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Post by tomten on Jan 22, 2017 13:25:48 GMT
Friend is after one tool to do all jobs he is likely to encounter on a big cruising yacht. It's mostly AC, big genset on board, over 1000AH @ 24v.
He asked me to recommend a fair quality multimeter, probably somewhere under £50. I figure a clamp meter will be more helpful, as he can measure current in the AC cables without opening up and risking a zap, but can still use probes to measure voltage when needed...
Is this correct? Are there any advantages to a standard multimeter in this application which I might have overlooked?
Can anyone recommend a good one???
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Post by naughtyfox on Jan 22, 2017 13:51:47 GMT
Have posted this before, worth a watch:
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2017 14:21:44 GMT
LEM Heme make good clamp meters. Quite expensive but second hand ones come up on fleabay now and then.
I'd prefer a used good one to a new shit quality one myself.
I know fekall about mains so may not be relevant. I just use mine for DC (measure one wire only) its excellent
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2017 14:22:53 GMT
Friend is after one tool to do all jobs he is likely to encounter on a big cruising yacht. It's mostly AC, big genset on board, over 1000AH @ 24v. Sounds like DC to me
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Post by smileypete on Jan 22, 2017 14:31:55 GMT
I'd get one of these: www.google.co.uk/search?q=UNI-T+UT210ECompact, reads AC and DC amps down to the milliamps on the 2 amp range. £25ish so fairly cheap. Plenty of reviews and info on the web. That said it only reads up to 100A so maybe a bit low for his needs, if so could pair it with another clamp meter like the Uni-T UT203 or Mastech MS2108A (IIRC) which are £25ish also and read up to 400A
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Post by kris on Jan 22, 2017 16:33:46 GMT
Wheres a good place to buy a uni-t UT 203, my meters just given up on the ghost so I'm in the market for a replacement.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2017 18:18:38 GMT
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Post by kris on Jan 22, 2017 18:22:29 GMT
Thanks for that, I forget about Amazon. I was thinking more of going and picking one up somewhere.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2017 18:26:46 GMT
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Post by tomten on Jan 22, 2017 19:26:34 GMT
Friend is after one tool to do all jobs he is likely to encounter on a big cruising yacht. It's mostly AC, big genset on board, over 1000AH @ 24v. Sounds like DC to me Obviously he has batteries, which are DC. But all the distribution is AC, through an inverter. Thanks for the comments!
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Post by tonyt on Jan 22, 2017 21:49:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2017 18:39:52 GMT
But it doesn't measure DC current! And he doesn't need a 400A AC meter either!
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Post by tonyt on Jan 23, 2017 19:30:02 GMT
But it doesn't measure DC current! And he doesn't need a 400A AC meter either! The op stated that he wanted a Clamp meter to read AC current in post 1 did he not? You won't get a decent quality Clamp. Meter to read dc for £50
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2017 19:43:22 GMT
But it doesn't measure DC current! And he doesn't need a 400A AC meter either! The op stated that he wanted a Clamp meter to read AC current in post 1 did he not? You won't get a decent quality Clamp. Meter to read dc for £50 The OP didn't say that, it was his friend who was asking for advice and doesn't know what he wants! Buy, yes, the request was for an AC meter.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2017 19:52:08 GMT
Friend is after one tool to do all jobs he is likely to encounter on a big cruising yacht. It's mostly AC, big genset on board, over 1000AH @ 24v. He asked me to recommend a fair quality multimeter, probably somewhere under £50. I figure a clamp meter will be more helpful, as he can measure current in the AC cables without opening up and risking a zap, but can still use probes to measure voltage when needed... Is this correct? Are there any advantages to a standard multimeter in this application which I might have overlooked? Can anyone recommend a good one??? Is your friend going to be employed on this yacht? Or has he bought one? Extech multimeters are a good compromise of price/quality. Pen type multimeters are very useful if working on your own, in tight spaces.
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