The Crest Voltmeter

The demand for testing dielectric media in terms of crest voltage has resulted in several schemes of measuring high voltage. The paper mentions and compares some of the methods of high-voltage measurement and describes in more detail the crest voltmeter which has been found to be more satisfactory in commercial testing than the spark gaps which have been adopted by the Institute in the Standardization Rules. The construction, operation, accuracy and applications of the crest voltmeter are briefly described. The present Standardization Rules for the measurement of high testing-voltages recommend spark-gap methods which under certain conditions are impractical, inconvenient, and dangerous. The summary states that the spark gaps should be only a calibrating standard and a more practical instrument, such as described, the preferred working standard.