clamp meter

[colnerov]

Hi, It's probably the loom chafed through to earth somewhere as said, replace the fuse with a bulb or buzzer then go round moving the loom about and when it earths the bulb or buzzer will show out. With the bulb in circuit there's a load and no dead short, so no damage.

Colin

 

[zzr1200]

I agree with all of the above. If your still after an amp clamp meter try searching for "uni-t 203 acdc meter" can be obtained for less than £30.00 on the bay of fleas, from a trader in Birmingham (uk)

I use one of these at work, a good cheap ampclamp not a Fluke, but who really needs an expensive over priced meter?

 

[CKJDJK]

Replace the fuse with a bulb in holder. 21 watt will do. When working normal bulb will be dim but when the fault is there the bulb will be bright. The bulb reduces the current making it much safer and gives a visual indication. Have the bulb holder on a long lead and you can work on any where on the car and see if you can reproduce the fault.

 

[voipio]

Clamp meter clamps are basically transformers, so will only measure AC current, or rapid changes in current e.g. pulses. They won't measure constant DC currents.

 

[Robotstar5]

Clamp meter clamps are basically transformers, so will only measure AC current, or rapid changes in current e.g. pulses. They won't measure constant DC currents.

So how does this measure DC current?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

You can get plug in testers that replace the fuse mini or maxi blade fuse type.

I've got one of those. Made by Gunsons. Useful. I got an inline fuse holder so it can be used with croc clips and other connectors to attach directly rather than through the fuse box

 

[daleyd]

You can even get them to measure down to 4 ma dc current, we use them in work.

http://www.fluke.com/fluke/uken/pro...p-calibrators/fluke-771-772-773.htm?pid=56128

So how does this measure DC current?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Thumbs up for the Fluke. I use one for work.
Plus it is almost engineer proof.

 

[brightspark]

Clamp meter clamps are basically transformers, so will only measure AC current, or rapid changes in current e.g. pulses. They won't measure constant DC currents.

my fluke clamp measures ac and dc. I also have a clamp for measuring earth leakage down to milliamps

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Earth leakage on a fire alarm is AKA a nightmare.
I "borrowed an old Navy cable test set, can't rcall the CT number, but that way I can trace a fault to approx. 10 meters of it.

 

[daleyd]

Earth leakage on a fire alarm is AKA a nightmare.
I "borrowed an old Navy cable test set, can't rcall the CT number, but that way I can trace a fault to approx. 10 meters of it.

Perks of being CRETE coordinator!!

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Earth leakage on a fire alarm is AKA a nightmare.
I "borrowed an old Navy cable test set, can't rcall the CT number, but that way I can trace a fault to approx. 10 meters of it.

I have a digital TDR, Time Domain Reflector, meter that measures cable length or distance to break. You input the cable size and type, connect it to one end and press the button, we bought it for one job as a customer had a cable that failed under a newly laid block paving car park and it was bang on with its measurement, to within a metre over a 90m total length. I've never used it since!

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@daleyd
Well I never.
Ok, that was with an AVO 8 in the case with the complete lead set.

Bad Vark

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@Wendelspanswick
My test set will 90% of the time get me to a detector or a unit. But if it is water on MI cable it will get me to an area of max 10 meters, sadly with MI cable and moister and bends etc will show up in that 10m run. That way if we get to a single run, cut it out and run new FP cable.
I get a few meters of copper MI cable for my recycling bins.

 

[armalites]

These are very good on cars as they are smallish so you can get into the loom easier.AC/DC current from 1mA-80A

http://isswww.co.uk/dilog-dl6506-1m...7pyTFKsudvg0EZ6_0yGFs1Ar1Y06QzaZ4caAmWp8P8HAQ

 

[brightspark]

These are very good on cars as they are smallish so you can get into the loom easier.AC/DC current from 1mA-80A

http://isswww.co.uk/dilog-dl6506-1m...7pyTFKsudvg0EZ6_0yGFs1Ar1Y06QzaZ4caAmWp8P8HAQ

same as the small one I have

 

[ukracer]

I've got one of those. Made by Gunsons. Useful. I got an inline fuse holder so it can be used with croc clips and other connectors to attach directly rather than through the fuse box

I purchased a few bits including one of these and to be honest nothing was needed but common sense and you can't buy that. lol

the little fuse ammeter from Maplins was weird. it could have been useful but it is itself fused so really was not 100% useful in my application other that it was a bit easier to replace blown fuses.

My son removed the radio as the fuse blew as soon as the fuse was replaced. it was apparent the ignition did not need to be on for the fuse to blow. that stopped the fuse blowing. As he pushed the radio back in the fuse blew again.....

so it was then just a case of looking for a chuffed wire and Eagle eyes spotted it. lol

All fixed. it had almost burnt through so I pulled it and tinned the ends . a quick twist and solder plus a bit of heat shrink later and all fixed.

thanks for all the advice...

 

[Bill Edwards]

I have a digital TDR, Time Domain Reflector, meter that measures cable length or distance to break. You input the cable size and type, connect it to one end and press the button, we bought it for one job as a customer had a cable that failed under a newly laid block paving car park and it was bang on with its measurement, to within a metre over a 90m total length. I've never used it since!

That sounds like a brilliant piece of kit (for very rare jobs).

 

[voipio]

So how does this measure DC current?

You can even get them to measure down to 4 ma dc current, we use them in work.

http://www.fluke.com/fluke/uken/pro...p-calibrators/fluke-771-772-773.htm?pid=56128

I stand corrected. My present clamp meters only measure AC current, on steady DC they register a big fat zero current. Most of the clamp meters capable of measuring DC current utilise a Hall-effect sensor. The Fluke 77x series are hideously expensive, though there are cheaper ones about, including Robotstart5's example. Perhaps it's time for an upgrade ;-)

.

 

[daleyd]

I stand corrected. My present clamp meters only measure AC current, on steady DC they register a big fat zero current. Most of the clamp meters capable of measuring DC current utilise a Hall-effect sensor. The Fluke 77x series are hideously expensive, though there are cheaper ones about, including Robotstart5's example. Perhaps it's time for an upgrade ;-)

.

Yes, the 77 series are really only any use if you are doing work on control loops, not really for general work. Nice kit for doing that though, saves disconnecting wires to measure the output but as you say eye wateringly expensive!!