I want to determine the amperage one of my locos is drawing as it seems to require a lot more juice to run than my other locos. I'm operating on a D'trax Zephyr. I have a digital volt/amp meter. Can I connect it just like I would if measuring amperage on straight DC..?? I thought I'd ask before letting the smoke out of my meter...Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks for any help you may provide.
HELP...!!! Need to determine amperage..
- Thread starter steamhead
- Start date
Gus - your answer is yes.. .Just connect the meter as if you were measuring amperage, in series with the load to be measured. Keep the Amperage setting on the highest scale... then work backwards.. You should only be seeing about 1 amp or so.... Also remember that there may be a different socket for the leads on the meter, it should be properly labeled.. Good luck !!!!
No, you can't use a meter to measure DCC. It also won't hurt the meter, the meter will just give you crazy results. We have meters at the modular club I belong to, and we use DCC sometimes, and there are no problems with them. They still work for DC (thats not saying that anyone actually looks at them, they are usually under a bunch of junk, as the control panel is a VERY useful shelf 
). If you need to measure the draw, you can hook up an old power pack, and run the loco on DC, or you can get an RRampmeter from Tony's, they can read DCC volts and amps. What does this loco do that makes you think it sucks the juice? If it is sound equipped, then it probably does, and there probably isn't anything wrong with that, as long as you plan for its power needs, and if you operate at a large home or club or modular layout, that layout has power districts that are designed to accomodate sound locos.
). If you need to measure the draw, you can hook up an old power pack, and run the loco on DC, or you can get an RRampmeter from Tony's, they can read DCC volts and amps. What does this loco do that makes you think it sucks the juice? If it is sound equipped, then it probably does, and there probably isn't anything wrong with that, as long as you plan for its power needs, and if you operate at a large home or club or modular layout, that layout has power districts that are designed to accomodate sound locos.Oh well - I guess the DMM that I am using is immune from these issues, I use it all the time, when there is something in question re: DCC . I use the Fluke model 116 and it works fine.. It is also a $250 DMM..
Hey...My bad...I had set some of the CV's to values that made it seem like it was drawing a lot of current, when it was just obeying me...ops:
I reset the CV's and it works OK...:thumb:
(I still want to know if I can use my ampmeter on DCC...)
ops: I reset the CV's and it works OK...:thumb:
(I still want to know if I can use my ampmeter on DCC...)