Thomas Shay wrote:
> Something is strange.  The ammeter and E-meter
> should agree within a few percent.  If it were
> my Sparrow I'd find the problem and repair it.
> There's something wrong with the shunt, the meter
> or the wiring connections.

I agree. The controller's input capacitors would filter out most of the
ripple, and no normal meter would be bothered by the ripple, anyway. 

Most likely, it is a $1.98 meter, and just plain inaccurate.

Try holding a magnet near the meter with no current flowing in the
meter. If it is a D'Arsenval movement, it won't move. If it *does* move
due to an external magnetic field, then it is a cheap moving-magnet type
meter. They have very poor accuracy, and are strongly affected by
external fields (such as high current EV wiring :-)
  
Reference: A moving-magnet meter movement has a magnet on the pointer. A
fixed coil of wire surrounds this magnet. Current flowing in the coil
generates a magnetic field, which moves the pointer.

A D'Arsenval meter movement has a large permanent magnet with a round
hole in it, exactly like the field of a permanent magnet motor. The
moving rotor of this "motor" has the coils and pointer. A pair of
springs carry current to the coil, and also provide the spring force to
keep it at 0 when there is no current. Since there is no iron in the
rotor, an external magnetic field won't affect it.
-- 
Lee A. Hart                Ring the bells that still can ring
814 8th Ave. N.            Forget your perfect offering
Sartell, MN 56377 USA      There is a crack in everything
leeahart_at_earthlink.net  That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen

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