Greenlee DC clamp meter, need schematic or cal procedure

S

spamme0

Guest
I have a Greenlee CM-750 DC current clamp meter.
The power-on DC reading is 7.5A.
Yes, the zero button fixes it, but I'd rather have
it power on close to zero. The 7.5A has been VERY
repeatable. I'd be satisfied with equivalent repeatability
at zero.

The thing has nine variable resistors on the current board.
Need to determine which sets the DC offset.
Anybody figured this out?
Or have access to the super-secret documentation?
Or maybe it's equivalent to another brand with
available documentation?

Would save me reverse-engineering the thing.

I did try demagnetizing the clamp with a tape degausser...no effect.

Greenlee support has been useless. They seem to know
what to do, but won't say. "press the zero button"
is about all they'll admit.

Yes, I can send it in and have it tweeked for free...
Problem is that they won't tell me if it will fix the
zero problem..."press the zero button" Grrrrrr!!!!

Help???
Thanks, mike
 
On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:59:44 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net>
wrote:

I have a Greenlee CM-750 DC current clamp meter.
The power-on DC reading is 7.5A.
Yes, the zero button fixes it, but I'd rather have
it power on close to zero. The 7.5A has been VERY
repeatable. I'd be satisfied with equivalent repeatability
at zero.

The thing has nine variable resistors on the current board.
Need to determine which sets the DC offset.
Anybody figured this out?
Or have access to the super-secret documentation?
Or maybe it's equivalent to another brand with
available documentation?

Would save me reverse-engineering the thing.

I did try demagnetizing the clamp with a tape degausser...no effect.

Greenlee support has been useless. They seem to know
what to do, but won't say. "press the zero button"
is about all they'll admit.

Yes, I can send it in and have it tweeked for free...
Problem is that they won't tell me if it will fix the
zero problem..."press the zero button" Grrrrrr!!!!

Help???
Thanks, mike
AFAIK, this is the nature of the beast, residual magnetism and
environmental magnetism are the cause, and since a DC clamp-on doesn't
see a changing (A/C) field, you need to zero it each use.

My Amprobe is exactly the same (the error is different, not quite as
much) but it must be zeroed each time.
 
PeterD wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:59:44 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net
wrote:

I have a Greenlee CM-750 DC current clamp meter.
The power-on DC reading is 7.5A.
Yes, the zero button fixes it, but I'd rather have
it power on close to zero. The 7.5A has been VERY
repeatable. I'd be satisfied with equivalent repeatability
at zero.

The thing has nine variable resistors on the current board.
Need to determine which sets the DC offset.
Anybody figured this out?
Or have access to the super-secret documentation?
Or maybe it's equivalent to another brand with
available documentation?

Would save me reverse-engineering the thing.

I did try demagnetizing the clamp with a tape degausser...no effect.

Greenlee support has been useless. They seem to know
what to do, but won't say. "press the zero button"
is about all they'll admit.

Yes, I can send it in and have it tweeked for free...
Problem is that they won't tell me if it will fix the
zero problem..."press the zero button" Grrrrrr!!!!

Help???
Thanks, mike

AFAIK, this is the nature of the beast, residual magnetism and
environmental magnetism are the cause, and since a DC clamp-on doesn't
see a changing (A/C) field, you need to zero it each use.

My Amprobe is exactly the same (the error is different, not quite as
much) but it must be zeroed each time.
Yeah But...
It has 0.1A resolution. I can waive it around with no change in
residual reading. The 7.5A error term is virtually constant.
Should be able to zero that out. Yes, you have to zero it for precise
measurements...but I'd still like to be able to whip it out and be within
an amp.
Need the cal procedure.
 
On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:59:44 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net>
wrote:

I have a Greenlee CM-750 DC current clamp meter.
The power-on DC reading is 7.5A.
Yes, the zero button fixes it, but I'd rather have
it power on close to zero. The 7.5A has been VERY
repeatable. I'd be satisfied with equivalent repeatability
at zero.

The thing has nine variable resistors on the current board.
Need to determine which sets the DC offset.
Anybody figured this out?
Or have access to the super-secret documentation?
Or maybe it's equivalent to another brand with
available documentation?

Would save me reverse-engineering the thing.

I did try demagnetizing the clamp with a tape degausser...no effect.

Greenlee support has been useless. They seem to know
what to do, but won't say. "press the zero button"
is about all they'll admit.

Yes, I can send it in and have it tweeked for free...
Problem is that they won't tell me if it will fix the
zero problem..."press the zero button" Grrrrrr!!!!

Help???
Thanks, mike
Was it actually 0 when new?

I can see the 7.5 being a model identifier at power on.

John
 
news@jecarter.us wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:59:44 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net
wrote:

I have a Greenlee CM-750 DC current clamp meter.
The power-on DC reading is 7.5A.
Yes, the zero button fixes it, but I'd rather have
it power on close to zero. The 7.5A has been VERY
repeatable. I'd be satisfied with equivalent repeatability
at zero.

The thing has nine variable resistors on the current board.
Need to determine which sets the DC offset.
Anybody figured this out?
Or have access to the super-secret documentation?
Or maybe it's equivalent to another brand with
available documentation?

Would save me reverse-engineering the thing.

I did try demagnetizing the clamp with a tape degausser...no effect.

Greenlee support has been useless. They seem to know
what to do, but won't say. "press the zero button"
is about all they'll admit.

Yes, I can send it in and have it tweeked for free...
Problem is that they won't tell me if it will fix the
zero problem..."press the zero button" Grrrrrr!!!!

Help???
Thanks, mike

Was it actually 0 when new?
NO idea, didn't buy it new.

I can see the 7.5 being a model identifier at power on.
Where do you see that?
On mine, it's the amps reading before you press the zero button.
 
On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:26:37 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

news@jecarter.us wrote:

On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:59:44 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net
wrote:

I can see the 7.5 being a model identifier at power on.

Where do you see that?
On mine, it's the amps reading before you press the zero button.
I also suspect that "7.5" could be a model identifier. The instruction
manual for models CM-700 and CM-750 suggests that the two models
differ only in that the former displays average values whereas the
latter displays RMS. Maybe the CM-700 identifies itself as "7.0". Why
don't you try powering on the meter with a 7.5A current flowing
through the clamp?

Instruction Manual For Greenlee Model CM-700 & CM-750 Digital Clamp-on
Meters:

http://65.36.183.19/greenlee/im/im1464rev01.pdf

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
Franc Zabkar wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:26:37 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

news@jecarter.us wrote:

On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:59:44 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net
wrote:

I can see the 7.5 being a model identifier at power on.

Where do you see that?
On mine, it's the amps reading before you press the zero button.

I also suspect that "7.5" could be a model identifier. The instruction
manual for models CM-700 and CM-750 suggests that the two models
differ only in that the former displays average values whereas the
latter displays RMS. Maybe the CM-700 identifies itself as "7.0". Why
don't you try powering on the meter with a 7.5A current flowing
through the clamp?

Instruction Manual For Greenlee Model CM-700 & CM-750 Digital Clamp-on
Meters:

http://65.36.183.19/greenlee/im/im1464rev01.pdf

- Franc Zabkar
Thanks for trying to help, but you gotta quit trying to make something
significant out of the coincidence between the power-on reading and the
model number. In fact, the number is really 7.8 amps, I just picked
a round number that I could remember to indicate the problem.

Yes, the power-on reading is whatever is running thru the clamp plus 7.8
amps.

Please, no more model number display theories.
It's COINCIDENCE.
It's NOT the model number. It's OFFSET in the reading.

I don't need help interpreting the symptom. I need help
FIXING the problem

What I need is a calibration procedure...or schematic.
Thanks,
mike
 
On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:20:41 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

Yes, the power-on reading is whatever is running thru the clamp plus 7.8
amps.

Please, no more model number display theories.
It's COINCIDENCE.
It's NOT the model number. It's OFFSET in the reading.

I don't need help interpreting the symptom. I need help
FIXING the problem

What I need is a calibration procedure...or schematic.
Thanks,
mike
Why not tweak the pots and see what happens? In fact you wouldn't need
to disturb the pots -- just solder a resistor, or an additional pot,
or a resistor wheel, between the wiper and one end. You may still need
to repair the meter if the offset is due to a bad component.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
 
Franc Zabkar wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:20:41 -0700, spamme0 <spamme0@netscape.net> put
finger to keyboard and composed:

Yes, the power-on reading is whatever is running thru the clamp plus 7.8
amps.

Please, no more model number display theories.
It's COINCIDENCE.
It's NOT the model number. It's OFFSET in the reading.

I don't need help interpreting the symptom. I need help
FIXING the problem

What I need is a calibration procedure...or schematic.
Thanks,
mike

Why not tweak the pots and see what happens? In fact you wouldn't need
to disturb the pots -- just solder a resistor, or an additional pot,
or a resistor wheel, between the wiper and one end. You may still need
to repair the meter if the offset is due to a bad component.

- Franc Zabkar
Been there, done that, no joy.
 

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