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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!hunter.premier.net!news.mathworks.com!news.sprintlink.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!arclight.uoregon.edu!news.uoregon.edu!Symiserver2.symantec.com!news From: tedm@agora.rdrop.com Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Memory Checkers; Now Clamp-on Ammeters Date: 2 Nov 1996 21:21:56 GMT Organization: Symantec Corp. Lines: 32 Message-ID: <55ge1k$n3v@Symiserver2.symantec.com> References: <326D34A9.6F29@nortel.ca> <54mnjl$b3e@Symiserver2.symantec.com> <BfJw3fG.smartsignal@delphi.com> Reply-To: tedm@agora.rdrop.com NNTP-Posting-Host: shiva1.central.com X-Newsreader: IBM NewsReader/2 v1.2.5 In <BfJw3fG.smartsignal@delphi.com>, Jim Nelson <smartsignal@delphi.com> writes: ><tedm@agora.rdrop.com> writes: > >>For about $80 you can buy a cheap ammeter, these are very useful for this >>kind of thing. They have this big "crab pincer" thing on the end of them that >>you snap around a wire to measure how much current is flowing through it. >>These are used all the time by electricians wiring houses and such. You take the >>device and snap the crab thing around all the wires coming from your power >>supply (while the computer is on and running of course) and this will give you a >>total amperage measurement which can be used to calculate the wattage that >>the computer is pulling through the power supply. > >Clamp on ammeters are only good for measuring AC. Guess what comes out >of a working PC power supply: DC. By the way, if you're measuring AC, >you've also got to limit yourself to a single conductor. Rubbish. I have sitting in my lap here a 1996 electrical distribution catalog from Omega (www.omega.com) that lists clamp-on ammeters that measure AC and DC amperage, voltage and resistance. (although how they measure _that_ without making a hard connection I have no idea) The part number of the unit is HHM51-DC and cost is $250. They also have clamp on watt meters and thermometers on the following pages. You can order the thing at 1-800-826-6342 Now, maybe my cost estimate is a bit off but it has been several years since I used these devices. I have also used clamp on ammeters to measure amperage in electrical power cables that have multiple conductors, so I know that your second statement is not correct either.