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clamp on current meter question
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| I borrowed a clamp on current meter from my company to take DC current
measurements at home and decided to poke around at AC lines.
Initially I was reading zero on AC power cords and quickly realized +i -i =
0 - unless of course I can break into one of the lines to measure the
current.
During random testing I noticed one of the AC lines near the circuit
breaker box has 0.40amps. Obviously something in the house is draining
current to Earth ground.
That's a home repair waiting to happen, however, I have a question about
these meters because now I'm interested in purchasing one.
Are there any that will measure an AC power cord and give you the current
it's drawing or does every meter cancel the +i and -i ?
Thanks
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| James Sweet 2008-03-22, 5:25 pm |
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>
> Are there any that will measure an AC power cord and give you the current
> it's drawing or does every meter cancel the +i and -i ?
>
A clamp meter has to go over just one conductor, it's the nature of the
beast. They tend to not be terribly accurate either.
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| On Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:59:45 -0500, Steve <nobody@nobody.com> wrote:
>Are there any that will measure an AC power cord and give you the current
>it's drawing or does every meter cancel the +i and -i ?
>
Inexpensive adapters are available that separate out the 2 or 3
conductors in a power cord for clamp meter measurement.
For troubleshooting, even the inexpensive clamp meters are accurate
enough.
Chuck
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| Salmon Egg 2008-03-22, 8:25 pm |
| In article <iQdFj.165$o35.10@trnddc07>,
"James Sweet" <jamessweet@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> A clamp meter has to go over just one conductor, it's the nature of the
> beast. They tend to not be terribly accurate either.
Are you sure you want to work on electric systems. Your question
indicates that you are likely to get into a lot of trouble.
Bill
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| RFI-EMI-GUY 2008-03-22, 9:25 pm |
| Steve wrote:
> I borrowed a clamp on current meter from my company to take DC current
> measurements at home and decided to poke around at AC lines.
>
> Initially I was reading zero on AC power cords and quickly realized +i -i =
> 0 - unless of course I can break into one of the lines to measure the
> current.
>
> During random testing I noticed one of the AC lines near the circuit
> breaker box has 0.40amps. Obviously something in the house is draining
> current to Earth ground.
>
> That's a home repair waiting to happen, however, I have a question about
> these meters because now I'm interested in purchasing one.
>
> Are there any that will measure an AC power cord and give you the current
> it's drawing or does every meter cancel the +i and -i ?
>
>
> Thanks
What kind of meter were you using? DC clamp on's are rare. I think they
use Hall effect devices.
I have an inexpensive Radio Shack AC clamp on. Very useful device. It
has a break out cable to test socketed loads. You plug the load into a
three prong receptacle adaptor which itself plugs into the wall. The
adaptor has a pair of loops to clamp the meter into. One is a X10 and
the other X1. The X10 is simply a ten turn loop so that you can expand
the range for low current loads.
--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©
"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
"Follow The Money" ;-P
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