Measure wattage

[BruceS]

Recently I bought some alarms that I considered pretty cheap but now need to find out how much electricity (Amps/watts/milli-amps) the need/consume.
BBB and many others including myself have purchased little meters known as "watt Meter and Power Analyser".
When I hooked it up with both neg & pos going through it, I couldn't get any measurement at all.
I can see voltage but no watts draw??
Any advice is welcome.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... OC:AU:3160

[Barry Powell]

Here is the new link to the wattmeter.
Gil Webster found it for us originally.

http://noelex.org.au/how-much-energy-do ... ridge-use/

The bottom of the display cycles for a whole range of useful readings.

[Newcastle George]

Here is a link for you Bruce.

George

[homeless]

Just be patient Bruce.
We will soon be advised of the AS requirements for doing this process and then we can go into a massive 20 page epic on how to connect, measure, monitor and record etc and why at least in theory anyway LOL.
Regards
Brian

[BruceS]

Careful Brian! I might put him up on the top deck with you!!
I'll do another test run but it seems these alarms use that minute amount of power that it doesn't register.
I'd leave it on for half an hour to see but any more than 5 seconds hurts the ear drums.
If anyone could sleep through these at 100 metres I'd be surprised.

[Barry Powell]

I have been thinking that we should check up on those floor mats Brian hands out for mud flaps.
Mine have lasted for years since he made the donation but it would be good to know they are legal.
Should another thread be started for the discussion?

Bruce, my wattmeter is just set up on the supply side from the solar panels and works right down to a fraction of an amp from the sun's first rising.
It probably does the same at sunset. I will have to stay awake some time and check it out.
Stick a load on yours and you will see the scrolling function of the bottom row display.
The resting alarm might be just too small to register, as you say.

[BruceS]

Yes, as you say, it's just not enough to register.
I put the alarm between two thick cushions with just the wires hanging out & put an occy strap around it, connected it up through the watt meter and left it on for over 5 minutes.
Still showed no usage for the 5 minutes.
I've used it in the past to measure fridge and other items usage & it worked well.
I wonder if my multimeter will record anything? Surely it MUST use some power over 5 minutes!
Feel free to open a new thread if you wish to Barry.
(it's only illegal if you get caught doing something you shouldn't be doing!!) picking your nose comes to mind!

[2foot6]

Hi Bruce,s ,the top hat screamer you have purchased only draw current when the power is applied due to an alarm condition .I have a box of these ,I will test some to check the current draw when they operate(I estimate about 1amp)I will report back to nite.How are you intending to use these screamers? cheers Peter.

[T1 Terry]

Do you have a clamp meter Bruce? If you wind one of the cables around the tong 5 times, then set the alarm off, what ever the reading is, divide by 5, and that is how many amps it draws.

[BruceS]

Terry,
Sorry, no clamp meter. I could wire all 4 together & then divide by 4 but I think the noise would kill my goldfish!

Peter,
I was intending to use them as low & high voltage alarms on my new battery installation. Rather than smoke alarms that are more expensive and need a battery.
I have 12V available to power them anyway so probably don't need to source power from the Junsi monitor..... just use it (Junsi) to close a relay in needed or to complete the earth circuit. (Not familiar with Junsi alarm feature yet ... Terry's job!)