Yes the zero function is something you have to look for. Because usually clamp do add some offset in the value because of environmental factors and other stuff. So, zeroing will put the displayed value to zero, before you take a measure. Some clamps do not have the zero button but once you go back to a different setting and forth to the AC they “self zero-ed” themselves… So just look for a YouTube video… Or even better search for a review in a competent site like eevblog or such.
The inrush is used for AC measurements (at least in mine) and in simple terms measured something similar to the peak current in its first 100ms(in mine model).
So for example you can set the clamp to inrush mode leave it there alone and go powering up a system, go back to where you left the clamp and see the absorption peak of the system while it started.
I think it differs from the simpler peak because after it has monitored something when firstly the current arrive it stores the data and not continues to monitor for a higher value.
Also the calculated current should be done by an integral and not just by looking for the highest value… This could be bull@hit from my imagination I’ve should have read them somewhere but I’m not sure… So if you want you have to research and scrutinize better
Hopefully I made myself understandable, sometimes I read what I wrote few minutes earlier and I can barely understand it myself… Lol
I think if you have to be on the 28-38 use budget and have DC current (for flashlights obviously) there are not many models and a lot are just rip off of the one I mentioned earlier
The 210e has good reviews and a nice starting price point, but I’m open to others. I think the most important thing be that it is accurate and consistent in the 2-20 amp DC range. It would be sweet to do a small groupbuy on something, but I’m hoping to order something in the next week or two, to make sure it makes it out of China before new years
TheBo do you agree the 210e would be good for our purposes? It has the 2amp range that some others don’t have. It gets 4.9 out of 5 on Amazon with 26 reviews, and it’s nice and compact.
Freeme: you think we can do a fast turnaround time on this one?
Yes, it was my first choice, but remember, I’m a hobbyist so asking to me is like asking to a buddy.
Anyway I’m really curious to see the GB price if this will received the due attention. Too bad I already spent more than what I needed
Also note, if you don’t now what it is… That the 210e has 2000 counts
This means that a value of 1.999 will be displayed as 1.999
A value of 2.001 will be displayed as 2.00
Just FYI
Also note that, technically, resolution doesn’t mean accuracy… This means that something (hypothetically) could be more spot on (regarding accuracy) than something that has more displayed digits (resolution)
But generally resolution comes handy when you have to see small changes
After reading this thread I remembered that I’ve thought about buying a clamp meter before. The 210E seems to be a good choice so I’ve bought one from the Tomtop store (Tomtop.com with warehouse in Germany). Currently on offer, the price seemed to be ok and delivery should be faster compared to other China stores.
The accuracy for DC current is listed with 2%, not bad compared to other models in this price range. I would have spent some more for the MASTECH MS2115B (on offer in a German store for 55 Euros, but it has only a 40A range and higher. Although 6000 counts and an USB port… The PC interface could be used to do measurements of charge/discharge currents over time.
In the Ali 11/11 sale for $38.It has auto DC ranging and a temp probe above the E model. most people won’t need those features if the E is significantly cheaper.If you can get it for under $30,I would recommend it.
i had once a cheap mastech clamp meter but it was a lot more inaccurate than the cheap 20$ DMMs I have. I had to wind the measuring cable a few times around the clamp and calculate the average.
The cheap DMMs have the advantage that they use these simple glass fuses which only cost cents but won’t work really good as a protection because they can let through a high power pulse. The better DMMs have the big fluke fuses(like in the pictures above) and protection circuits build in. So you can tell from the fuse used if it is a good or a bad quality DMM. There are a few very nice videos from eev blog on YouTube with lots of infos about DMMs.
But these fluke fuses cost 10$ each…that’s why I like cheap DMMs and normally the cheap 10A fuse is made to work with 10A easyly which is enough for most flashlight needs and with triple direct drive builds I try to measure not longer than needed. But thes don’t break so easyly(minutes).
Datasheet http://cdn-reichelt.de/documents/datenblatt/C400/TraeGE%23ESK.pdf
2minutes at 20A…
You guys might want to take a look at one of those cheap RC watt meters if cost is a concern and current measurement is the only thing that interests you. I got mine off Ebay for $14 and it seems reasonably accurate.
But the question would be what voltage drop will be caused by the meter… The measurement will be accurate but the current could be much higher if the drop is too large to be negligible.