Clamp Meters - Whats the difference?

[Tidy Max]

Hello everyone!

I needed a clamp meter on a job last week. It was the first time ive needed one so as i was picking up some gear i picked up one of those Handyman test kits.

I assumed they would be half decent as Handyman is made by Metrel (any opinions on that are very welcome!).

Anyway, used the clamp meter and it seemed alright, if a little sluggish. However trailing the forums this week i have seen multiple mentions of meters such as:

standard clamp meter
r.m.s clamp meter
earth leakage clamp meter

I originally bought mine to see how much current was being pulled as an rcbo kept tripping. However now im thinking i should of got an earth leakage lamp meter.......although whats the difference between that and using a standard clamp meter on the earth?

I usually test earth leakage with the ramp testing method, but is a leakage tester quicker or more accurate?

As always any advice is much appreciate, i can upload pics of the meter or the hanyman kit too.

 

[Tidy Max]

Thats the kit and then the clamp meter up close.

Also, any idea what the difference between the multimeters is? Why supply two?

 

[telectrix]

the main difference is the resolution. a normal clamp meter will not resolve down to mA. for earth leakage measuring, you need a resolution of at least 1mA, some go down to 0.1mA. if you camp an earth conductor, it measures leakage. alternatively, clamp both the tails. the reading (mA) difference in current between the L and N is the leakage,

 

[Spoon]

Are you sure you didnt get the test kit just for the colour??

 

[i=p/u]

Ain't cheap.. .. For an all in 1 .

 

[Tidy Max]

Are you sure you didnt get the test kit just for the colour??

Haha you got me Spoon!

Cheers Tel, i should of been able to work that out to be honest.

What is the purpose of an rms ckamp meter then? More accurate AC readings?

 

[Marvo]

What is the purpose of an rms ckamp meter then? More accurate AC readings?

Yes an RMS clamp meter will give more accurate readings because it isn't adversely effected by distorted waveforms cause by noise or harmonics etc.

 

[Silly Sausage]

Yes an RMS clamp meter will give more accurate readings because it isn't adversely effected by distorted waveforms cause by noise or harmonics etc.

Indeed!
Any instrument you get, make sure it's a TRUE RMS job. They calculate the true value as opposed to displaying a theoretical value.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

This is the earth leakage clamp meter I bought a short while ago. After chatting to the guys on this site it seemed ok so might be worth you getting it as compared to the other earth leakage clamp meters its MUCH cheaper... but I wonder what you lose out on for that cheap price. Its also from a forum sponser so you'll get another 5% of if you pop in the code.

I haven't used the earth leakage capabilities yet but it also tests continuity and voltage which is what I wanted.

Might be worth a look:

TM-EL9809 High Resolution AC Earth Leakage Clamp Meter

 

[telectrix]

that's a cracking little meter, happy. better resolution than mine. :33:

 

[HappyHippyDad]

that's a cracking little meter, happy. better resolution than mine. :33:

Yeah..... but at least you know how to use yours! :shame:

 

[telectrix]

it's not difficult. you just set it on lowest range and clamp the cpc of a circuit, or clamp L&N together to measure any difference. that's your leakage.

 

[i=p/u]

Does the range mean as low as 40mA or 10mA

 

[telectrix]

you may have a range of 40mA, but that;s the max it'll read on that range. the resolution ( i.e. lowest readable value) could be 0.01mA.

 

[Marvo]

This is the earth leakage clamp meter I bought a short while ago. After chatting to the guys on this site it seemed ok so might be worth you getting it as compared to the other earth leakage clamp meters its MUCH cheaper... but I wonder what you lose out on for that cheap price. Its also from a forum sponser so you'll get another 5% of if you pop in the code.

I haven't used the earth leakage capabilities yet but it also tests continuity and voltage which is what I wanted.

Might be worth a look:

TM-EL9809 High Resolution AC Earth Leakage Clamp Meter

There's nothing wrong with that tester, it has great resolution and it's certainly cheap enough. I've heard only good things around the forum about them as well. I'm surprised you haven't had call to use it, I use my earth leakage clamp meter quite regularly.