Amp load meter?

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Evets
Anyone use an amp load meter to determine how many amps are being used on a circuit?
I'm trying to find one that has an 120 outlet plug on it and is easy to use. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
 

dealtimeman

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Good luck, I eve been looking for one for years,closest I have found displays all amperage through one outlet but not whole Çircuit.

Please let me know if something has changed and you do find something.
 
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dgardner

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Michael is right. Such an instrument doesn't exist, and probably never will. To measure amps the current (or the magnetic field it generates) must pass through the meter. The only place the total current flows is in the wire between breaker and the first outlet.

If you're willing to pop the breaker panel faceplate and clamp a meter around the branch circuit wire then an inexpensive meter (clamp-on amp probe) already exists, but not very practical (or safe) for non-electrician use.
 

dgardner

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Like Michael mentioned, only reads what is plugged in to that one outlet, still no clue as to the total current on the circuit.
 

Larry Cobb

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There are some new meters that check the capacity of a circuit by applying a brief current load and looking at the voltage drop.

We like this model ( $249) : circuittest.jpg
 
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dgardner

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That is a nice instrument, but it still doesn't tell you the load that is currently on the circuit. It will impose it's own load on the circuit to measure impedance and voltage drop, neither of which answers the OP's question...

CT80Features.jpg
 
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Desk Jockey

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Many many many decades ago, back when Gozilla was a baby lizard. I used to plugged everything we need and waited to see if it popped.

If it did we ran extension cords and moved equipment off the same circuit.

Thank gawwwd those days are gone!

Yep, now the guys setup everything they need and wait for it to pop. :shifty:

Daisy chain capable, low amp draw equipment allows fewer issues with breakers. Fewer extension cords too.
 
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dgardner

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I outlined a simple way in my previous post, but if there are other ways, enlighten me. Always enjoy learning something new.
 

dgardner

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Responses like that really bug me.

If the person really does know the answer but just won't tell us - then why even post? Just to make all of us feel somehow inferior?

I suspect that such comments usually indicate the poster doesn't really have a clue.
 
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Cleanworks

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I brought a pile lifter to an electrician's shop once to determine the amperage draw and he had a meter that he plugged into a clean 15 amp circuit and plugged the pile lifter into it. He knew before hand that it was a clean circuit. The pile lifter registered a short 30 amp draw on start up and dropped to about 13 amps continuous. In the real world, it means start your pile lifter with the brush off the carpet, then lower it when you hear the click of the dual capacitors. If there is a meter that you can plug into a socket that will tell you if there is already a current draw, I want one. I constantly run into renovated buildings with ground fault interuptor plugs in the bathrooms that turn out to be on the same circuit with the lights and the hallway lights and plugs.
 
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Responses like that really bug me.

If the person really does know the answer but just won't tell us - then why even post? Just to make all of us feel somehow inferior?

I suspect that such comments usually indicate the poster doesn't really have a clue.

Give you a hint...

It's something you do on every water damage.

And Dan, don't hate... your part time involvement, does not give you enough street credit.
 

dgardner

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How does street cred as a carpet cleaner count towards solving an electrical/instrumentation problem? Any idea what I do for a (day job) living?
Hint: You could read my hot seat interview. Google (or at least the search function here) will help you in this case.

Another hint: If you search the AZ registrar of contractors and look for large corporate entities that have a C-11 license (commercial electrical contractor) and peruse the qualifying party for that license, you will find my name. Since 2002.

But chest-thumping doesn't prove knowledge. Telling everyone the answer does. Your turn. I'm done.
 

kmdineen

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Turn off the breaker on the circuit you are plugging your equipment into and see what turns off? Then estimate the draw of the appliances on that circuit?
 

dgardner

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Sure. Although that wouldn't be measuring the current draw, it might come close enough for the intended use, to figure out approximately how much load you can add.

Quick and easy? Depends on your point of view, I suppose.

Just be sure not to kill your customers computer just before he hits save on the report he just spent 4 hours typing in.....
 

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