Ammeter

Your solar controller should show how much is coming in.

A clamp-on ammeter is great if you want to check the current in several wires at various times. I have a couple of them.

You may find an installed meter may be better for your needs. I installed a combined voltage ammeter, similar to this meter and use it all the time.

It is more difficult to install but once installed is easy to use and certainly costs less than a clamp-on meter.

RoyB wrote:
X2 on the SEARS Craftsman AC/DC 400A Clamp-on Ampmeter82369...

This is handheld and comes in a nice carry case. ($60 SEARS-AMAZON)

Craftsman also make a AC ONLY model so be sure it is for DC CURRENT...

You just simply clamp this test meter around a single wire/cable to read the DC Current



I already have a three panel DC VOLT and CURRENT meter setup in a good view area making measurements right at the output of of my main battery switch but I also like to know how the DC current is being routed around the battery cables inside my battery bank.

I have used this test meter since 2008 when I got mine and have been looking for it now over a year in all my places here with no luck. I have probably laid it down on a tree stump on one of my off-road camping trips and run off and left it... For me this is the perfect test meter to measure how much DC current is going into each of batteries in my multi-battery bank when charging. You want to see equal DC Current going into each battery terminal leg.

Roy Ken

X3

X2 on the SEARS Craftsman AC/DC 400A Clamp-on Ampmeter82369...

This is handheld and comes in a nice carry case. ($60 SEARS-AMAZON)

Craftsman also make a AC ONLY model so be sure it is for DC CURRENT...

You just simply clamp this test meter around a single wire/cable to read the DC Current



I already have a three panel DC VOLT and CURRENT meter setup in a good view area making measurements right at the output of of my main battery switch but I also like to know how the DC current is being routed around the battery cables inside my battery bank.

I have used this test meter since 2008 when I got mine and have been looking for it now over a year in all my places here with no luck. I have probably laid it down on a tree stump on one of my off-road camping trips and run off and left it... For me this is the perfect test meter to measure how much DC current is going into each of batteries in my multi-battery bank when charging. You want to see equal DC Current going into each battery terminal leg.

Roy Ken

I find a voltmeter to be a better tool; I have a digital voltmeter hooked up permanently to the batteries, is such a position that I can see it every time I pass by the TT. > 12.7 is good...

I originally used a cheap multi-meter from WMart to measure amps going in and amps going out but voltage tells me the state/level of the battery.

Check this thread: Not a TriMetric

Sears has an AC/DC clamp on meter for about $60 that works well; also some Radioshacks have a similar one even though Radio Shack is hard to find any more.