Chapter III: Part 3

2. _Small appliance circuits_--These are not used for lights, but instead they supply convenience outlets in the kitchen, laundry, and dining areas where portable appliances are most used.

Every home should have at least two small-appliance circuits.

3. _Individual or special-purpose circuits_--One of these is needed for each: electric range, dishwasher, water heater, freezer, automatic washer, clothes dryer, air conditioner, pump, and house heating equipment.

+----------+------+------+------+------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| Actual | | | | | |
| Size | | | | | |
+----------+------+------+------+------+-------+
| Gauge | | | | | |
| Size | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 |
+----------+------+------+------+------+-------+
| Fuse or | | | | | |
| Breaker | 15 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 55 |
+----------+------+------+------+------+-------+
|Max. Watts| | | | | |
|at 115 V. | 1725 | 2300 | 3450 | 4600 | 6325 |
+----------+------+------+------+------+-------+
|Max. Watts| | | | | |
|at 230 V. | 3450 | 4600 | 6900 | 9200 | 12750 |
+----------+------+------+------+------+-------+

Each Circuit Big Enough

The capacity of each circuit is limited by the size of its wires. The chart above shows you the actual sizes of wires commonly used in permanent home wiring, and what each will carry. Notice that each size is given a number, and the smaller the number, the bigger the wire.

Also notice that a given size of wire will carry twice as many watts at 230 volts as it will at 115 volts. (Watts are figured by multiplying amps times volts.)

General purpose circuits usually are either Number 14 or Number 12 wire, at 115 volts. What is the capacity of each, in watts? (Number 12 wire is recommended for all new general purpose circuits.)

Small appliance circuits are required to be at least Number 12 wire.

Individual circuits are always sized according to the appliance they serve. Find the size wire that should be used for a 10, 000-watt, 230-volt range; a 1500-watt, 115-volt dishwasher; a 4500-watt, 230-volt clothes dryer. ________ ________ ________

Only One Fuse Size Right

A fuse in an electrical circuit is like an alert traffic policeman--stopping everything if there's danger. A circuit breaker serves the same purpose, and the right size is installed when the wiring is done.

A policeman uses his brain to tell him when to blow his whistle, but a fuse depends on the size of the little fusible (meltable) metal link that you see under the glass.

If too great an electrical load is added to a circuit, this link will melt and prevent a dangerous overload. If you put in a fuse with too heavy a link, it will not melt in time, and the wiring and equipment may be damaged.

Therefore the right size of fuse is very important, and is something that you should check in your own home.

See the chart above for the right fuse for each size wire.

Make a Circuit Chart

At one or more places in your home there is a box or panel containing the fuses or breakers for the various circuits. Attached to the inside of the door of each such panel should be a chart something like this:

+-----+---------------------+-----------+
| No. | Description | Fuse size |
+-----+---------------------+-----------+
| 1 | Range | 40 |
+-----+---------------------+-----------+
| 2 | Kitchen Outlets | 20 |
+-----+---------------------+-----------+
| 3 | Dining Room Outlets | 20 |
+-----+---------------------+-----------+
| 4 | Living Room Outlets | 15 |
+-----+---------------------+-----------+
| | | |
+-----+---------------------+-----------+
| | | |
+-----+---------------------+-----------+

Notice that in our chart we have made columns for a description of what each circuit serves, its number or position in the panel, and the proper size fuse for it.

Because most such charts leave out this last very important bit of information, you should make a complete new chart, like the one shown. Provide as many lines as there are fuse positions. Paste or tape it to the inside of the panel door.

Then, ask permission of your parents to disconnect all the circuits by unscrewing the fuses or flipping the circuit breakers. _Do not touch anything but the fuse rim._ Then reconnect them, one at a time, to find out what each circuit serves. Turn on as many lights as you can, to help you in your detective work. Use a test lamp at those outlets that do not have a light connected to them. Write two or three words describing each circuit on the proper line on your chart.

On a separate sheet, keep track of the appliances and lights that are on each circuit, and add up the watts. (If the name-plate of any appliance gives "amperes", "amps", or "A" instead of watts, just remember that amps times volts equals watts.) This will tell you if any of them are overloaded. Show this sheet to your parents.

Check the Wire Sizes

_Disconnect the main switch_, and determine the size of the wires in each circuit. Don't include the insulation in your measurement.

_BE CAREFUL!

Even though you have disconnected the main switch, the wires coming into it are still "live". So, do not touch any wires. Instead hold the wire size chart near them so that you can tell which gauge each one is._

Write in the proper size fuse for each circuit on your chart.

Replace Any Wrong-Size Fuses

Do the fuse sizes you have written on your chart agree with the ones that are in place in the panel?

Get the right size fuses and replace any that are wrong. Make sure that you have a reserve supply of the right sizes, and that they are handy for future use.

Talk it Over With Your Parents

Do you think that your home has enough of the proper size circuits? If not, talk it over with your parents. They may want to ask an electrician to go over the wiring and make the necessary changes.

What Did You Learn?

(Underline the right answer.)

1. A (television set, radio) is very sensitive to changes in voltage.

2. Dimming lights mean (static in the wires, an electrical overload).

3. Wires that become warm from overload make it (more expensive, cheaper) to operate the equipment.

4. A home of 2,000 sq. ft. should have at least (three, four) general purpose circuits.

5. One solution to low voltage symptoms is (heavier fuses, more circuits).

6. Full capacity for a Number 14 wire circuit at 115 volts is (1725 watts, 3000 watts).

7. A room air conditioner should be on (a general purpose, an individual) circuit.

8. The purpose of a fuse is to (let you disconnect the circuit, automatically prevent overloading the circuit).

9. The right size fuse is determined by (wire size, the store where you buy it).

10. A circuit chart should give (circuit description and fuse size, the maker's name).

Demonstrations You Can Give

Ask your leader to help you plan a demonstration. You can show how lights dim when too many other appliances are connected, how a fuse protects against overloading, and the danger of using too large a fuse.

For More Information

Ask your Extension agent, power supplier, or electrician for additional help.

LESSON NO. B-15

Credit Points 4

YOU CAN MEASURE ELECTRICITY

Instruments that can detect or measure the flow of electricity have helped to make possible the wonders of electricity as we know them today.

Scientists in laboratories must have measuring devices for experiments leading to new uses of electricity. Power suppliers must have instruments that tell what the generating equipment is doing and to measure the amount of electricity being sold to users. Factories need instruments that keep tab on electrical equipment to make sure electricity is being used efficiently.

In fact, almost anywhere you find electric power at work you'll find electrical instruments--even in your home. The one you know best measures the amount of electricity used. Another, in the family car, shows whether the generator is charging the battery or if the battery is discharging.

What to Do

1. Make a simple kind of direct-current meter that will show you that there's a magnetic field around a wire carrying an electric current and that will detect a very tiny current.

2. Make a more refined D.C. instrument (galvanoscope) and measure the voltage of different sizes of dry batteries, and show how an electric current can be induced.

Tools and Materials You'll Need:

Pair of pliers, knife, small hammer
30 feet of No. 24 bell or magnet wire
Compass
Two coins--a penny and a dime
Fine sandpaper
Blotting paper
Plastic or cellophane tape
Wooden blocks (See Figure 4)
Glue
2 small nails
One #905 dry cell, a penlight battery, and
two regular flashlight batteries
Table salt
Drinking glass
2 paper clips
Two machine bolts

How They Work

Like many electrical things, most electrical instruments depend on the action of magnetism created by an electric current. There is a magnetic _field_ or lines of force around any wire carrying an electric current. If this field is controlled and made to react on a sensitive device, like an easily moved pointer, we have an electrical instrument.

Detect a Magnetic Field

First, let's prove that there is a magnetic field around any wire carrying an electric current. Take a piece of wire about two feet long and scrape off about an inch of insulation from each end. Connect one end to a battery terminal. Make a loop of wire that crosses the face of your compass, north to south. Now touch the other end of the wire to the other battery terminal.

(DO NOT attempt to substitute alternating current, as from a model railroad transformer because its alternating current will cause the compass needle to swing rapidly from one side to the other.)

Put your right hand beneath the wire so that your fingers point the way the needle deflects, and your thumb will point in the direction that the current is flowing.]

What happens? Your compass needle should move to one side because it is very sensitive to magnetic influences. This proved that the wire created a magnetic field or lines of force when we passed electricity through it. (Figure 1)

Detect a Tiny Current

How sensitive is your simple electric meter? Take about five feet of wire and wrap it around your compass as in Figure 2, keeping the turns bunched together as much as you can. Leave about six inches at both ends of the wire extended for leads. Scrape the insulation off the last inch of both. Rotate the coil and compass until the needle and coil are parallel, both pointing north and south.

Take a copper penny and a dime, and clean off any corrosion or film on the coin faces with a bit of fine sandpaper. Now take a piece of blotting paper about the size of the penny and dip it into strong salt water. Place the damp blotting paper between the penny and the dime. Place one of your compass coil leads against the dime, and the other against the penny as shown in Figure 3. Be sure you have good metal-to-metal contact between the wires and the coins.

At the instant that you squeeze the leads against the coins, watch what is happening to the compass needle. It should move for an instant from the north position each time you press the leads against the two coins.

Obviously, the little coin battery you have just made produces a very weak electrical current. Even so, your instrument should be able to detect it.

Make a Simple Galvanoscope

Now let's make a meter that is a little more practical to use. Broadly speaking, a galvanoscope is an instrument that detects the presence of electric currents. It sounds complicated but it is really quite simple. It is named in honor of an Italian professor named Galvani who made important early experiments with electricity.

A refinement of the galvanoscope is today's galvanometer. Other related instruments are the voltmeter and ammeter. These are very important instruments to the electrical engineer.

Using a glass or anything three to four inches in diameter, wind about 20 turns of wire in a "bunched" coil as in Figure 4. Wrap the coil at several points with cellophane or plastic tape to keep it from unwinding.

Make a wood base for your coil as shown in Figure 4. The compass support blocks can be thin wood slats. Do not attach them with steel nails or tacks. Use glue instead. Hold the coil in the slot between the blocks with glue or melted wax or use copper staples. Place the compass on the supports and rotate the base so that the compass needle and coil are parallel, pointing north and south.

Measure the Voltage of Batteries

Do you know what difference the size of dry cell battery makes in the voltage it supplies? Your meter can tell you.

To test the voltage of batteries we must be able to control our galvanoscope. To do this, connect a glass of strong salt water in series with the battery as shown in Figure 5. Make sure the wire ends immersed in the salt water are scraped free of enamel.

With one of the batteries connected, move the wires in the salt water first closer, then farther apart (keeping them parallel to each other) while watching your compass needle. When the needle stays 15 to 20 degrees off north, lock the wires in the salt solution in place with paper clips.

Now disconnect the battery you have been using and connect a smaller battery. If both batteries are fresh, the compass needle should return to almost the same spot. This proves that both batteries regardless of size put out the very same voltage. The larger ones, however, are designed to last longer.

Measure the Difference between Series and Parallel

Using the salt solution as in the previous experiment, connect two flashlight batteries in series as shown in Figure 6. The compass needle should move about twice as far as it did with one battery connected. This shows that when you connect batteries this way you double their voltage.

Now place your batteries side by side and connect the two top terminals and the two bases as shown in Figure 7. The compass needle should move only as much as it did for one battery. This is called a parallel connection. You can see that this arrangement does not double the voltage, even though you used two batteries.

While you have this hookup, try reversing the position of the leads connected to your batteries. Notice that reversing the direction of current flow in the coil causes the compass needle to swing in the opposite direction.

Test for Induced Current

Make a simple coil by winding about 50 turns of wire around a machine bolt core. The bolt should be 1/4 to 1/2" in diameter and about two inches long. Connect the coil to your galvanoscope as shown in Figure 8. Pass the coil back and forth close to the end of a permanent magnet.

Notice a slight deflection of the compass needle with each pass. You have shown that electricity can be induced in a wire coil by moving it through a magnetic field. Currents generated in this way are called induced currents.

Now make another coil and core just like the first one and arrange them and a connection as shown in Figure 9. If you make and break the current to the second coil, you will build up and collapse a magnetic field around the first coil and again induce a current in it. You will see the compass needle swing back and forth again.

These last two experiments give you a crude idea of how an electric generator works, producing electric current by induction as a coil-wound rotor revolves within a magnetic field.

What Did You Learn?

What does every current-carrying wire have around it? How does this help us to measure electricity? How sensitive are electrical instruments? What is the difference in voltage between (a) a large and a small dry cell? (b) batteries connected in series and in parallel? (c) your original connection and the reverse of it? What similarity does the test for induced current show between movement through a magnetic field and the making and breaking of a direct current?

Demonstrations You Can Give

Show others how your galvanoscope can detect: whether a battery is producing current, which way the current is flowing, and whether a current is strong or weak. Demonstrate how a current can be generated using magnetism.

For More Information

Ask your power supplier representative to show you some of the instruments used by his organization, and to give you a brief explanation of how they work. Ask him or an electrician to give you a demonstration of a split-core ammeter.