On Fri, 27 Nov 2015 16:40:29 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 27 Nov 2015 11:05:29 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:37:24 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 27 Nov 2015 07:24:22 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 26 Nov 2015 20:40:46 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 26 Nov 2015 15:17:05 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Thu, 26 Nov 2015 17:45:27 -0500, Micky
wrote:

Wouldn't a clamp amp meter tell you the amp draw?

You know, I think I have one of those that I've never used. This
would be the time!


Put the meter clamp around the cable, on the correct setting.

Engage the ignition and read the meter under peak stress. I guess that
will give the max amp draw across the cable to the starter. Stormy
Head seems to think they only read AC?
The specs micky posted STATED they only read AC current - and it is
true. He needs a dc ammeter.

look at
http://www.hoytmeter.com/products/te...icators-detail

We used to use these "slip-on" ammeters for checking charging current
and starter current all the time "way back when" but I cannot find any
other info about them on the web. They were in a brass case, with a
wire guide on the back thet you passed the current carrying conductor
through, Back in the sixties they were about $15 for a set if I
remember correctly - which was far from cheap when you were earning $2
an hour - - - -

I still have my Herbrand HT700 that reads +/- 75 amps.

Just found one on Ebay -
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage-Herbr...-/151739115613
The ht740 was for starters - up to 400 amps.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Two-Vintage-H...item1a090ed2cd

I'd be awfull tempted to get those 2 myself, at that price!!!!! (even
though I don't need them) - they'd cost me a bit over $25 for the
pair, delivered.

ISTR a Youtube video where a guy used those, maybe Herbrand, on a
vehicle to check for a broken wire. At one side of the break he had
amps, but not on the other -- so the wire break was located. He sold
the meter on his web site.

Is my recollection correct? I'll look for the video later.
Can't use an ammeter to check for an open, but there was a kit made
to locate shorts that worked that way - it had an "interupter" that
took the place of the fuse and turned the current on and off - pulsing
it, due to the short (in reality, just a self resetting thermal
breaker.) I still have the meter portion from mine - the breaker went
up on smoke about 20 or 30 years ago.

The wire would have a pulsing current on the battery side of the short
- and no current beyond it.

They worked reasonably well for a while - - - -

This is the kit he used (inline-fuse that cooled and reset & amp
meter) . The wire was shorting to ground.

http://realfixesrealfast.com/short-finder.html

This is the video I mentioned: (22:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZrCrBx4uFY

Here he finds an intermittent where the wire was broken: (22:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux_9782rOsI

I get all my electrical verbiage mixed up


I didn't look at the video, but he would find an intermittent short
where wire insulation was damaged. Locating an intermittent open
requires more sophisticated equipment.

Yes the equipment was more sophisticated (scanner / labscope). He
still used the amp meter you mention to track things down. When he
opened the cable bundle to inspect - the intermittent wire broke.

He could reproduce the problem near the computer module.