Clamp on meter

cagey

cagey

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Can anyone recommend a clamp on meter to help in fault finding and partial rewire please. All 12v dc, I saw one being used in yard last year and very handy it looked, unfortunately the electrician doesn’t work there anymore. Really don’t want to spend loads of money cos I don’t look after kit once I’ve finished with it, also I’m extremely tight. The rewire will be lights,engine gauges, nav equipment etc.
Thanks
Keith
 
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The clamp feature is for reading amps, not something you'll be doing much of for the work you describe. However, it's a useful feature to have on a meter that lives on a boat, particularly should you have any charging issues. Most clamp meters don't do DC amps, so be careful of that. A decent quality one, without spending unnecessary cash is :

http://uk.farnell.com/tenma/72-7224/clamp-meter-dig-hand-held-3999/dp/1283640
 
Be aware that the price from Farnall is ex VAT although that is the one I chose, they are a trade supplier.
 
Would expect t the lower cost meters to struggle to read low amps to any real accuracy, mine does but cost excess of £350, luckily work paid for it.
 
Daverw said:
Would expect t the lower cost meters to struggle to read low amps to any real accuracy, mine does but cost excess of £350, luckily work paid for it.
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I agree Dave. I don't use the clamp feature for anything too accurate though, it's a quick answer to many charging questions though.
 
I can't imagine why anyone would need a clamp meter for a job like that. A cheap and basic multimeter is what you need. And more importantly a basic understanding of DC electrical theory.
 
lw395 said:
Can we ask you to pull your finger out and let us know how well it works on the 2A DC range please? :-)
TIA.
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Your wish is my command. I've just checked it between 0 and 2A. No reference meter to hand, so I compared it to the current display on the bench power supply I was using.

Results: horrible at first, until I thought to zero it, after which it was very good all the way up ... only the second decimal place ever differed, and not by much. I'll estimate +/- 2% or better. I'm impressed, and pleased my my purchase.
 
elton said:
I can't imagine why anyone would need a clamp meter for a job like that. A cheap and basic multimeter is what you need. And more importantly a basic understanding of DC electrical theory.
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It's often much easier to measure current without having to faff about breaking the circuit, and it makes high current measurement much safer. I first used a hall effect sensor many years ago when I had to make a meter capable of measuring 500A for work.
 
PaulRainbow said:
The clamp feature is for reading amps, not something you'll be doing much of for the work you describe. However, it's a useful feature to have on a meter that lives on a boat, particularly should you have any charging issues. Most clamp meters don't do DC amps, so be careful of that. A decent quality one, without spending unnecessary cash is :

http://uk.farnell.com/tenma/72-7224/clamp-meter-dig-hand-held-3999/dp/1283640
Click to expand...

Suspicious that the product description doesn’t mention DC Amps, though. Worth double-checking.
 
dk said:
Suspicious that the product description doesn’t mention DC Amps, though. Worth double-checking.
Click to expand...

From the product description:

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From the datasheet:

FiPBfYT.png


From the image (note purposes of connections):

dZBhy25.png
 
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