D/C Amp Meter

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GreenPowerManiac
GreenPowerManiac Solar Expert Posts: 453 ✭✭✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
Could anyone recommend a decent DC amp meter 0-100a for less than $50.00 ?
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #2
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    Re: D/C Amp Meter

    Clamp or shunt?

    You can get a shunt and wire it into the circuit pretty cheaply.

    A decent DC Clamp meter is probably on the order of $100 starting price (and UP)...

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • GreenPowerManiac
    GreenPowerManiac Solar Expert Posts: 453 ✭✭✭
    #3
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    Re: D/C Amp Meter

    Point us the way to the good one.....

    Please describe either DC meter option:
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #4
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    Re: D/C Amp Meter

    Well, in no particular order... (OK, I lied, starting from cheapest ;))
    • Shunts: Basically a calibrated power resistor with a pair of heavy connections for the power, and a pair of small connections to connect a milli-volt meter (I=V/R)
    wind-sun_2106_20552094Deltec 100 amp, 100 millivolt current shunt
    AC or DC - common item for use with many battery monitors and amp meters
    • Next, I really like meters that can measure Amp*Hours and Watt*Hours... To that end, the Watt's UP and Doc Wattson seem to be a good deal. Read the support manuals--they have suggestions on how you can measure current in excess of 60 amps.
    For inexpensive clamp on DC Amp Meters, the Extech meters seem to look OK. The MA220 looks interesting at $100 (Jameco Electronics is a couple miles from my home and I have purchased some inexpensive equipment from them over the past decade).

    Then there are Battery Monitors (external shunts and multi-function meter heads). The higher end units can have Peukert Factor correction in them too (the higher the current, the lower the apparent battery capacity):

    NAWS
    Victron

    Above that, I have used current probes from Techtronics (decades ago)--great for connection to a oscilloscope to measure exact current wave forms. I have also used a Fluke Meter Current Clamp...

    All have their limitations--And I have found (at least for me), the less expensive current probes I have used tend to wonder around zero current pretty significantly.

    If I needed to measure accurate/low amp currents (less than a few amps on either side of zero) and log those over time--I would tend towards using a current shunt for its long term accuracy. Also, with a shunt, you can connect various multi-function meters (amp*hour, watt*hour, battery monitors) and get more information about my battery bank's condition over time.

    If I needed to just check the current flow through various DC circuits for diagnosis and the occasional checkup--I would go with the DC current clamp (zero, then clamp, zero then clamp, etc.).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • GreenPowerManiac
    GreenPowerManiac Solar Expert Posts: 453 ✭✭✭
    #5
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    Re: D/C Amp Meter

    I chose the MA220 Extech Clamp type. Actually found one on the Bay for $40.00.
    I'm a "Tools" collector anyhow and I don't have one of those...yet. Thanks for the tips.....
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,439 admin
    #6
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    Re: D/C Amp Meter

    GPM,

    Lets us know how it works for you--I have been wanting a DC clamp meter for personal use for years... Just too cheap to buy one. :roll:

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,746 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #7
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    Re: D/C Amp Meter

    Bill,
    I also have the model that GPM has. It works very well. I have found a few bad stranded wire connections that needed torqueing on array strings. My old Fluke got run over by my brother-in-law...Give it a 9 on a one to ten. As you suspect, it is not perfect!
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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