variac question

[ME]

I have given up on these small variacs and brought a 240v 2kva unit ,How can i add moving coil current meter to its input and output , use a toroid with the output from toroid windings rectified powering a meter?.

[Zero999]

A current meter needs to be placed across a suitable shunt resistor.

[TizianoHV]

I would just get a direct inserction AC ammeter
 5€ -> https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005008594991455.html
I would get a 20A ammeter (Even if you have a 8A variac, one nice things of them is the overload capability, see image).
Would be nice to have a digital wattmeter (es. https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005009143707470.html)
You can modify it to read down to 0V ->


Now you can test the small variacs with the big one. Try connecting one, raise the voltage slowly and hear how it sounds and feel if it gets warm (let it a few minutes).
Given the high number of turns I think they are good for 120V 60 Hz