One of our micro-ohmmeters (PDRM-10A) has been sold to a major airline.
An ohmmeter is an instrument designed to measure electrical resistance, fitted with a small fixed-voltage direct-current battery, which also works as a galvanometer, making it possible to measure the current flowing through a resistance. More specifically, micro-ohmmeters are devices designed to measure low resistances (mOhms and even uOhms) by injecting current into the unit under test and measuring the voltage, thus allowing us to obtain the resistance value.
In this technological era of civil and military aviation, guaranteeing flight safety is the absolute priority and, faced with influences both internal and external to the aircraft, the electrical systems must work flawlessly.
Focusing on the possible electrical problems that may trigger an air accident, the electrical storm is a phenomenon for which the outer skin of aircraft consists of riveted lightweight sheet-metal components that must be tested at regular intervals to determine adequate conductivity, in order to ensure that it continues to work as a Faraday cage even if it is struck by lightning. If the outer material does not deliver a low impedance, the Faraday effect would not take place and could result in an air disaster. To this end, a bonding test must be carried out by means of resistance measurements at the contact joints on the exterior of the aircraft.
In the past, large, heavy and hard-to-handle micro-ohmmeters were used for this purpose, and they were also more expensive owing to the levels of mechanical complexity of the time. They offered test currents of 1 or 10A.
Today this has undergone a major advance: the PDRM-10A is a portable, lightweight micro-ohmmeter designed to measure very low resistances from 0.01 μΩ to 200 Ω, with a pulsed test current from 0,1A. It is among the most accurate on the market in its category.
The DRM-10A features a touch LCD screen to make configuration easier and to display the measurement results, which it delivers automatically.
Its scope is multiple, allowing us to carry out applications such as quality control of mechanical joints, Cadweld exothermic weld quality, welding quality, control of mechanical joints and high-voltage welded joints, inspection of contacts, circuit breakers and power fuses, electrode control for aluminium plants, among others.
For all these reasons, the PDRM-10A is a suitable instrument both for in-plant maintenance and for field work, in this case used in the aviation sector.