Clamp Meter -- No Contact on Dual/Three Wire AC Current Meas

[NYC Doc]

Can clamp meters determine AC current on conventional extensions cords that
have two conductors and a ground?


thanks in advance

 

[JeffM]

Can clamp meters determine AC current on conventional extensions cords
that have two conductors and a ground?
NYC Doc

No. Only 1 conductor can be in the clamp.

 

[mike]

NYC Doc wrote:

Can clamp meters determine AC current on conventional extensions cords that
have two conductors and a ground?


thanks in advance

Simplest thing is to unplug the cord and insert a current tap and
clamp the probe around that.

There is some technology using field measurements for power lines.
I've seen an article on a handheld instrument that can measure
the current in zip cord. Claimed 10% accuracy. Does some kind of field
measruement that can
distinguish between the different distances of the wire from the sensor.
Not sure if the third ground wire messes that up. Twist probably
doesn't help either.
The meter was so far out of my price range that it seems that I didn't
save the reference to the article.
mike

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[Don Taylor]

"NYC Doc" <nd@nd.com> writes:

Can clamp meters determine AC current on conventional extensions cords that
have two conductors and a ground?

Sure, carefully split a few inches of the cord so that you don't expose
bare copper but do separate each of the two conductors and ground
and clamp the meter around one of the non-ground conductors.