Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidEM
I agree that a digital multimeter is a must have tool for RV maintenance. You need to be able to check voltages at various connections to see what is going on.
But multimeters won't measure (much) current, as usually they have a 500 ma limit, sometimes a few amps. And you have to break the circuit to be able to measure current with one.
The device I use almost as much is a clamp on DC ammeter. All you have to do is clamp the probe around the wire you want to measure current. This is very useful for example to see if the chassis electrical system is charging the coach system and visa versa or where your parasitic DC loads are going. I clamp on to the batteries DC + terminal and then pull each of the converter's DC fuses one by one and note any change.
They aren't cheap though and don't be fooled by lots of misleading ads such as on Amazon. It needs to say DC ammeter, not AC ammeter and AC/DC voltmeter like most of the Amazon ads that you get when you search for DC clamp on ammeter.
Unfortunately prices have gone up and it now costs more than $100 for a decent one from Klein tools, much more for a high end one from Fluke.
David
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$15 Harbor Freight. Mine is working great after 10 years. I have a short (one foot) extension coed with 12 awg THHN wires between the plug and receptacle so I can measure the A/C current. For DC I use the max hold function. Of course you have to turn the circuit of and on to measure the max current flow. The use store switch works well for this when the converter is off.
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