Amper is capable of accumulating huge amounts of data, which can result in very large files. To help reduce data file sizes a ‘hysteresis’ value may be entered, which can drastically reduce the data file sizes but still allows samples of interest to be captured.
Page 40 Note that when a change occurs the Amper also stores the previous ‘identical’ value so that graph charting programs such as ChartLogger will correctly display a straight horizontal line between the points rather than a slope; the horizontal line would have contained identical data points if hysteresis was not enabled.
Page 41: Reference - File Formats And Details Used By The Amper
File Formats and Contents. Configuration Files: Most users will never need to be aware of the configuration files and contents, since most configurations may be set using the Amper setup program and typically would only be done once; however they are explained here for users who may need the information. If these plain text configuration files exist the Amper will read them when a card is inserted.
Page 42 bucket.txt This contains the bucket size in seconds form 60 to 3600 and is only used when the device is in pulse counting mode. See the section on pulse counting for further details. hyster.txt This contains the hysteresis value, from 1 to 20475. See the section on hysteresis for further details Calibration Files: The following files may also be present on the card, but are not used, deleted or even read by...
Page 43 100mA for the milliAmper (which is typically operated up to 20mA), and 1.5 Volts for the microAmper. The actual calibration constant is equal to (users entered span / 4095) for the milliAmper and microAmper; it is equal to (users entered span / 3425) for the Amper.
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Page 45: Reference - Card And Battery Notes
Card & Battery Notes. Cards. Memory cards have gone through a remarkable change in the last few years; prices have dropped to a fraction of what they used to be and capacities have skyrocketed. This plus recent advances in electronic components have made the Amper possible. However there are some points to note regarding the cards, as they do have some characteristics that can affect the device operation especially when used at the fastest acquisition rates.

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