Some ammeters have internal shunts. The ones used in aircraft usually use external shunts though. One usual indication of a meter with an internal shunt is that it will have big (maybe 1/4") terminals on it. The external shunt ones usually have something like #8 screw terminals on them. If it is an internal shunt meter I would recommend replacing it with an external shunt one unless you like big wires carrying a lot of amps behind your panel.
If you do need to get a shunt you will need the correct one for your meter. Who makes the meter? Start with them. If it is a Westach you can find wiring information on their web site. You can also buy a nice new one for $90 or a dual volt/amp meter for $122 from Spruce. Brian Kraut Engineering Alternatives, Inc. www.engalt.com -----Original Message----- From: krnet-boun...@mylist.net [mailto:krnet-boun...@mylist.net]On Behalf Of pe...@heroic.co.uk Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 8:44 AM To: kr...@mylist.net Subject: Re: KR> SHUNTS > If I remember this correctly, there needs to be a shunt in the > electrical > system either internal in the ammeter or between the master switch and > ammeter. See, this is where I'm rusty and need help with wiring. My > ammeter doesn't have an internal shunt, so I need an external > one-----right? And to make sure, it goes where? > Mike Hi A shunt goes in PARALLEL with your ammeter, imagine your ammeter as a narrow pipe, not much can flow thru it, the shunt is a larger pipe, so most the flow is thru the shunt, and a small amount of current flows thru the ammeter. The proportion of flow is fixed by the size of the shun. So if you have a multi range ammeter, you may have several different size shunts, and a switch to choose which one to put in parallel. An ammeter shunt has to be the one specified for that particular ammeter, if you use someone else's shunt, it will read inaccurately over the whole current range. Pete _______________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at http://www.maddyhome.com/krsrch/index.jsp to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html
