Can the clamp meter replace the position of the multimeter in the future?
Clamp on ammeters and multimeters are both essential "equipment" for electrical technicians. These two types of instruments have different functional focuses. Clamp on ammeters focus on measuring high current circuits, while multimeters focus on measuring low voltage and small current. When repairing circuits, the combination of the two is sometimes necessary, such as in repairing electrical equipment that combines strong electricity, such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and electrical control equipment. Both instruments are sometimes used equally.
The main "advantages" of clamp ammeter
We can tell from its common name that the clamp ammeter has its main "specialty", and sometimes we also refer to it as a current measuring clamp. It is an electrical instrument for measuring high currents, capable of measuring AC currents up to 1000 amperes, and can only measure a minimum current of 1 ampere. It cannot measure accurately any lower current. So its accuracy is only 2.5 to 5 levels, and there are many things to pay attention to when measuring high currents, which beginners need to memorize.
The main "strengths" of a multimeter
A multimeter, also known as a "universal meter", has the main advantage of strong comprehensive ability, such as being able to hold and place all eighteen martial arts. It can not only measure AC current but also AC voltage, DC current and voltage, resistance, inductance, capacitance, audio level, diode, transistor amplification factor, transistor type, etc. Moreover, its measurement accuracy is much higher than that of a clamp current meter, with an accuracy of up to 0.1, especially for digital multimeters. For high currents, it can measure current values up to 10A, which is sufficient for general equipment. I need to use a multimeter nine out of ten times to complete tasks when repairing and debugging equipment. So in terms of usage frequency, the usage rate of multimeters is much higher than that of clamp ammeters, so I believe that multimeters are more useful for repairing electrical equipment.
Multimeter with clamp ammeter
With the promotion of digitalization and the research and development of new products, more and more instruments are adopting digitalization and becoming a trend of development. Analog instruments are gradually withdrawing from the use of "stage". Nowadays, digital clamp ammeters have also emerged, and their function is no longer a single measuring instrument. As the measurement accuracy of digital clamp current meters improves, the physical quantities they measure also become more diverse, such as current, voltage, resistance, active power, frequency, phase angle, power factor, and other physical quantities. It has dual functions of a multimeter and a clamp ammeter. I think this type of instrument will be favored by a large number of electrical technicians in the future.
