C3-BASIC ELECTRICAL WORKSHOP PRACTICE

EVALUATION OF COMPETENCE

Function: Marine Engineering Practice at Operational Level

COMPETENCY 3

BASIC ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENTATION KNOWLEDGE

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Competency No. 3 : Use of Hand Tools, Electrical and Electronic Measuring and Test
Equipment for Fault Finding, Maintenance and Repair.
Course Covered 3.1 : Use of Electrical Measuring and Testing Equipments.

1. Learn to identify & use

Voltmeter- ammeter- different types of meggers- multimeter- frequency meter,
ohmmeter, watt hour meter, synchroscope.
Tong tester, Hydrometer, Pliers, Screw driver, Cutters, Insulation remover

Ans: Explained in practical sessions

Voltmeter and Ammeter

These devices measure the voltage and current respectively in a circuit. The basic component
of both is the moving coil galvanometer which produces a deflection proportional to the
electric current through it.

Ammeter

An ammeter is connected in series with the circuit element whose current is to be measured,
so that there is only a negligible change in the circuit resistance and hence circuit current.

Let the galvanometer resistance be G and the current for full-scale deflection be Ig. To
measure larger currents, a suitable low resistance S (called shunt) is connected in parallel
with the galvanometer.
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Competency No. 3 : Use of Hand Tools, Electrical and Electronic Measuring and Test
Equipment for Fault Finding, Maintenance and Repair.
Course Covered 3.2 : Use Of Electronic Instrument, Measuring Equipment and
Interpretation Of Results Obtained.

Voltmeters:

1. Plug the probes into the meter. Red goes to the positive (+) and black to the
negative (-).
2. Turn the selector dial or switch to the type of measurement you want. To measure
direct current - a battery, for example - use DCV. To measure alternating current,
such as a wall outlet, use ACV.
3. Choose the range setting. The dial may have options from 5 to 1000 on the DCV
side and 10 to 1000 on the ACV side. The setting should be the top end of the
voltage you are reading. Not all voltmeters have this setting.
4. Turn the meter on.
5. Hold the probes by the insulated handles and touch the red probe to the positive
side of a DC circuit or either side of an AC circuit. Touch the other side with the
black probe.
6. Read the digital display or analog dial.
Tips & Warnings

 Attach alligator clips to the probes before you turn on the meter. These are useful for
hands-free operation and keep fingers out of dangerous areas.
 A battery is good if the reading is within 20 percent of the rating on the battery or
appliance. In other words, a reading of 7.2 or higher means a 9-volt battery is acceptable.
 Don't use a meter with a cracked housing or probes with bare wires showing.
 Never use the ohm setting on a multimeter on live voltage. You will damage the meter.
 Use a voltage probe or test light if you just want to check if a circuit is live

Ammeter:
Things you’ll need:

 Two Leads With Alligator Clips

 Ammeter or Multimeter
 Battery
 Light Bulb

1. Examine the structure of a simple circuit. The simplest possible circuit may be shown
with a battery and light bulb. The negative terminal of the battery is connected to the
negative terminal of the light bulb with a lead. Similarly, the positive terminal of the
battery is connected to the positive terminal of the light bulb with the other lead.
2. Observe the inputs for an ammeter. A very basic ammeter might have one input and
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one output. However, a commercial multimeter should have a specific input for
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measuring current (typically marked "A" for amperage. The output is commonly
marked "COM" for common ground.
3. Turn the ammeter on and set the selector to detect direct current (DC) amperage. A
simple ammeter may only be able to detect amperage but a multimeter can detect
various electrical quantities and will need to be "told" which quantity to measure. If
the ammeter has a selector for the range of current to display, select the highest
available setting.
4. Disconnect the positive lead from the light bulb and touch the probe from the
ammeter's input (A) to the positive lead from the battery. Touch the probe from the
ammeter's negative terminal (COM) to the positive terminal of the light bulb.
5. Select progressively lower current ranges until you get a measurable result. If your
ammeter has this option, you'll want to "scale down" rather than "scale up". This will
avoid damaging the ammeter by subjecting it to a level of current that it's not prepared
to measure.
Megger:
Things you’ll need:

 Electrical hand tools

 Plastic wire nuts

1. Remove all electrical power from the wire that is being tested. Use the appropriate
electrical hand tools to isolate the wires from any portion of the circuit. Due to the
complexity of some electrical circuits, various tools maybe required to isolate the wire
that requires testing.
2. Remove all electrical connections from the wire. Expose both ends of the wire by
revealing the bare copper connection point. Cover one end of the wire's copper
connection with a wire nut. This will insulate the conductor from accidentally shorting to
ground and giving a false reading.
3. Attach the positive (+) end of the megohmmeter to the other end of the bare copper
connection on the wire being tested. Connect the ground wire from the meter to the metal
ground of the electrical system. Typically, this point will be the metal conduit or the main
electrical panel box.
4. Switch the meter to the "on" position. Most megohmmeters have a charge button located
on the face of the meter. Press the charge button and observe the meter. It generally takes
from three to five seconds for the meter to charge the wire to the full high voltage.
5. Read the meter. A reading on the face of the meter that indicates greater than (>) 999 meg
is a perfectly insulated wire. A reading below (<) 1.00 meg may indicate a problem with
the wire. A reading between these two resistances will generally operate with no
problems to the electrical circuit.
Tips & Warnings:

 Exercise extreme caution when using a high voltage meg-ohmmeter. The high voltages
can damage certain electronic equipment and give you a severe shock.
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1. Explain the function of an oscilloscope and its use

An oscilloscope (abbreviated sometimes as scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test

instrument that allows signal voltages to be viewed, usually as a two-dimensional graph of
one or more electrical potential differences (vertical axis) plotted as a function of time or of
some other voltage (horizontal axis). Although an oscilloscope displays voltage on its
vertical axis, any other quantity that can be converted to a voltage can be displayed as well.
In most instances, oscilloscopes show events that repeat with either no change or change
slowly. The oscilloscope is one of the most versatile and widely-used electronic instruments.

Oscilloscopes are commonly used when it is desired to observe the exact wave shape of an
electrical signal. In addition to the amplitude of the signal, an oscilloscope can show
distortion and measure frequency, time between two events (such as pulse width or pulse rise
time), and relative timing of two related signals. Some modern digital oscilloscopes can
analyze and display the spectrum of a repetitive event. Special-purpose oscilloscopes, called
spectrum analyzers, have sensitive inputs and can display spectra well into the GHz range. A
few oscilloscopes that accept plug-ins can display spectra in the audio range.

Oscilloscopes are used in the sciences, medicine, engineering, telecommunications, and

industry. General-purpose instruments are used for maintenance of electronic equipment and
laboratory work. Special-purpose oscilloscopes may be used for such purposes as analyzing
an automotive ignition system, or to display the waveform of the heartbeat.

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Originally all oscilloscopes used cathode ray tubes as their display element and linear
amplifiers for signal processing, but modern oscilloscopes can have LCD or LED screens,
fast analog-to-digital converters and digital signal processors. Although not as commonplace,
some oscilloscopes used storage CRTs to display single events for a limited time.
Oscilloscope peripheral modules for general purpose laptop or desktop personal computers
use the computer's display, and can convert them into useful and flexible test instruments.

2. Detecting faulty P.C.B. and replacing it.

Ans:Generally, fault finding is not an easy task. It is essential to have a good understanding
of the operation of the particular equipment and general insight into some of the diagnostic
skills used to solve the problem. Here is a list of the general techniques used:
 Planning: A good fault-finder has a mentally planned strategy. The evidence is carefully
considered before deciding what action to take. In contrast, the "muddler" acts on
impulse. A good diagnostician will use most of the following mental abilities:
 Memory
 Logical thinking
 Perception
 Spatial/mechanical ability
 Social skills
 Persistence
 Background (underpinning) knowledge: Together with the mental abilities above,
knowledge and experience are essential. This is wide ranging and includes knowledge of
components, methods and systems together with their operational characteristics. The
combination of knowledge and direct practical experience with the equipment is a
powerful aid to fault finding.
 Diagnostic performance: In addition to the necessary skills of the diagnostician,
systematic use of "job aids" will improve fault finding method. Examples are:
 Fault charts: A list of typical symptoms and faults for a particular equipment plus
suggested remedies. These lists should be updated according to experience to
show the most probable faults.
 FACERAP:The seven letters of the mnemonic "FACERAP" are the key steps to
logical fault finding:
F (fault) : the name and classification of a fault;
A (appearance) : the description of the fault or its related symptom;
C (cause) : the operational reason for the fault;
E (effect) : the consequential effect of the fault;
R (responsibility) : the correct person to take remedial action;
A (action) : the standard procedure adopted to rectify the fault;
P (prevention) : the procedure to avoid repetition of the fault.
 Search strategy: Once the diagnostician can visualize the circuit or machine as a series
of functions and/or use a job aid, a search strategy can be applied to locate the fault in the
minimum time.
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 A "six step approach" is summarized as:

1. Collect evidence (stop and think).
2. Analyze evidence (check assumptions).
3. Locate fault (inspect and test).
4. Determine and remove cause.
5. Rectify fault.
6. Check system.
3. Find the value of resistor and compare with color code

Ans: Electronic color code

Four-band identification is the most commonly used color-coding scheme on resistors. It

consists of four colored bands that are painted around the body of the resistor. The first two
bands encode the first two significant digits of the resistance value, the third is a power-of-
ten multiplier or number-of-zeroes, and the fourth is the tolerance accuracy, or acceptable
error, of the value. The first three bands are equally spaced along the resistor; the spacing to
the fourth band is wider. Sometimes a fifth band identifies the thermal coefficient, but this
must be distinguished from the true 5-color system, with 3 significant digits.

For example, green-blue-yellow-red is 56×104 Ω = 560 kΩ ± 2%. An easier description can

be as followed: the first band, green, has a value of 5 and the second band, blue, has a value
of 6, and is counted as 56. The third band, yellow, has a value of 104, which adds four 0's to
the end, creating 560,000Ω at ±2% tolerance accuracy. 560,000Ω changes to 560 kΩ ±2% (as
a kilo- is 103).

Each color corresponds to a certain digit, progressing from darker to lighter colors, as shown
in the chart below.

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Color 1st band 2nd band 3rd band (multiplier) 4th band (tolerance) Temp. Coefficient

Black 0 0 ×100

Brown 1 1 ×101 ±1% (F) 100 ppm

Red 2 2 ×102 ±2% (G) 50 ppm

Orange 3 3 ×103 15 ppm

Yellow 4 4 ×104 25 ppm

Green 5 5 ×105 ±0.5% (D)

Blue 6 6 ×106 ±0.25% (C)

Violet 7 7 ×107 ±0.1% (B)

Gray 8 8 ×108 ±0.05% (A)

White 9 9 ×109

Gold ×10-1 ±5% (J)

Silver ×10-2 ±10% (K)

None ±20% (M)

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4. Use of signal generator for fault finding.

Ans: A signal generator, also known variously as function generator, tone

generator, arbitrary waveform generator, digital pattern generator or frequency
generator is an electronic device that generates repeating or non-repeating electronic signals
(in either the analog or digital domains). They are generally used in designing, testing,
troubleshooting, and repairing electronic or electro acoustic devices; though they often have
artistic uses as well.

There are many different types of signal generators, with different purposes and applications
(and at varying levels of expense); in general, no device is suitable for all possible
applications.

Electronic test instrument that delivers an accurately calibrated signal at frequencies from the
audio to the microwave ranges. It is valuable in the development and testing of electronic
hardware. The signal generator provides a signal that can be adjusted according to frequency,
output voltage, impedance, waveform, and modulation.

Signal generators are of five major types: oscillators, which generate sine waves useful in
measuring the response of loudspeakers, amplifiers, microphones, transducers, and acoustic
systems; standard signal generators, which generate sine waves over a wide range of output
power and modulation, used, for example, to test radio receivers and measure gain,
bandwidth, and signal-to-noise ratio; frequency synthesizers, which generate highly precise
output frequencies over wide ranges; pulse generators, which produce pulsed signals at
precise duration at precise frequencies; and random-noise generators, which produce a
wideband noise for various types of electronic, mechanical, and psychological testing.

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Competency No. 3 : Use of Hand Tools, Electrical and Electronic Measuring and Test
Equipment for Fault Finding, Maintenance and Repair.
Course Covered 3.3 : Safe Working Practice.

1. Do’s and don’ts when working on electrical/ electronic equipment.

Ans:
The possible dangers arising from the misuse of electrical equipment are well known.
Electric shock and fire can cause loss of life and damage to equipment. Ships' staff must
operate equipment in a safe manner and maintain it in a safe condition at all times.
Failure to do so will cause danger with serious consequences arising. Keep in mind an
essential list of DO's and DO NOT's when working with electrical equipment:
 DO get to know the ship's electrical system and equipment. Study the ship's diagrams
to pinpoint the location of switches and protection devices supplying distribution
boards and essential items of equipment. Write down this information in a note book.
Become familiar with the normal indications on switchboard instruments so that
abnormal operation can be quickly detected.
 DO operate equipment according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
 DO maintain equipment according to the manufacturer's recommendations or the
ship owner’s maintenance procedures.
 DO ensure that all guards, covers and doors are securely fitted and that all bolts and
fixings are in place and tight.
 DO inform the Officer of the Watch before shutting down equipment for
maintenance.
 DO switch off and lock-off supplies, remove fuses, and display warning notices
before removing covers of equipment for maintenance.
 DO confirm that circuits are DEAD (by using an approved voltage tester) before
touching conductors and terminals.
 DO NOT touch live conductors under any pretext.
 DO NOT touch rotating parts.
 DO NOT leave live conductors or rotating parts exposed.
 DO NOT overload equipment.
 DO NOT neglect or abuse equipment.
You should think SAFETY at all times and so develop a safety conscious attitude. This may
well save your life and the lives of others. Most accidents occur due to a momentary loss of
concentration or attempts to short-circuit standard safety procedures.

2. Protective clothing, tools & equipment.

Ans: Explained in assignment no. 2.4

3. Working in machinery spaces.

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Ans: Explained in assignment no. 2.4

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4. First Aid in Electrical Shocks

Ans: Electric shock is often accompanied by falling, which may cause additional
physical injury and require first-aid action. If the shock victim is unconscious, resuscitation
must take priority over first aid methods. Check the resuscitation techniques described on the
electric shock posters displayed on your ship.
 Switch off the current
 Remove the casualty from contact with the current
 Lower the casualty to the floor taking care not to damage the head
 If the casualty is conscious, make him comfortable
 Should the casualty be unconscious but breathing then loosen the clothing
around the neck and waist place in recovery position.
 When the casualty is found unconscious, but not breathing, take immediate
action and apply emergency resuscitation techniques.
 Keep the victim warm
 Treat any burns
 Elevate burned limbs
 Control the victim’s intake
 Transfer to hospital or seek medical aid.

5. Discuss Voltage range considered safe

Ans: Voltages of about 60 V and below are regarded as reasonably safe for portable
hand tools. This is why special step-down isolating transformers are used with portable tools
and hand lamps. These transformers supply the tool or lamp at 110 V a.c. but because the
secondary winding is centre-tapped to earth, the maximum shock voltage to earth is 55V a.c.

6. Discuss electrostatic charging and potential hazards and remedies.

Ans: Explained in assignment no. 8.2-10

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Wiring symbols used:

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CALIBRATORS

Used for establishing the integrity of PRESSURE & TEMPERATURE measuring instruments
and also to simulate Alarms and Safety cut-outs and establish the correct value in reference to the
set value of various machineries.

PRESSURE

TEMPERATURE

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