No excuses, you need one of these.

[merl]

So, having answered many electrical queries and problems on here and posted several times about the necessity for motorhomers to own a DC clamp meter I thought I'd post info on this one which I've just took delivery of and cost me just £17.42 Inc postage, Mustool C21.
I got it from Banggood, another of the Chinese cut price exporters, rather like Temu et al.
I already own a Uni-T DC clamp meter, these are much more expensive and sensitive but only goes up to 100A so I thought I'd treat myself to one which can measure higher currents when using the inverter etc.
It also measures a lot of other stuff like voltage, temperature, resistance and continuity so even if you're not 100% sure of what to do with it you can ask here or someone who knows and you'll be able to diagnose all of those Charging/discharging/what's going on/battery questions that we see so often. It's less than £20 and in the grand scheme of multi thousand pound MHs it's cheap and it could easily save you a trip to the garage and a lot of expense.

[£20.45 33% OFF] MUSTOOL C21 AC/DC Current Voltage Digital Clamp Meter Large Color Screen NCV 6000 Counts True RMS Automatic Measurement Smart Digital Multimeter Measurement & Analysis Instruments from Tools on banggood.com

MUSTOOL C21 AC/DC Current Voltage Digital Clamp Meter Large Color Screen NCV 6000 Counts True RMS Automatic Measurement Smart Digital Multimeter

m.banggood.com

 

[Nesting Zombie]

I’ve got a similar clamp meter, I find it really useful to Wedge under my table top work board when preparing Game,
I honestly didn’t know that these might measure Temperature as well though .
Seriously it IS a useful addition to the tool box that has had lots of use over the years & will check more closely the functions on my mine.

 

[merl]

I’ve got a similar clamp meter, I find it really useful to Wedge under my table top work board when preparing Game,
I honestly didn’t know that these might measure Temperature as well though .
Seriously it IS a useful addition to the tool box that has had lots of use over the years & will check more closely the functions on my mine.

Part of the dual display always shows the ambient temp for some reason! It also comes with a remote probe for measuring temp which I've not tried.
It also measures frequency and capacitance which unless you're a complete electronics nerd will be of no importance but it does also have a NCV function that shows the presence of live mains without connecting anything, just hold it close and it lights up and beeps
, quite handy for seeing if a cable or socket is live.

 

[Fazerloz]

Anyone finding this clamp elsewhere make sure it is the C21 and not the C20 the C20 does not do DC current

 

[Pudsey Bear]

You never know what you need to measure. Hopefully, I'm not too dumb to drive it.

 

[Nesting Zombie]

My cheap but non the less very useful one one ,
In fact it’s SO old, it’s going all Blurry

 

[merl]

View attachment 136805My cheap but non the less very useful one one ,
In fact it’s SO old, it’s going all Blurry

That's another case of AC current only zombs unfortunately.

 

[Fazerloz]

For a cheap meter it does quite well. At £20 its a good buy.

 

[merl]

Anyone finding this clamp elsewhere make sure it is the C21 and not the C20 the C20 does not do DC current

Yeh, you've got to be careful, check any drop-down boxes before hitting 'buy' and make sure get the exact model. (ain't that right Rob?)
The Habotest HT205D looks like another cheap alternative BUT NOT the 205A, again that's AC current only.
It seems to have increased in price by a fiver? Must be all the WC members and dynamic pricing

 

[Fazerloz]

I think they deliberately word their ads to mislead people.

 

[merl]

I think they deliberately word their ads to mislead people.

Really? I can't imagine Chinese sellers doing that sort of thing eh

 

[Fazerloz]

Really? I can't imagine Chinese sellers doing that sort of thing eh

I wonder why they have always been known as " inscrutable".

 

[merl]

Just compared the readings with my Uni-t. The display on the latest one wasn't quite as steady but it's accurate enough to see what's happening for sure.

 

[wildebus]

Part of the dual display always shows the ambient temp for some reason! It also comes with a remote probe for measuring temp which I've not tried.
It also measures frequency and capacitance which unless you're a complete electronics nerd will be of no importance but it does also have

a NCV function that shows the presence of live mains without connecting anything, just hold it close and it lights up and beeps
, quite handy for seeing if a cable or socket is live.

NCV probes/sticks are handy, but DO NOT assume a circuit is live/dead/good/bad on if it beeps or not. It can be misleading.
I tested a circuit with an NCV fairly recently and it told me the circuit was live but nothing would switch on? The problem was there was no neutral connection, so no actual power - but the NCV said it was active as it had a Live. So situation here is you think the cicrcuit is live, therefore whatever is plugged into it must be the problem. Nah!
It would be true to say it is less likely to report a live circuit as off, but it is still possible.
FWIW, I use an NCV Tester in conjunction with the switch/breaker for that circuit and check the NCV changes status depending on switch or breaker position. Then check with the Meter on the exposed wiring before putting fingers near it as a final check.

 

[merl]

.As well as NCV the meter also does 'real' mains voltage detection by touching just the red lead onto live too, you don't have to bother with the neutral, quite handy and simple because it auto detects too.

 

[number14]

I bought a Proster ac/DC clamp meter from Amazon in the summer. It has been invaluable in sorting out what proved to be a faulty solar controller and consequently getting a replacement from the supplier.

I checked the temperature measurement using boiling water and melting ice. It reads 2deg low at both ends but, still, can't complain for £23.