Good clamp meter for low DC currents

[DaneLaw]

Permanently out of tolerance by how many %? Then what's even the point of owning a clamp meter, if you have to think before clamping on a conductor, whether it's within the limits of the clamp meter or not? If it's going to happen some time (accidental measurement of high current), it will happen. It's only a matter of time.

At work we have fluke 771 process clamp meter, which says to no exceed 120mA. Is there a possibility that it can be damaged the same way as CM11, when measuring too high of a current? (It's also hall-effect).

These expensive clamp / leakage-meters for minute values from the likes of Fluke & Benning are very sensitive, so would keep those out of the picture if you're unsure what values you're dealing with..
Use some of the cheaper ones.. from the likes of OWON 2100(B) or UnitT 210E and many others - there are quite a few models that perform decent, atleast down to single digit mA levels..
Quite OL tolerant for higher values. 

I think many people rely on a couple of clamp meters... one for lower values, and one for higher, as their sensors are optimised for a certain ranges.
Nowadays doesnt cost a lot.. the two units I got.. still perform well., as long as you cycle the zero button when measuring DC.. Set me back like 70 $ in total for both.. (HT208D / ET210E]

[Martin72]

I think many people rely on a couple of clamp meters... one for lower values, and one for higher, as their sensors are optimised for a certain ranges.

This.
We have current clamps ranging from 1mA to 2000A. We mostly use the medium-sized clamp (Fluke 337), but if you want to measure the standby current of a power supply, for example, the Fluke is no longer sufficient, and that's when the Benning comes into its own.
We use the large Fluke clamp, which goes up to 2000A, for battery current measurements.
Of course, you should have a rough idea of what currents to expect, so you don't damage anything.

For personal use, I would also choose a UT-210E or the equivalent from Owon as a “medium size” current clamp.
If you want more precision in the very low current range, you can add a CM11 or similar device.
So you should have two clamps.

[Njk]

Of course, you should have a rough idea of what currents to expect, so you don't damage anything.

BTW this is how my young colleague (not a EE, just a SW guy, a mathematician by education) once managed to blow out a golden fuse in my Fluke 189. He heard from someone that a high leakage current can drain the car battery quickly. So he asked me to measure the leakage current in his car. We went to the car, I measured the current with the Fluke and found nothing unusual. Next time, he wished to measure it by himself and asked me for the instrument. The result was a broken fuse. The correct way to measure that stuff is to connect the ammeter in parallel to a closed circuit, then break the circuit such that the current starts flowing through the ammeter. But he simply connected one lead of the Fluke to the battery and another lead to the battery clamp. The initial current spike blew the fuse out.

This is not about a clamp measurement at all, but be aware, the initial current spike can magnetize the sensor introducing an error

[dait]

Wondering if anyone has a list of clamp meters that work standalone but also output mV/A on the jacks for use with an oscilloscope if desired?
If possible, would be nice to combine functions instead of buying a clamp meter and a current probe for a scope which would both be used only occasionally. My use case would be automotive so don't necessarily need the fastest sampling rate in the universe.

AFAIK the Owon 2100B and Uni-T 210 series do not... except by modifying the units shown on YouTube by Joe Smith but there doesn't seem to be any guides to achieve that.



Tenma 01056 according to instruction sheet here: Analog output: (for ACA & DCA range), 10mV/Amp (20KHz at ±3dB)

GTC CM-100 according to the FAQ here: The CM100 provides an analog output voltage through the positive and negative socket connectors when set to measure current DCA. This output voltage is proportional to the DC + AC components of the current being measured, and has a ratio of 10 mV/A and a 10 KHz bandwidth limit.


The GTC also has peak hold "Peak Hold Function 10 mS for DCV and DCA" although it is quite a bit pricier. The Tenma product page mentions "Data Hold and Max hold functions" but the instruction sheet has no mention.