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View Full Version : If I loop a cable around a clamp on ammeter 3 times and get an amperage reading


MikeCNO
May 14, 2014, 12:42 PM
If I loop a cable around a clamp on ammeter 3 times and get an amperage reading of 15, what is the actual amperage of the cable? If a cable is looped once around a clamp on ammeter and the amperage reading is 4, what is the actual amperage of the cable? Is there a formula?

smoothy
May 14, 2014, 12:49 PM
You aren't supposed to be looping a cable around a clamp on ammeter. That's improper use

It is what it reads. If it says four... its four.

MikeCNO
May 14, 2014, 01:05 PM
But what if you were to loop it? What would happen?


You aren't supposed to be looping a cable around a clamp on ammeter. That's improper use

It is what it reads. If it says four... its four.

Those questions are questions from a test... I can't figure it out ANYWHERE. I've even asked multiple electricans and they can seem to give me a straight answer. I need this thoroughly explained.

donf
May 14, 2014, 02:04 PM
It's a statement of induction. The more loops the greater the induced amperage.

For a detailed answer, ask your instructor. Regardless of the answer he/she gives, the question itself is B/S. As stated earlier looping a cable skews the amperage reading and the amperage flowing in a cable just is not taken that way!

Missouri Bound
May 15, 2014, 06:08 AM
I think you should try it and report the findings. Most of us here are finished with school.

talaniman
May 15, 2014, 06:48 AM
Try taking readings both ways, both looped and unlooped and document your findings and draw a conclusion.

ebaines
May 16, 2014, 09:35 AM
The real problem with this question is that it doesn't define what "loop a cable around a clamp on ammeter 3 times" means. I would assume that where it says "cable" they mean "wire" (you don't clamp an ammeter around a cable but rather individual wires), and that the wire passes through the ammeter clamp a total of 4 times, with current in each of the four sections of wire that the ammeter reads all flowing in the same direction. So the amount of current the ammeter would sense is 4 times the amount of current in any one section of the wire. However - if the wire is looped back on itself then two of the sections would have current flowing one way and the other two would have current flowing the other, so the ammeter would sense 0 current. Hopefully the question is accompanied by a diagram to resolve this conundrum.