Are Energy Monitor Clips supposed to work on any cables?

CYPER

CYPER

CYPER

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I just received this:



So it is supposed to be clipped to the master cable at you energy meter, but I want to clip it to any cable in my home.
I tried and it does not work. I called the British Gas support line and was told it will only work the the energy meter, but couldn't tell me way.

I mean does this clip distinguish between different cables? Cause they all carry current of electricity, right?

Is it faulty or it just won't work with my computer cord for example?
 
It doesn't work an any cable because it uses the magnetic field around the cable to calculate the current flow. This can only be done on one phase cable at a time, if there is more than one phase in the cable (or phase and neutral) you're measuring you'll find that they cancel each other out magnetically and it will read wrong or zero. (Always zero in a domestic installation). Basically, you can't whack it on your kettle lead and measure the current draw of the kettle.
 
Dabbles is correct, its basically a clamp meter, cheapened up and given away as a smart meter / energy monitor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_clamp

You can use it to measure any cable but you need to separate it or the magnetic fields will cancel and you will not get a reading.

Also its designed to work on your meter tails, which are 16mm or 25mm cables near your electric meter or main fuse, trying to measure very small currents will probably not work so well e.g a phone charger or something that uses 0.2A
 
I'm trying to measure 3.41A which is a desktop machine, but like you guys said it won't work :(

Then it is worthless to me as I live in a block of flats and the electricity meter is in a special locked room under the stairs at ground floor.
 
You should still have your own consumer unit or 'fuse box', you can clamp it around the incoming supply to that to get a reading for your whole installation. This might be in your cupboard or in the hallway cupboard for a block of flats, if you dont have easy access to your meter, or just put it on the meter where ever it is and check it every so often.

Tbh not sure if it would measure 3.41A but you can do it you just need to separate the neutral and live wires and only clamp around one of them.
For a pc cable this would probably be easiest if you have a spare kettle lead to strip the outer insulation to expose the individual wires (leave inner insulation on the wires) or use an old extension lead or something that you can do this to.

But at the risk of stating the obvious be careful playing with electricity.

The safe / sensible way of measuring what you want is to buy a plug that has that function tbh
 
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HardwareGeek said:
You should still have your own consumer unit or 'fuse box', you can clamp it around the incoming supply to that to get a reading for your whole installation. This might be in your cupboard or in the hallway cupboard for a block of flats, if you dont have easy access to your meter, or just put it on the meter where ever it is and check it every so often.

Tbh not sure if it would measure 3.41A but you can do it you just need to separate the neutral and live wires and only clamp around one of them.
For a pc cable this would probably be easiest if you have a spare kettle lead to strip the outer insulation to expose the individual wires (leave inner insulation on the wires) or use an old extension lead or something that you can do this to.

But at the risk of stating the obvious be careful playing with electricity.

The safe / sensible way of measuring what you want is to buy a plug that has that function tbh
Click to expand...

I have it but I'm not sure to which cable I should clamp it?

 
The first pic with it clamped on is not going to work as its clamped around both live and neutral.

From the other pics i cant tell which is the supply and also they are all in an outer sheath so you cant clamp live or neutral separately and its not worth damaging your wiring by stripping it just to do this measurement.

Next step would be to remove fuse box cover and the live and neutral will be separated going into the main switch you have there, you could probably clamp it and replace the cover and get the wireless readings, i have seen these left in fuse boxes before.

But having said that if you are not competent with electricity as you have shown by asking this question do not go any further as it would be dangerous to poke around inside the fuse box if you do not know what you are doing

Ps. You also do not have rcd protection in that fuse box, the fuses are there to protect the cables, not people, so be very careful with your electrics in general, fuses might not disconnect / wont disconnect in time if you get a shock and you could be electrocuted.
 
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jamief said:
That whole installation could do with being replaced.
Click to expand...

No argument there!

Doesn't look like there's seperate live and return cables there at all. I fixed our one in our garage where the large (100A) feeds come in (along with an earth cable). Can go on either cable in this case, live and return current will be equal unless something has shorted to earth!
 
HardwareGeek said:
But having said that if you are not competent with electricity as you have shown by asking this question do not go any further as it would be dangerous to poke around inside the fuse box if you do not know what you are doing
Click to expand...
I wouldn't touch anything there as I don't even know how I can cut off the power supply before removing the cover of the box. Or if it is even possible to turn it off.
jamief said:
That whole installation could do with being replaced.
Click to expand...

Well, we live in a council flat, rented from a private agency. I believe the actual owner was once a council tenant and bought the flat for cheap. At least the owner through the agency agrees to change things and shows she cares about her flat, but I don't think she will agree on changing the whole installation.


And on a different note what is this?

 
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Possibly some sort of ye olde connection for an old immersion heater or something? Real spark should know. What I do know is you want to be very very careful poking around in it as it could well still be live! Get that cover back on.

To change that old fuse box for a modern consumer unit with RCD protection could only cost a few hundred quid if the circuits all test out OK. Definately worth seeng if you can get it done/contribute towards.
 
Why would you want to clip it onto any cable in the first place? The power usage of a device is clearly stated in the manual.
 
I brought a philex energy monitor from asda for a few quid and that does a load of stuff came in quite handy for messuring my desktop and various other stuff.
Le28M15RD0vC0Narwp5TgYc_bfLxpjVRiubiyvc8XSXKl5HIwSjdQRA6kvFoRF0uGbkTWsnuYdKd8FgTCcRsic5GjR3FTJLhulypFyK519gHdfe61wy8RUo9Q1JA9oZG78xdpyliSwCL03vj


rated to 3120watts so dont plug it into any high powered kettles :)
 
daz87uk said:
I brought a philex energy monitor from asda for a few quid and that does a load of stuff came in quite handy for messuring my desktop and various other stuff.
Le28M15RD0vC0Narwp5TgYc_bfLxpjVRiubiyvc8XSXKl5HIwSjdQRA6kvFoRF0uGbkTWsnuYdKd8FgTCcRsic5GjR3FTJLhulypFyK519gHdfe61wy8RUo9Q1JA9oZG78xdpyliSwCL03vj


rated to 3120watts so dont plug it into any high powered kettles :)
Click to expand...

Kettles don't use that much power, the mains supply is only 3KW.
 
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