Inductive amp meter extension wire loop

[frankiee]

I wish to read the amperage of individual circuits on a main power electrical box. The individual wires in the box are a tight fit for the clamp of my inductive amp meter.
Can I rig up with wire a wound loop around the wire in the box then measure the amp draw from that wire core?
I realize that depending on the number turns of the wire that it will affect the reading.
Any suggestions on how to do that?

Thanks

 

[waross]

Probably not. You may disconnect a wire from the breaker, splice on a longer wire, reconnect to the breaker and read the amperage in that wire with your meter.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[zappedagain]

I agree. One major reason is that you don't know how well the coupling between your main wire and your sense wire will be; you are building a loosely coupled transformer. This unknown can give you a significant measurement error; you might be able to calibrate it out if it is consistent.

John D

 

[frankiee]

Yes. To think about it it would not work. Too many variables

 

[dpc]

You can buy small sized current clamps, as well as the flexible core type, if you're running into this problem frequently. We have set of small clamps we use on CT secondaries. They just plug into our Fluke multimeter.

David Castor

http://www.cvoes.com