| Author | Message | ||
     Uly_man |
Benning CM-2.  I have just bought this to replace my stolen work meters. This is a proper Pro German AC/DC clamp and multi-meter. It will measure DC current down to 10 mA on a 40 amp range at +/- 1% of reading using the clamp. Auto ranging and manual zeroing. Most DC clamp meters can not do this and those that can will cost a small fortune. Ok so why is it so good. Amps normally need to be measured in-line but a clamp meter clips over the cable to give you the reading. Safer and easier. No cutting/bridging across cables. Why is it of use in tracing faults. Parasitic drain is a real problem with modern cars and bikes today as are other faults. All you need to do is turn off the bike/car, clamp over the wire and you will then find what is using power that should not. Most drain is well below 1 amp so you need a meter that can handle this. This one can do it. You can also use it to measure AC output (if access to cables), DC output to the battery and even how many peak amps your battery pulls on starting, your HID lights or even your GPS/Mobile on the socket. I checked it out using a 900 mA electronic charger on a battery (another good use) and you could see the charge rate drop as the battery charged. Worked great. This a wonderful bit of kit, the best I have ever had and small enough to take on tour. I would 100%. Luv it to bits. | ||
| Mnrider |
Very nice meter,looks like it also does ohms. How much $. | ||
| Froggy |
Where do I buy it? It has a digital display, I'm sure I can figure out how to use it.  (Message edited by Froggy on March 07, 2012) | ||
| Sharkguy |
Looks like 167 euros. | ||
| Eulysses |
Uly_Man...would this be a comparable one by stat? http://www.metrictest.com/product_info.jsp?mfgmdl= HP U1211A(N) | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
http://www.multimeterwarehouse.com/clampmeter.htm | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Left nut for that Benning CM2. I need both. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I can tell you for a fact that the Harbor Freight clamp on current meter is more of a random number generator than any kind of actual measurement tool... For what that's worth... | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I picked up another useful electrical device not long ago. It's called a "toner". You hook it up to one end of a circuit and then take the other (cordless) part and place it near, say, a bundle of wires. It will emit a faint audible tone. As you get closer to the actual wire in the target circuit, the tone gets louder till you find the exact wire, terminal or whatever. Great for finding open circuits and bad grounds. A real one costs a couple hundred but I got a cheepo at the home depot for 35 aprox. | ||
| Uly_man |
I had a Martindale mini clamp meter (65GBP) and a big Fluke (160GBP) clamp/multimeter. I bought the CM-2 to replace them for work. It does everything, Cat 2/3 etc, is true RMS and fits in your pocket. Thinking on it now though its small enough to lose easy as well. I guess I will need to watch out for that one. It does not have a built-in "no-contact" AC volt sensor or a light but I think I am getting "super picky" now. They would be a great update on the next version though and are very handy to have in the field. "Looks like 167 euros." I got it brand new off E-Bay for 56GBP and they cost 168GBP in the UK. Which given the quality, true RMS meters costs more, and what it can do is still a good price. I would pay that for it no problem. "Uly_Man...would this be a comparable one by stat?" Its hard to say. As I said I bought the CM-2 for AC work and the spec is for 1mA DC which any multimeter will do but most DC clamp meters are for big DC currents as used in heavy industry. Less than 1A DC is automotive and the process industry. I used one to trace the parasitic drain on my old BMW but because the clamp meter only went down to 1A I could isolate the true source. A long boring story, LOL. I never thought the CM-2 would do 1mA DC with the clamp but it does and I proved it. I was "super happy" it did and showed it to my Wife who was very clearly not as impressed with it as myself. Mind you She thinks that the BMW fairy "comes of the night" to fix the car? Ok so it is a little sad but I am an engineer and we like our new tools. "I picked up another useful electrical device not long ago. It's called a "toner"." Now this does sound like a good tool. Thanks Panhead_dan. "Where do I buy it? It has a digital display, I'm sure I can figure out how to use it." Frog you clearly know what you are doing and it will be no problem at all. Select Volts or Amps and then AC or DC. Ohms is another selection. Auto range is automatic for all selections, overload protection, auto off and it only has one + and one - input rather than the three of some multi-meters. |
