AC current probes

[Jim Hawkins]

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

[Bob Minchin]

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

[NT]

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

NT

[John Rumm]

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.

[Tim Watts]

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 Lamb]

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