NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS REPORT

4473

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT ON RESISTANCE OF CONNECTORS USED IN

CABLE SPLICES OF NBS REPORT 4369

by

F. C. Breckenridge

R. W. Crouch

R. T. Vaughan

to

AIRWAYS ENGINEERING DIVISION

Office of Federal Airways

CIVIL AERONAUTICS ADMINISTRATION

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Sinclair Weeks, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

A. V. Astin, Director

THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The scope of activities of the National Bureau of Standards is suggested in the following listing

of the divisions and sections engaged in technical work. In general, each section is engaged in

specialized research, development, and engineering in the field indicated by its title. A brief

description of the activities, and of the resultant reports and publications, appears on the inside

of the back cover of this report.

Electricity and Electronics. Resistance and Reactance. Electron Tubes. Electrical Instru- ments. Magnetic Measurements. Process Technology. Engineering Electronics. Electronic

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Radio .Standards. High Frequency Standards. Microwave Standards. • Office of Basic Instrumentation # Office of Weights and Measures
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS REPORT

Supplementary Report on Resistances of Connectors Used in

Cable Splices of NBS Report 4369

F. C. Breckenridge

R. W. Crouch and R. T. Vaughan

Photometry and Colorimetry Section

Optics and Metrology Division

Test 21A-3A/55

to

Airways Engineering Division

Office of Federal Airways

Civil Aeronautics Administration

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The publication, reprintin, Approved for public release by the , is prohibited

unless permission Is obtain director of the National Institute of is, Washington

January, 1956

NBS REPORT

4473

by

25,D.C. Such permissioi

cal ly prepared If that ag Standards and Technology (NIST) on October 9, 2015

is been specifi-

)r its own use,

Supplementary Report on Resistance of Connectors Used in

Cable Splices of NBS Report 4369 1.

SCOPE

This report presents the results of additional resistance

measurements which have been made in the hope of obtaining some

explanation of the large variations in resistance from conductor

to conductor which was found during the cable solicing investigation covered by NBS Report 4369. Cable splices Nos. 8 and 11

were selected for these measurements because they showed some of

the largest variations in resistance. The additional measurements

include both a repetition of the bridge measurements and values

determined by the ammeter-voltmeter method. Three observers participated.

2

.

PROCEDURE

The conductors of cable splices 8 and 11 have been identified

by attaching a number to each wire. The resistances of these conductors have been remeasured by the same observer (A) who made the

original measurements using the same bridge and method used for

these measurements. These resistances have also been determined

by measuring the voltage drop across the conductors with a current of 1.000±.005 amperes flowing through the conductor in each

"instance. The current was derived from a storage battery and the

measurements were made with a suitable ammeter and voltmeter by

observer B. Both types of measurements were repeated on cable

splice No. 11 by observer C.

Since the individual conductors were not identified at the

time of the original measurements, it is possible to compare those

results with the present values only statistically. To do this,

the new bridge measurements made by observer A, who made the

original ones, have been processed as those values were; that

is, an allowance of 45 milliohms has been made for the resistance

of the wire, and the residual resistances have been allotted to

groups according to their size.

3.

RESULTS

The results are presented in two tables. Table I contains

the new values arranged to compare the values obtained for the

same conductors by the two methods and three observers. Table

II compares the original values with the most comparable values

of the present measurements as indicated in the previous paragraph.
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4. DISCUSSION

In general, the new measurements confirm the original

findings that there is considerable variation in the resistance of the splice from wire to wire. The new measurements

also show that the splices having the larger values of resistance are unstable. This was confirmed by remeasuring

each of two conductors several times. Variations of more

than 2 to 1 were found in one case. At least 8 of the 52

conductors in cable slice No. 11 were noted as unstable on

the ammeter-voltmeter test by both observers B and C. These

characteristics are undesirable in control circuits.

Table I

Resistances of Conductors

Splice No. 8 Splice No. 11

Method S/I Bridge E/I 'S/I Bridge Bridge

Observer B A B C A C

Wire N 0 . Resistance in milliohms

1 48 45 47 46 45 45

2 54 51 54 56 49 49

3 62 60 52 48 4o 45

4 255 1552 50 48 46 47

5 47 46 196# 175 182 178

6 83 82 162# 138 132 134

7 75 70 144# 136# 131 126

8 6 7 60 51 49 47 48

9 49 48 50 47 46 46

10 79 7 8 51 48 46 47

11 288 296 180# 160 137 138

12 213 334 170# 16 5# 143 l4l

13 172 175 50 48 47 47

14 47 45 52 47 46 46

15 98 96 51 47 46 46

16 78 80 57 55 54 53

17 207 720 51 47 45 46

18 211 736 168 158 135 134

19 48 46 178 170 144 147

20 265 600 50 48 47 47

21 114 210 50 47 46 46

22 48 48 49 46 45 45

23 195 112 53 48 47 47

24 386 2367 52 48 45 45

25 68 6 7 55 50 50 49

26 47 45 112 105 104 103

27 89 83 65 60 58 59

28 50 48 51 47 45 45

29 49 47 49 46 44 45

30 46 45 69 61 59 60

31 44 44 211# 181# 965 742

32 188 180 52 47 46 45

33 49 47 73 69 6 7 6 7

34 95 94 225# 188# 171 174

35 46 44 57 52 51 50

36 135 131 160# 178# 216 222

37 178 454 190# 210# 151 154

38 58 54 56 46 4b 45

39 415 1747 54 47 46 46

40 162 307 48 46 4e- 45

4l 45 44 50 46 44 45

42 68 65 215# 168# 156 155

43 450 1790 51 48 4'7 47

44 54 52 63 46 4 5 46

45 468 2075 64 64 60 57

46 425 1590 97 94 89 92

47 48 45 134# 106# 94 65

48 51 49 75 68 6 7 67

49 288 980 55 49 48 48

50 193 170 56 49 47 46

51 46 46 52 47 46 45

52 235 710 56 48 47 46

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THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

Functions and Activities

The functions of the National Bureau of Standards are set forth in the Act of Congress, March

3, 1901, as amended by Congress in Public Law 619, 1950. These include the development and

maintenance of the national standards of measurement and the provision of means and methods

for making measurements consistent with these standards; the determination of physical constants

and properties of materials; the development of methods and instruments for testing materials,

devices, and structures; advisory services to Government Agencies on scientific and technical

problems; invention and development of devices to serve special needs of the Government; and the

development of standard practices, codes, and specifications. The work includes basic and applied

research, development, engineering, instrumentation, testing, evaluation, calibration services, and

various consultation and information services. A major portion of the Bureau’s work is performed

for other Government Agencies, particularly the Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy

Commission. The scope of activities is suggested by the listing of divisions and sections on the

inside of the front cover.

Reports and Publications

The results of the Bureau’s work take the form of either actual equipment and devices or published papers and reports. Reports are issued to the sponsoring agency of a particular project

or program. Published papers appear either in the Bureau’s own series of publications or in the

journals of professional and scientific societies. The Bureau itself publishes three monthly periodicals, available from the Government Printing Office: The Journal of Research, which presents

complete papers reporting technical investigations; the Technical News Bulletin, which presents

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the world. There are also five series of nonperiodical publications: The Applied Mathematics

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Information on the Bureau’s publications can be found in NBS Circular 460, Publications of

the National Bureau of Standards ($1.25) and its Supplement ($0.75), available from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office. Inquiries regarding the Bureau’s reports and

publications should be addressed to the Office of Scientific Publications, National Bureau of

Standards, Washington 25, D. C.
NBS