This issue was a side-bar in my (Mep 002A Battery Indicator post 9/26/2011) I hope I am following the sites mores in making it a new post.
I contacted Delks and they have a “new transducer ” (pulled from a new unissued replacement panel) . Mine is an A&M, and the transducer Delks has on hand are Technology Research Corporation. They stated that it should work with my meter….They think.
Are the Frequency Transducers a “Mil Spec item” like a M16 bolt and interchangeable between manufactures? The cost is $55.00 for the transducer, or $110.00 for transducer & gauge. I hate to waste the money and buy both (That’s almost 10% of my mep’s acquisition cost)
Are they straight shoots at Delks? I would hate to blow up a otherwise fine working genste, or waste time and money.
Thanks all for your advice,
Last edited by RWG421; 10-03-2011 at 17:54.
Reason: Format issues
There are at least two versions, not compatible between them. The meter movement is different (different full scale current), so you should ask the seller to confirm what the meter movement full scale current is, and if that matches then it should work OK. Keep in mind that it is likely the different versions were widely separated in years (I think one I have is from the 60s, and the other from the 80s, so about 20 years) however, both look very similar.
__________________
My name is Peter (AKA NEHOG), and I'm never going to grow up.
(And I can't read *p o s t s* easily because of the lack of contrast between the letters and the background!)
As an alternative, you could look around for a reed resonant meter, and eliminate the transducer. These were quite popular on the older generators, and quite frankly, IMHO more reliable. I have purchased 3 of them from that online auction house in the past few months.
My frequency meter is corroded to death. I just bought a digital multimeter with frequency measurement capacity and use that. As a bonus, it is true RMS, meaning proper measurement of alternating current.
If your transducer is working, it would be best to keep it. Have you tried to plug the oil leak?
The Following User Says Thank You to Keith_J For This Useful Post:
If you are looking for a cheap way to measure frequency, look at the basic Kill-A-Watt, they do surprisingly well with generators (many lower end multimeters will give crazy false frequency readings due to distorted wave form and noise from generators).
It's on my list for tomorrow. I'm just concerned that the fluid loss that has already occur will cause the unit to fail when I need it most.
I was hopping to have a cost affective back up.
Is the fluid to disperse heat from the voltage conversion?
Not as much as it to prevent water intrusion. From the looks of your unit, it has never gone swimming. If you keep it out of the weather, you should be fine.
There isn't any real heat generated in the transducers. Only a few microamperes. I measured between 20 and 554 microamperes for an equivalent of 56 and 65 Hz output. Meaning it is 290 microamperes for 60 Hz. At a bit over 2 volts, it is 0.30 milliwatts of power. Which even if the transducer were 1% efficient, would still be a tiny bit of thermal energy.
Last edited by Keith_J; 10-03-2011 at 22:49.
Reason: re-measured circuit
I took my transducer out to look at the potting. Mine is a Technology Research Corporation unit in a spot welded case, sealed with silicone caulk and then potted in silicone rubber. I wouldn't worry a bit about the leaking oil causing failure.
Same part number so they should be interchangeable. I took it out to make measurements using utility power for constant 60 Hz. loading it through a variable resistor from 580 to 970 ohms to measure the voltage over the resistor. At 580 ohms, voltage is 44.3 mV. At 777 ohms, voltage is 60 mV. At 974 ohms, voltage is 75.3 mV. What does this mean? Ohm's Law where voltage equals the product of resistance and current means 60 Hz input yields an output of 77.3 microamperes.
So, if you have a sensitive multimeter, a 10-20 turn 1k Ohm variable resistor and time, you too can check your transducer to see if they are indeed interchangeable!
I'm using this to rebuild the frequency meter, using a surplus movement with the original frequency meter's scale and case. Why? Because I like the challenge.
Frequency Transducer compatibility
