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ISA-MC96.1-1982
Approved August 12, 1982

Standard

Temperature
Measurement
Thermocouples
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ISA-MC96.1 — Temperature Measurement Thermocouples

ISBN 0-87664-708-5

Copyright  1982 by the Instrument Society of America. All rights reserved. Printed in the United
States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISA
67 Alexander Drive
P.O. Box 12277
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
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Acknowledgments

ANSI - C96 Committee

EDWARD D. ZYSK - Chairman LOIS M. FERSON - Secretary

Engelhard Minerals & Chemicals Corporation ISA

Organizational Liaisons

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

ROBERT P. BENEDICT - Liaison GEORGE W. BURNS - Liaison
Westinghouse Electric Corporation National Bureau of Standards
K. WOODFIELD - Alternate
General Motors Institute OIML PS12/RS5
EDWARD D. ZYSK - Technical Advisor
Englehard Corp.
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE
ENGINEERS
DONALD I. FINCH - Consultant (Deceased) R. B. CLARK - Liaison
General Electric Company

IEC/TC65-WG5 UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

GEORGE J. CHAMPAGNE - Liaison JAMES E. ORWIG - Liaison
The Foxboro Company USAF Aerospace Guidance &
Metrology Center
EDWARD D. ZYSK - Alternate
Engelhard Minerals & Chemicals Corporation

ISA
PHILIP BLISS - Liaison
Consultant
EDWARD Z. ZYSK - Alternate
Engelhard Minerals & Chemicals Corporation

Individual Members

ROY F. ABRAHMSEN HENRY L. KURTZ

Combustion Engineering, Inc. Driver-Harris Co.
J. A. BARD EDWIN L. LEWIS
Matthey Bishop, Inc. Consultant
ALEX H. CLARK JOHN D. MITILINEOS
Leeds & Northrup Co. Sigmund Cohn Corporation

ISA-MC96.1-1982 3
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CLINTON R. DODD LLOYD J. PICKERING

Driver-Harris Co. Claud S. Gordon Company
A. E. GEALT R. A. PUSTELL
Honeywell General Electric Co.
WILEY W. JOHNSTON, JR T. P. WANG
Consultant Wilber B. Driver Company
J. D. WILLIAMS
Claud S. Gordon Company

4 ISA-MC96.1-1982
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Preface

This Preface is included for information purposes and is not part of ISA-MC96.1.
The development of this standard has resulted from the work of the American National Standards
Committee on Temperature Measurement, MC96. The Committee was organized in 1946 under
the sponsorship of ISA, the scope of the Committee being designated as follows:
Requirements for temperature measurement thermocouples, including terminology, fabrication,
wire sizes, installation, color codes of thermocouple and thermocouple extension wire,
temperature-EMF tables and tolerances have been coordinated with the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Credit must be given to the National Bureau of Standards and to Committee E20 on Temperature
Measurement of the American Society for Testing and Materials for the development of the
temperature-EMF tables and for recommendations as to the maximum recommended
temperature of the various materials. Special credit must also be given to G. W. Burns, NBS-
Washington, D.C., and Dr. Robert Powell, formerly with NBS-Boulder, for providing the
thermocouple reference tables.
This standard has been prepared as a part of the service of ISA toward a goal of uniformity in the
field of instrumentation. To be of real value this document should not be static but should be
subjected to periodic review. Toward this end the Society welcomes all comments and criticisms
and asks that they be addressed to the Standards and Practices Board Secretary; ISA; P.O.
Box 12277; Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709; Telephone 919-549-8411, e-mail:
[email protected].
In 1821, Seebeck discovered that, in a closed circuit made up of wires of two dissimilar metals,
electric current will flow if the temperature of one junction is elevated above that of the other. In
1886, Le Chatelier introduced a thermocouple consisting of one wire of platinum and the other
of 90 percent platinum-10 percent rhodium. This combination, Type S, is still the international
standard for purposes of calibration and comparison, and defines the International Practical
Temperature Scale of 1968 from the antimony to the gold point. This type of thermocouple was
made and sold by W. C. Heraeus, GmbH of Hanau, Germany, and is sometimes called the
Heraeus Couple. Somewhat later, it was learned that a thermoelement composed of
87 percent platinum and 13 percent rhodium, Type R, would give a somewhat higher EMF
output. This type is frequently used in industry. In 1954 a thermocouple was introduced in
Germany whose positive leg is an alloy of platinum and 30 percent rhodium. Its negative leg is
also an alloy of platinum and 6 percent rhodium. This combination, Type B, gives somewhat
greater physical strength and greater stability and can withstand somewhat higher temperature
than Types R and S.
In an effort to find less costly metals for use in thermocouples, a number of combinations were
tried. Iron and nickel were useful and inexpensive. Pure nickel, however, becomes very brittle
upon oxidation, and it was learned that an alloy of about 55 percent copper, 45 percent nickel
originally known as constantan would eliminate this problem. This alloy combination, iron-
constantan, has since been widely used and is designated Type J. The present calibration for
Type J was established by the National Bureau of Standards (see NBS Monograph 125).

ISA-MC96.1-1982 5
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In an effort to find a couple useful to higher temperatures than the iron versus copper-nickel
combination, a 90 percent nickel-10 percent chromium alloy as a positive wire, and a 95 percent
nickel-5 percent aluminum, manganese, silicon alloy as a negative wire was developed. This
combination (originally called Chromel-Alumel) is known as Type K. Similar alloys for specific
applications have since become available, to the same curve.
Another combination, copper versus copper-nickel, Type T, is used particularly at below-zero
temperatures. The temperature-EMF Reference Table was prepared by the National Bureau of
Standards in 1938 and revised in NBS Monograph 125.
The Type E Thermocouple, 90 percent nickel-10 percent chromium versus copper-nickel, is
receiving increasing attention and use where corrosion of small diameter iron wire is a problem
and a higher EMF output is desirable.
Further information on the letter designated type thermocouples is given in Appendix C.
Several combinations using tungsten, rhenium and their binary alloys are widely used at high
temperatures in inert or reducing atmospheres, and are nearing acceptance as standard.
For additional information on temperature measurement thermocouples, reference may be made
to NBS Special Publication 300, Volume II, "Precision Measurement and Calibration-
Temperature," 1968 and to NBS Monographs 124 and 125, published by United States
Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards. Specific attention is called to the
reference categories on Thermoelectric Theory and Calibration, and Thermoelectric Devices.
Additional information is in STP-470B, "Manual on the Use of Thermocouples," 1981, published
by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
For many years, letter designations have been assigned by ANSI Committee MC96 and
endorsed by international standards as a device to identify certain common types without using
proprietary trade names, and to associate them with temperature-EMF relationships established
by the National Bureau of Standards. Color codes for the insulation of letter-designated wires are
also assigned by MC96 to facilitate identification in the field. The assignment of a letter
designation and/or color code by MC96 constitutes an acknowledgment of an existing recognition
by NBS of a defining temperature-EMF relationship and an existing general usage, and does not
constitute an endorsement of the thermocouple type by ISA, ANSI, and NBS. The letter
designation applies only to the temperature-EMF relationship and not to the material. Other
material, having different temperature-EMF relationships, may well be equivalent or superior in
some applications.
The use of the letter X to indicate thermocouple extension wire appeared obvious. The use of
the term lead wire, or compensating lead wire, is to be discouraged because it frequently is
confused with the term lead (element).
Much discussion was involved in the use of the color red to designated polarity, since red is used
popularly in electrical circuits to indicate positive. No nationally-accepted code known to the
committee covered this point. Research into manufacturers' records showed that, in
thermocouple circuits, the red negative had been in use for more than forty years.
The colors used to designate the various compositions and combination of thermocouple and
extension wire were originally selected upon an almost arbitrary basis. Colors which had been
used by large manufacturers were given very careful consideration and comparison so that as
few changes as possible would be required to establish uniformity. Millions of miles of wire with
these color codes are presently in use.
In ISA-MC96.1 thermocouple and thermocouple extension wires are designated by letters. This
has been done primarily to eliminate the use of proprietary names. The designations are given in
Table 1 of the text.

6 ISA-MC96.1-1982
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The ISA Standards and Practices Department is aware of the growing need for attention to the
metric system of units in general, and the International System of Units (SI) in particular, in the
preparation of instrumentation standards. The Department is further aware of the benefits to
USA users of ISA Standards of incorporating suitable references to the SI (and the metric
system) in their business and professional dealings with other countries. Toward this end this
Department will endeavor to introduce SI and SI-acceptable metric units as optional alternatives
to English units in all new and revised standards to the greatest extent possible. The ASTM
Metric Practice Guide, endorsed and published as National Bureau of Standards Handbook 102
and as ANSI Z210.1, is the reference guide for definitions, symbols, abbreviations and
conversion factors.

ISA-MC96.1-1982 7
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Contents

1 Coding of thermocouple wire and extension wires ..................................................... 11

2 Terminology, wire size, upper temperature limit, and initial calibration

tolerance for thermocouples and extension wire ....................................................... 14
2.1 Scope and purpose ............................................................................................... 14
2.2 Terminology and symbols ...................................................................................... 14
2.3 Wire sizes .............................................................................................................. 20
2.4 Upper temperature limits ....................................................................................... 20
2.5 Tolerance of initial calibration ................................................................................ 21

3 Non-ceramic insulation of thermocouple and extension wires .................................. 23

4 Temperature-EMF tables for thermocouples ................................................................ 23

4.1 Scope and purpose ............................................................................................... 23
4.2 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 24
4.3 Use of temperature-EMF tables ............................................................................ 24

Appendix A — Bare thermocouple element fabrication...................................... 54

Appendix B — Sheathed thermocouple element fabrication ............................. 58

Appendix C — Thermocouples and thermocouple extension wires —

selection, assembly, and installation.......................................... 61
Appendix D — Thermocouples — checking procedures.................................... 68

Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 70

ISA-MC96.1-1982 9
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1 Coding of thermocouple wire and extension wires

This standard applies to thermocouples and extension wires.

Its purpose is to establish uniformity in the designation of thermocouples and extension wires
and to provide, by means of the color of its insulation, an identification of its type or composition
as well as its polarity when used as part of a thermocouple system.

Table 1 — Thermocouple type letter designations

Nominal Material Identification*

Temperature-EMF
Type Temperature (Positive Material in
Relationship Data
Range Caps) **
B 0 to 1820°C Refer to Table 11 PLATINUM-30 PERCENT RHODIUM
versus platinum-6 percent rhodium
E –270 to 1000°C Refer to Table 12 NICKEL-10 PERCENT CHROMIUM†
versus copper-nickel
J –210 to 760°C Refer to Table 13 IRON versus copper-nickel
K –270 to 1372°C Refer to Table 14 NICKEL-10 PERCENT CHROMIUM †
versus nickel-5 percent (aluminium,
silicon) ††
R –50 to 1768°C Refer to Table 15 PLATINUM-13 PERCENT RHODIUM
versus platinum
S –50 to 1768°C Refer to Table 16 PLATINUM-10 PERCENT RHODIUM
versus platinum
T –270 to 400°C Refer to Table 17 COPPER versus copper-nickel

*Any combination of thermocouple materials having EMF-temperature relationships within the tolerances for
any of the above-mentioned tables shall bear that table’s appropriate type letter designation.
**The indicated polarity of the thermocouple materials applies for conditions when the measuring junction is at
higher temperatures than the reference junction.
†It should not be assumed that thermoelements used with more than one thermocouple type are interchange-
able or have the same millivolt limits of error.
††Silicon, or aluminum and silicon may be present in combination with other elements.

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Table 2 — Symbols for types of thermocouple wire

Thermoelements

Type* Positive Negative

B BP BN

E EP EN

J JP JN

K KP KN

R RP RN

S SP SN

T TP TN

*Any thermocouple material having temperature-EMF relationships within the tolerances for any of the above-
mentioned tables shall bear that table’s appropriate "type-letter" designation. Identification of some typical
materials is contained in Appendix C (Table C-1).

Table 3 — Symbols for types of extension wire

Type Combination Positive Negative

B BX** BPX BNX

E EX EPX ENX

J JX JPX JNX

K KX KPX KNX

R or S SX* SPX SNX

T TX TPX TNX

*Both Type R or S Thermocouples use the same SX compensating extension wire.

**Special compensating extension wires are not required for reference junction temperatures up to 100 ° C.
Generally copper conductors are used. However, proprietary alloys may be obtained for use at higher reference
junction temperatures.
NOTE: Identification of some typical materials is contained in Appendix C (Table C-3).

12 ISA-MC96.1-1982
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Table 4 — Color code — duplex insulated thermocouple wire

Thermocouple Color of Insulation

Type Positive Negative Overall* Positive* Negative

E EP EN Brown Purple Red

J JP JN Brown White Red

K KP KN Brown Yellow Red

T TP TN Brown Blue Red

* A tracer color of the positive wire code color may be used in the overall braid.

Table 5 — Color code — single conductor insulated thermocouple extension wire

Extension Wire Type Color of Insulation

Type Positive Negative Positive Negative*

B BPX BNX Gray Red-Gray Trace

E EPX ENX Purple Red-Purple Trace

J JPX JNX White Red-White Trace

K KPX KNX Yellow Red-Yellow Trace

R or S SPX SNX Black Red-Black Trace

T TPX TNX Blue Red-Blue Trace

*The color identified as a trace may be applied as a tracer, braid, or by any other readily identifiable means.
NOTE OF CAUTION: In the procurement of random lengths of single conductor insulated extension wire, it must
be recognized that such wire is commercially combined in matching pairs to conform to established temperature-
EMF curves. Therefore, it is imperative that all single conductor insulated extension wire be procured in pairs, at
the same time, and from the same source.

ISA-MC96.1-1982 13
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Table 6 — Color code — duplex insulated thermocouple extension wire

Extension Wire Type Color of Insulation

Type Positive Negative Overall Positive Negative*

B BPX BNX Gray Gray Red

E EPX ENX Purple Purple Red

J JPX JNX Black White Red

K KPX KNX Yellow Yellow Red

R or S SPX SNX Green Black Red

T TPX TNX Blue Blue Red

*A tracer having the color corresponding to the positive wire code color may be used on the negative wire color code.

2 Terminology, wire size, upper temperature limit, and initial calibration

tolerance for thermocouples and extension wire

2.1 Scope and purpose

This section applies to thermocouples and extension wire.
This section establishes terminology, symbols, normal wire size, recommended upper
temperature limit, and tolerance for thermocouples and extension wire.

2.2 Terminology and symbols

2.2.1 Thermoelement
A thermoelement is one of the two dissimilar electrical conductors comprising a thermocouple.

2.2.2 Thermocouple
A thermocouple is two dissimilar thermoelements so joined as to produce a thermal EMF when
the measuring and reference junctions are at different temperatures.
1) Measuring Junction: The measuring junction is that junction of a thermocouple which
is subjected to the temperature to be measured.
2) Reference Junction: The reference junction is that junction of a thermocouple which
is at a known temperature or which is automatically compensated for its temperature.
NOTE: In normal industry practice the thermocouple element is terminated at the connec-
tion head. However, the Reference Junction is not ordinarily located in the connection head
but is transferred to the instrument by the use of thermocouple extension wire.

14 ISA-MC96.1-1982