On Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:28:28 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 4/9/2011 2:04 PM Steve Turner spake thus:

On 4/9/2011 2:58 PM, A. Baum wrote:

On Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:41:05 -0500, Steve Turner wrote:

But measuring and understanding the ramifications of current
(amperage) is where I get a little fuzzy. Would you help me out?
That's why I came here.

I advised you the last time to measure the 24 volt circuit amperage
draw and convert that to the specs (volt-amps) of the transformer.
If the draw is out of bounds of the specs then the 24 volt circuit
is the problem. You can't put a band-aid on a bullet wound.

Yes, you did, and thanks for the suggestion. I've never used my meter to
measure amperage before, and I don't know how to do that conversion, but I will
study up on it.

It's not a "conversion".

To measure current (which, properly speaking, is what you're measuring,
not "amperage"), you have to break the circuit and put the ammeter in
series with the circuit, so that all the current goes through the meter.
(As opposed to measuring voltage, where you put the meter *across*, or
in parallel with, the thing whose voltage you want to know.)

In your case, since you want to see how much current is being drawn from
the transformer, you'd put the ammeter between one of the transformer
secondary leads (doesn't matter which one) and whatever wire from your
unit that's supposed to connect to that lead.

Since you're measuring AC current, you'll need an AC ammeter, which
rules out most digital multimeters, which only are designed to measure
DC current. Not sure where you'd (quickly, easily) get an AC meter.
Maybe others can suggest? But that's how you do it.


Pardon? every one of my digital meters has an ac current range.. The
one on my desk right now has a 200ma and a 20 amp scale, while for DC
it has 2ma,20ma, 200ma, and 20 amp.

My "pocket" meter has 2 amp and 10 amp AC and dc

My "bench" meter has 300ma and 10 amp, both AC and DC.

The first digital meter I ever owned (and I still have it) has 2ma,
200ma and 10 amp ranges (and it is 30 years old)

And my"amp clamp" reads 200 or 1000 amps