how to measure AC Amps on devices?

[administr4tor]

hello,
I have this steamer, it claims to work at 120V and at Power 1700W
which comes to 15Amperes


I bought clamp meter to verify the claimed power at 110V,  how can I use this clamp meter to measure this machine while running?

WIll clamp meter work on cable wire which has 3 wires in it, hot, neutral and ground or the clamp meter needs only one wire to measure amps? if it needs only one wire then how am I supposed to get one wire out of this machine cable?

I have other devices to measures AC current consumption but I am running into same problem about how to measure Amps on cable running 3 wires ( hot neutral ground )

MACHINE


CLAMP METER i have with me

[IanB]

You need one of these:

https://www.google.com/search?q=current+clamp+cable+splitter

[BillyO]

You need one of these:

https://www.google.com/search?q=current+clamp+cable+splitter

Or you can build one yourself with either:

1) a plug, an in-line socket and some separate insulated wirers joining them.

2) stripping the jacket off a short extension cable (but not striping the insulation off the internal wires).

Then put the clamp around either the line or the neutral (not the ground).

[administr4tor]

You need one of these:

https://www.google.com/search?q=current+clamp+cable+splitter

they are limited to 10A-15A, I just checked
do you know any brand or model which supports more than 10A splitter

[administr4tor]

You need one of these:

https://www.google.com/search?q=current+clamp+cable+splitter

Or you can build one yourself with either:

1) a plug, an in-line socket and some separate insulated wirers joining them.

2) stripping the jacket off a short extension cable (but not striping the insulation off the internal wires).

Then put the clamp around either the line or the neutral (not the ground).

I see what you mean, I will do this instead of buying one
but wont the wires will be too close if I strip off of jacket and try to take out one wire out?
the other wire wont interfere with measurement?

[BillyO]

As long as only one current carrying wire is within the clamp it will not really matter how close the other wires are.

[IanB]

You need one of these:

https://www.google.com/search?q=current+clamp+cable+splitter

they are limited to 10A-15A, I just checked
do you know any brand or model which supports more than 10A splitter

Both Extech and Klein Tools models say 15 A. Anything which says 15 A will do 20 A for short periods, which is probably all you need to take a measurement. If you exceed 20 A your power circuit will be overloaded anyway.

[bdunham7]

they are limited to 10A-15A, I just checked

15A is the maximum that is allowed for that plug style, so no device you will find that works in that socket is going to claim a current capability of more than that.  Any of those line splitters will work fine for what you need.

I have the Klein version and that has ONLY the 10X function, so you'd need a clamp meter that can read at least 150A.  The Extech and similar ones with two loops have 1X and 10X measurement points.

[mariush]

Alternative to a clamp meter, get one of these : https://www.amazon.com/KETOTEK-Electricity-Kilowatt-Consumption-Protection/dp/B0B2K2HNDY/

The model in the link can show both AC voltage and Current at the same time, and can probably also show the power factor if you switch to other mode.
Other models may have simpler LCD screens where you would have to press a button to switch between seeing ac voltage, power factor, current, kwh etc

They should be fairly accurate from around 2w and up... probably just as accurate or more accurate than clamp meters (as you'll probably get only 1 or 2 decimals at 10+ amps and the value the clampmeter reads will vary depending on where the cable will be inside the clamp)