Small amp clamp

[steved]

Can anyone recommend a good small clamp-on ammeter that will measure both AC and DC current? I'm considering the Extech 380947. I want something that's small enough to tuck into a pocket of my tool bag and that will fit into a crowded rat's nest of wires.

I do have an Amprobe ACDC-620T, but I rarely use it because it's so big. I've been using a piece of junk Craftsman meter, but it has died and I want to replace it with something better.

 

[LarryFine]

Nice meter.

 

[brother]

I forget the name right off hand, but FLUKE had put out some new meters, one was a good amp meter to fit into small spots. I think its a T Pro or T+ model.

http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/Fluke+TPRO+T.htm?catalog_name=FlukeUnitedStates

 

[iwire]

I forget the name right off hand, but FLUKE had put out some new meters, one was a good amp meter to fit into small spots. I think its a T Pro or T+ model.

http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/Fluke+TPRO+T.htm?catalog_name=FlukeUnitedStates

I have this Fluke

and I like it a lot but it is not true RMS and will not do DC current.

 

[e57]

Nice meter.

Jaws for 400a - may be larger than it looks???? :-?

I have one of these for use with my meter - pretty small...

Connects to one of these: (Not having to jam the meter into the cabinet make it easy to read)

Same meter could also use one of these: (No I don't have one)

 

[acrwc10]

I didn't konw they were making a clamp on DC amp meter.

 

[K8MHZ]

I didn't konw they were making a clamp on DC amp meter.

Sure do, but it's not cheap:

https://www.kvmtools.us/product_info.php?products_id=6210

 

[LarryFine]

Sure do, but it's not cheap:

https://www.kvmtools.us/product_info.php?products_id=6210

Gee. Where did you get that link? :wink:

Actually, that was the loweest price I found.

 

[jflynn]

I have this Fluke

and I like it a lot but it is not true RMS and will not do DC current.

same here,- I know alot of guys who carry the fluke amprobe,Its pretty compact...

 

[brian john]

I use the AEMC pictured here

http://www.aemc.com/

The 503

Also the SL261 and MR561

 

[76nemo]

Are you looking for a clamp meter, or clamp accessory for a DMM you already have?

 

[steved]

I'm looking for a separate clamp meter.

 

[76nemo]

I'm looking for a separate clamp meter.

Check out Fluke's 336 and 337. They both measure AC/DC, they both have the inrush function. The 337 measures up to 999.9A AC/DC and has Min/Max as well. I have the 337 and love it, not extremely small, but it will fit in a bag pocket. The jaws are elongated enough to wrap around buss' as well.

 

[Ranch]

meandering on the clamp on subject .....

meandering on the clamp on subject .....

I want to pretend all we are measuring is 4-20mA DC. I have a buddy-bob that felt the need to show me a new toy recently. I attached the image because I don't know how to insert one.

About 95% of every 4-20mA my buddy-bob measures are connected to a 250Ω input. The other 5% are 500Ω

In so many cases I see it safer to use good voltmeter probes across for example a 250Ω PLC input, look for +1 to +5VDC (500Ω input look for +2 to +10VDC). You?re going to verify polarity of your loops immediately. So with a good variety of good probes, you can keep you hands out of the way (practice with chopsticks and use one hand and get that heart out of the way also!) and not disturb connections by wiggling a clamp on around.

But back to the intent of the thread ? consider options that connect to your voltmeter. That will keep your size down and remember, you can keep it even smaller if you consider measuring one conductor with multiple conducter per phase installations. We never use a single conductor over 400A for many reasons, including this subject.

To Steve D ? what?s your typical range of measurements? Do you ever clamp around bus bar?

To everyone - how do you paste an image off your clipboard?

 

[Smart $]

...how do you paste an image off your clipboard?

I can't... which means you can't, too

It has to be in file form and upload either to this forum (click paperclip icon at top of message entry box), or another web server or photo/file hosting service (e.g. Photobucket) then provide or embed (click the picture icon) the URL in your message...

 

[steved]

I need to measure AC current up to a maximum of about 65A. The biggest wire size for AC is 6AWG. For DC, the currents and wire sizes can be much larger, but most commonly I need to measure small wires carrying only a few amps. I can always dig out my big Amprobe if I need greater capacity. I don't need to clamp around bus bars.