Dc amps meter. how would it be used?

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Jul 14, 2020
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i bought a clamp meter to test the amps on my air compressor. they have one model that does AC only , and one that does both AC and DC. i am thinking now i should have bought the one that does both, but am not sure what uses the DC part would come in handy.

So what uses would a DC clamp be used for ?
 
checking or tracing current or a parasitic load in a 12/24/48 Volt Battery systems- like an RV golf cart, or electric boat.
see if an alternator is sending a DC charge out to a battery...

Battery stuff.
 
An amp meter is useful for a lot of things. Last thing I used one for was to test the current draw of a heater motor (it got replaced because it was drawing 50% more amps than it was supposed to).
 
lol, for anything that's DC instead of AC?

There are lots of DC things, including the internal circuitry of things that start out with AC from the wall but then rectify that to DC. In the automotive world there is anything and everything on the vehicle.

If you would never use it for DC then there is the answer to whether you need that feature. There are a few circuits on a vehicle that have higher amps than a typical budget grade multimeter ammeter (~10A) can handle but for most vehicle circuits you can use a meter series connection instead of a clamp ammeter, or measure the voltage drop between two points to find a current flow problem, but if you have the opportunity to exchange your AC only meter for a dual function at a small cost or hassle increase, then I'd go ahead and do it.

Remember to avoid a common mistake that some make using a clamp ammeter to measure AC wall current on corded *appliances*. You can only have the hot or neutral wire in the clamp, not both (not the whole power cord) or they'll cancel each other out. Because of this, for many AC mains powered devices (up to 15A) I would sooner plug them in to a Kill-A-Watt meter to get a current reading, much faster and easier unless you set up a test jig for multiple uses, that has an outlet and plug at opposite ends and pulls aside a length of wire between them so you aren't disassembling the appliance to separate the wires.
 
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lol, for anything that's DC instead of AC?

There are lots of DC things, including the internal circuitry of things that start out with AC from the wall but then rectify that to DC. In the automotive world there is anything and everything on the vehicle.

If you would never use it for DC then there is the answer to whether you need that feature. There are a few circuits on a vehicle that have higher amps than a typical budget grade multimeter ammeter (~10A) can handle but for most vehicle circuits you can use a meter series connection instead of a clamp ammeter, or measure the voltage drop between two points to find a current flow problem, but if you have the opportunity to exchange your AC only meter for a dual function at a small cost or hassle increase, then I'd go ahead and do it.

Remember to avoid a common mistake that some make using a clamp ammeter to measure AC wall current on corded *appliances*. You can only have the hot or neutral wire in the clamp, not both (not the whole power cord) or they'll cancel each other out. Because of this, for many AC mains powered devices (up to 15A) I would sooner plug them in to a Kill-A-Watt meter to get a current reading, much faster and easier unless you set up a test jig for multiple uses, that has an outlet and plug at opposite ends and pulls aside a length of wire between them so you aren't disassembling the appliance to separate the wires.
ok. will return the one i have and get the other one. gonna get a line splitter also when i order it

 
unless you set up a test jig for multiple uses, that has an outlet and plug at opposite ends and pulls aside a length of wire between them so you aren't disassembling the appliance to separate the wires.
Yup, such splitters are readily available for about $10-$12. I have this one:

But there are many others like it since this one appears to be OOS.
 
If you have an RV or a boat or are looking for a parasitic draw in your car the DC clamps are great. For AC I just bought a 2 ft extension and split the jacket open and pulled the Hot wire out.
 
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