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Old 06-30-2005, 08:12 PM
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Schwa Schwa is offline
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Default Re: Best way to measure 12v electrical draw?

Depending on the draw of the motor, you can connect a multimeter between the battery and the motor and it will show you how much current it's using. Most multimeters have maximums of 10 or 20 amps, but if it's not a huge draw that may be suitable.

There are also clamp-on type meters that use an inductive type sensor to measure the current in the cable. Typically these are used in automotive shops for measuring the current draw of a starter motor, but I have no idea what they cost - probably a lot since DC induction is trickier than AC induction.

Unfortunately DC is harder to get a handle on the current without "opening" the circuit, it's possible, but not simple, and therefore not cheap, unfortunately.
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