0.02 amp current draw?

**Zebelkhan** · 06-13-2005, 03:51 PM

This is going to be a dumb question for many of you but I am electronically challenged!

How do you guys check the current draw on your PSUs? I tried to test the current draw on my carputer. So I turned it on, set my meter on 10A DC, connected one lead to the +12v into the PSU and the other lead to the +12v right at PSU. Meter read .01 to .02 amps. I was surprised as to how low the current draw was until I realized I was only measuring the current on that piece of wire!

So I was going to connect the second lead downstream from the PSU, on one of the ATX rails but was afraid to do so because of the voltage difference. I did not want to burn anything up.

So how do I measure the consumption of my carputer? Where do I connect the leads?

Any help would be appreciated.

**davesaudio2** · 06-13-2005, 06:30 PM

You put the meter in series with the device you wish to measure to read current.
you need to break original connection and put the meter in between.

if it draws more than 10a it will likely blow the fuse in the meter -check your manual

**RS3RS** · 06-13-2005, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by davesaudio2

You put the meter in series with the device you wish to measure to read current.
you need to break original connection and put the meter in between.

if it draws more than 10a it will likely blow the fuse in the meter -check your manual

Yeah, you need to sort of use the multimeter as part of your power cable. A lot of people hook it up between the + battery terminal and the power cable.

But, of course, make sure the multimeter can handle it first!

**evandude** · 06-13-2005, 06:46 PM

or you can spend a ton of money and get a clamp meter... like the ones they use to measure line current, except only the really expensive ones do DC as well as AC

**binary.h4x** · 06-13-2005, 07:09 PM

and make sure you move the probe to the correct port on the meter to measure 10A DC (if applicable).

**Zebelkhan** · 06-13-2005, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by davesaudio2

You put the meter in series with the device you wish to measure to read current.
you need to break original connection and put the meter in between.

if it draws more than 10a it will likely blow the fuse in the meter -check your manual

I read the manual and somehow I thought Series meant parallel

That is what I was doing wrong...I was not breaking the original connection.

Thank you so much everyone....