Thinking of getting one for my multimeter.
Do you have to loop the clamp round just one of the conductors (L or N for
mains) or can you loop it roiund the two ?

Jim Hawkins

Jim Hawkins wrote:
Thinking of getting one for my multimeter.
Do you have to loop the clamp round just one of the conductors (L or N for
mains) or can you loop it roiund the two ?

Jim Hawkins


You must clip it round a single conductor. If you clip round both L & N
there will be no net current to measure.
Consider getting a Hall effect one as this will measure DC as well as AC
currents.

Bob

On Nov 1, 9:55*pm, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
Thinking of getting one for my multimeter.
Do you have to loop the clamp round just one of the conductors (L or N for
mains) or can you loop it roiund the two ?

Jim Hawkins

it has to be on one wire only. Can you use them on meters not designed
for them?


NT

On 01/11/2011 22:04, Bob Minchin wrote:
Jim Hawkins wrote:
Thinking of getting one for my multimeter.
Do you have to loop the clamp round just one of the conductors (L or N
for
mains) or can you loop it roiund the two ?

Jim Hawkins


You must clip it round a single conductor. If you clip round both L & N
there will be no net current to measure.

Yup, although there are a few variations on this you can use...

You can loop the same conductor through them more than once to get a
larger reading, so ten turns of a conductor with the reading divided by
ten will give more accurate results usually.

You can reverse the neutral with a twist and then loop round both for a
x2 reading.

You can loop round L & N for a current imbalance reading - i.e. if your
meter is sensitive enough a measure of earth leakage for example.



--
Cheers,

John.

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NT wrote:

On Nov 1, 9:55 pm, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
Thinking of getting one for my multimeter.
Do you have to loop the clamp round just one of the conductors (L or N
for mains) or can you loop it roiund the two ?

Jim Hawkins

it has to be on one wire only. Can you use them on meters not designed
for them?

Yes - assuming it's an old style current transformer. Just choose the
appropriate range for the clamp.

If it's something funky that can do DC current, then you'd have to check if
it is designed as a generic clamp or if it will only work with a particular
meter.

--
Tim Watts

In message , Tim Watts
writes
NT wrote:

On Nov 1, 9:55 pm, "Jim Hawkins" wrote:
Thinking of getting one for my multimeter.
Do you have to loop the clamp round just one of the conductors (L or N
for mains) or can you loop it roiund the two ?

Jim Hawkins

it has to be on one wire only. Can you use them on meters not designed
for them?

Yes - assuming it's an old style current transformer. Just choose the
appropriate range for the clamp.

If it's something funky that can do DC current, then you'd have to check if
it is designed as a generic clamp or if it will only work with a particular
meter.

Farnell. £10.00 ish. Chinese! 1mV/Amp.

Do they actually work?

I invested in a cheap multirange clamp meter which did not work out of
the box. Too cheap to send back:-(

I am now looking at it with a view to finding out why.

regards


--
Tim Lamb