Current Transformers, Transducers & Transmitters

Current transformers are devices that are used when a current is too high to process by electronic equipment or to measure by measuring instruments. A current transformer will “step down" the current from thousands of amperes to a standard output of a known ratio to either 5 Amps or 1 Amp allowing small and accurate instruments to be protected from high currents. There are two main categories of current transformers. Measuring current transformers are used with measuring devices for the magnitude of current, power and energy. Protective current transformers are used with protective equipment such as relays and trip coils in magnetic circuit breakers or miniature circuit breakers.

Current transducers are devices that act as an interface between the power system and the measurement system. They convert any non-standard electrical current input into a usable electrical current output, such as an alternating current (AC) input signal into a direct current (DC) output signal. Current transducers operate by magnetically inducing current from the conductor into a proportional electric current that flows through the current transducer’s conductor. This protects measuring devices from high power currents.