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Amperemeter

daleearnhardt01

daleearnhardt01

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Need a Clamp Amperemeter for work, only thing is it has to measure all the way down to 2 milli amps. I am having trouble finding one. I need to find one asap; a whole property's irrigation is down until I can diagnose the issue and I need this amperemeter to do so.
 
I carry the full line of Ideal and UEI at work , they can be pricey , but are a little more affordable than Fluke .

I warranted one someone said didn't work no questions asked , took it home changed the fuse , and have a nice new meter :D
 
So basically anthing that has a max resolution of .001 A will do what I need it to do?

Im sorry, im not well versed in these things and I have several people in my line of work telling me different things so I want to be sure I get what I need the first time.
 
Chris, what are you trying to measure? The coils on most 24 volt solenoid valves draw about an amp or so, and since you cannot put a clamp on ammeter around both legs of a circuit, you can usually break the circuit and put a meter inline where the wires split up.
If you can do that, most any cheap multimeter will read that low.
Unless you are trying to find the leakage current that is tripping a GFI, you should not need that low reading a meter.
If you are looking for the leakage current, that is going to be real hard to find with a clamp-on. I usually isolate and disconnect parts of the equipment until it quits tripping. Plus, with 24 volt systems, its usually the power supply anyway.

Let me know if I can help.

J,
 
This is on a 2 wire decoder system that has a short. I have to add up all the decoders on the system, each one uses between .5 and 1 mA and then compare that with the reading I get on the wire and work my way down the line following the high current number until I find the problem.

I am new to troubleshooting 2 wire systems and am going off what fellow irrigators are telling me I need to do.
 
MCLP687

New amp clamp we just came out with. From .001A to 40A. Track down a Matco guy, I have one on my truck right now. They have been mildly popular so maybe yours will have one.

Oh it is AC and DC amperage.
 
Chris, how much overcurrent are you seeing? Like you say, each one will draw around a ma or so. With no stations turned on, you should see about the same number of ma's as the number of modules you have on the line. A ma or two either way is probably not going to be a fault.
But, if you are seeing a large drain, you should be able to find it fairly easily. Put a regular multimeter in series with the main pair with it set on amps.
If you are drawing more than a few ma more than you should, then try feeling each module if you can get to them. If you have a shorted module, it will be warmer than the others.
If not, just get someone to watch the meter and try disconnecting the modules one at the time. The meter will dip slightly and pull back up when you disconnect and reconnect each one. The shorted one will dip a lot.
Don't forget that current is equal at all points of a circuit. Voltage will vary, but not current.

J.
 
PIcked up the Matco meter today, apparently the Matco guys comes buy once a week to our shop so I had the mechanic pick it up for me. Now I just have to find the short in this system.
 
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