All single-phase induction-type meters having current capacities exceeding 50 amperes and all polyphase and commutator-type meters having voltage ratings not exceeding 250 volts and current capacities not exceeding 50 amperes shall be tested at least once every 12 months.
All other watt-hour meters shall be tested at least once every 6 months.
Rule 20.—Request Tests.—Each utility furnishing metered electric service shall make a test of the accuracy of any electricity meter upon request of the consumer, provided the consumer does not request such test more frequently than once in 6 months. A report giving the results of each request test shall be made to the consumer and the complete, original record kept on file in the office of the utility.
Electric Batteries.
—Electric batteries are composed of electric cells that are made in two general types: the primary cell, in which electricity is generated by the decomposition of zinc; and the secondary cell or storage cell in which electricity from a dynamo may be accumulated and thus stored. Electric cells are the elements of which electric batteries are made; a single electric cell is often called a battery but the battery is really two or more cells combined to produce effects that cannot be attained by a single element.
Both primary and secondary batteries form a part of the household equipment but the work of the secondary battery is used more particularly for electric lighting, the operation of small motors and for other purposes where continuous current is required. It will, therefore, be considered in another place.
Primary batteries are used to operate call-bells, table pushes, buzzers, night latches and various other forms of electric alarms besides which they are used in gas lighters, thermostat motors and for many special forms, all of which form an important part in the affairs of everyday life. Primary battery cells for household use are made to be used in the wet and dry form, but the dry cell is now more extensively used than any other kind and for most purposes has supplanted the wet form.
Formerly all primary cells were made of zinc and copper plates placed in a solution called an electrolite, that dissolved the zinc and thus generated electricity, the electrolite acting as a conductor of the electricity to the opposite plate. In later electric cells the copper was replaced by plates of carbon and from the zinc and carbon cell was finally evolved the present-day dry cell. When the use of electric cells reached a point where portable batteries were required, a form was demanded from which the solution could not be lost accidentally. The first electric cells in which the electrolite was not fluid was, therefore, called a dry cell. These cells are not completely dry. The electrolite is made in the form of a paste that acts in the same manner as the fluid electrolite and is only dry in that it is not fluid.
Fig. 254.—Electric dry cell.