Harbor Freight Clamp Meter
 

"David L. Foreman" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 22:07:14 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:

SKU # 96308 on sale for $7.83, Friday only.

The lowest AC current range is 20 amps, full scale, but you can put ten
turns of wire through the jaws to read 2 amp full scale. This will
display the current to the nearest milli-amp.

The voltmeter only goes to 300 volts, AC or DC, but that's all you need
to measure the line voltage to the radio you're working on.


Here is the manual:
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/96308.pdf

His will turn an un metered variac into a more usable tool.


Michael
I don't find this on sale. Do you have the entire number?
Or is that a store only sale?
Searching on 96308 doesn't show any thing. A search on meters brings up
96308-OVGA at $12.95. It doesn't show up in the sale prices either.
The O or 0VGA nees to be changed to show a sale price I think.
At least that is what I have seen in the past
Thanks
Dave Foreman

I think that price is an in-store special only. If you have a Harbor Freight
retail store in the neighborhood, you'll have to make the trip to buy it. At
any rate, HF used to stock a 10-turn range multiplier that made the connection
easy. I can't find it on their web site any more, so I guess it's discontinued.
I'll post a couple pics of it on alt.binaries.pictures.radio. Basically, it's a
10-turn coil of #14 wire that's installed between the source and load. Your
clamp meter's clamp goes through the center of the coil.
It's built so that there's two windows... one with a single turn for a 1:1
current ratio, and the other window is the 10-turn coil.
Note that in the picture, I indicate that the main coil has 9 turns. The 10th
turn comes from the wire that bypasses the coil and goes directly to the socket.
If you want to construct one, just follow the pictures and you should be in
business.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

"In theory, there isn't any difference between theory and practice. In
practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

Harbor Freight Clamp Meter
 

DaveM wrote:

"David L. Foreman" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 22:07:14 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:

SKU # 96308 on sale for $7.83, Friday only.

The lowest AC current range is 20 amps, full scale, but you can put ten
turns of wire through the jaws to read 2 amp full scale. This will
display the current to the nearest milli-amp.

The voltmeter only goes to 300 volts, AC or DC, but that's all you need
to measure the line voltage to the radio you're working on.


Here is the manual:
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/96308.pdf

His will turn an un metered variac into a more usable tool.


Michael
I don't find this on sale. Do you have the entire number?
Or is that a store only sale?
Searching on 96308 doesn't show any thing. A search on meters brings up
96308-OVGA at $12.95. It doesn't show up in the sale prices either.
The O or 0VGA nees to be changed to show a sale price I think.
At least that is what I have seen in the past
Thanks
Dave Foreman

I think that price is an in-store special only. If you have a Harbor Freight
retail store in the neighborhood, you'll have to make the trip to buy it. At
any rate, HF used to stock a 10-turn range multiplier that made the connection
easy. I can't find it on their web site any more, so I guess it's discontinued.
I'll post a couple pics of it on alt.binaries.pictures.radio. Basically, it's a
10-turn coil of #14 wire that's installed between the source and load. Your
clamp meter's clamp goes through the center of the coil.
It's built so that there's two windows... one with a single turn for a 1:1
current ratio, and the other window is the 10-turn coil.
Note that in the picture, I indicate that the main coil has 9 turns. The 10th
turn comes from the wire that bypasses the coil and goes directly to the socket.
If you want to construct one, just follow the pictures and you should be in
business.


Your arrow pointing to 9 turns is correct, but the point were the
meter clamps has 10 turns. The last turn isn't complete in a physical
sense, but it is at the point the current is measured.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Harbor Freight Clamp Meter
 

"DaveM" wrote in message


"David L. Foreman" wrote in message
...

On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 22:07:14 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:

SKU # 96308 on sale for $7.83, Friday only.

The lowest AC current range is 20 amps, full scale, but
you can put ten turns of wire through the jaws to read
2 amp full scale. This will display the current to the
nearest milli-amp. The voltmeter only goes to 300 volts, AC or DC, but
that's all you need to measure the line voltage to the
radio you're working on. Here is the manual:
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/96308.pdf

His will turn an un metered variac into a more usable
tool.

I don't find this on sale. Do you have the entire number?
Or is that a store only sale?
Searching on 96308 doesn't show any thing. A search on
meters brings up 96308-OVGA at $12.95. It doesn't show
up in the sale prices either. The O or 0VGA nees to be
changed to show a sale price I think.


The clamp meter in the manual looks like this one on their web site:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95683

$9.99 or $7.83 matters not very much. ;-)

Harbor Freight Clamp Meter
 

DaveM wrote:

At any rate, HF used to stock a 10-turn range multiplier that made the connection
connection easy. Basically, it's a
10-turn coil of #14 wire that's installed between the source and load. Your
clamp meter's clamp goes through the center of the coil.

Here's the one I cobbled up. I used #12 THNN wire, simply because that's
what I had lying around. The Hubbell connectors are a bit much, but
again that's what I had at the moment. The white (neutral wire) is
coiled and laced, and that's what the jaws of the meter clamp around.
The short black and green wires go straight through.

An easier way would be to buy a 6-foot 3-wire orange extension cord,
preferably with #14 conductors. Carefully slit and remove the orange
jacket from the middle 5 feet, and separate the conductors. Coil and
lace the white wire; cut the extra length from the black and green
wires, and splice the ends with heat-shrink.

Bill

Harbor Freight Clamp Meter
 

"Bill Jeffrey" wrote in message
...
DaveM wrote:

At any rate, HF used to stock a 10-turn range multiplier that made the
connection
connection easy. Basically, it's a
10-turn coil of #14 wire that's installed between the source and load. Your
clamp meter's clamp goes through the center of the coil.

Here's the one I cobbled up. I used #12 THNN wire, simply because that's
what I had lying around. The Hubbell connectors are a bit much, but
again that's what I had at the moment. The white (neutral wire) is
coiled and laced, and that's what the jaws of the meter clamp around.
The short black and green wires go straight through.

An easier way would be to buy a 6-foot 3-wire orange extension cord,
preferably with #14 conductors. Carefully slit and remove the orange
jacket from the middle 5 feet, and separate the conductors. Coil and
lace the white wire; cut the extra length from the black and green
wires, and splice the ends with heat-shrink.

Bill



Yep, that's a good job... Just make sure that you always clamp the meter
through the side of the loop that does NOT include the neutral. That would
effectively give you a 9-turn coil, since the current in the neutral wire is
counter to the current in the coil's windings.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

"In theory, there isn't any difference between theory and practice. In
practice, there is." - Yogi Berra