Clamp on (Hall Effect) Ammeter

[W8LV]

Does anyone know of a cheap clamp ammeter that will read small amperages for simple bench work and experimentation for the five volts/microamps to a couple of amps crowd? I don't need a big HVAC Lineman's Job that's NIST Traceable and will miss the small stuff anyway...

Yes, I have a Fluke V... But Harbour Freight/Princess Auto has its advantages.

I've been working on a type of MHD pump for years, for medical applications.

Alas... I'm a bit underfunded.
Which I'm sure I wouldn't be if I was working on designing more efficient Plutonium Triggers. Such is Reality.
;-)

73 and All the Best!
DE W8LV Bill


Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Hydron]

I'd look at the UT210E, discussed here on the EEVBlog forums: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/a-look-at-the-uni-t-ut210e/. It will do down to 1mA resolution, is cheap, small, and has both DC and AC current modes (hall sensor).

However it's rather susceptible to external magnetic fields, including the earth's, and will need zero-ing and to not be touched afterwards to get a good reading down in the mA region.

There isn't much else budget stuff out there other than the newer UT211B, which goes to 0.1mA resolution (AC only, 1mA for DC), but I haven't used that and am not sure if it would be worth the upgrade over the (cheaper) UT210E given the external field sensitivity issues.

If you want to do micro-amp stuff then you'll probably need a shunt or a multi-turn coil to sense the current.

[W8LV]

Wow and Thanks for the advice! Thats the power of Tapatalk: An almost Real Time COMMUNITY.
(Though I often get lost in the actual using of it, lost password, etc.

As with Everything, The Devil is in the Details... You can imagine the difficulty level here with the type of magnetic pump I am dealing with here... Might anyone suggest a cheap source of Mu-Metal to work with? What to scrap from? Or a cheaper "good enough" material to work with along these  (flux ! ;-)) lines?

I know one thing: I'm pretty close here. And a lot of experimentation with the "M" field isn't where the answer is:  I'm sure it's right in Lentz's Equations and the "E" field. And sure as Hell, I'm going to find it.
IF I can wrap my head around it and with a little luck. For now, it's looking me right in the face, whilst sticking it's tongue out and waving hands in ears.

73 and All the Best!
DE W8LV Bill



Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[thm_w]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/clamps-meters-with-miliampere-(ma)-resolution/