# Ideal 61-732 clamp meter



## Toronto (Jun 22, 2009)

Hey does anyone else have one of these meters? Does your NVC button make a loud screech or does it beep? I'm also at a loss when it comes to using this thing to read amps using the clamp. How exactly do I get a reading? Do I have to set it to Amps? Will it also detect voltage using the clamp or only amperage? 
I wish this thing came with a manual


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## electricalperson (Jan 11, 2008)

usually it will only read amps if its in the amp mode


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## Richard Rowe (May 25, 2009)

Set it to amps chose the aprox ampage place the wire(only the hot wire no ground and only one wire) then you should get a reading. The leads will be used to check voltage and set it to volts first. If you look on their web site you should be able to get instructions,


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## gilbequick (Oct 6, 2007)

Set the dial to the Amperage setting, which is the "A", and put the clamp around the neutral (white). Remember, if there's no load there will be no reading. There has to be current pulling through.


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## Toronto (Jun 22, 2009)

Alright thanks. I understand how to read amperage with the clamp but this NCV button is still a mystery to me. I sounds like a dying birds last screech. The manual on the Ideal site says it should beep when I press it.


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

The "dying bird" sound is normal for this Ideal clamp. I know it sounds bad, but that is how it is designed. It is not really a beep.

How much did you pay for it? Lowes has the 61-746 (True RMS Version) on sale for only $69.


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## Toronto (Jun 22, 2009)

Bruce Wayne said:


> The "dying bird" sound is normal for this Ideal clamp. I know it sounds bad, but that is how it is designed. It is not really a beep.
> 
> How much did you pay for it? Lowes has the 61-746 (True RMS Version) on sale for only $69.



Thanks for clearing that up. I thought the speaker may have been defective. The online manual says the ncv button allows the meter to be used like a pen tester, reading non-contact voltage.
I got this meter and a bunch of other tools from a friend, payed way less than retail.
Btw what does True RMS mean anyway?


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

Toronto said:


> Btw what does True RMS mean anyway?


True RMS is a more accurate meter. If a meter is not TRMS, it just does a peak-to-peak reading. This is fine for probably 90% of the time. But, when reading noisy signals, square waves, offset waveforms, etc, then TRMS gives a better reading.

If you bought it used, then I know you paid less than $69. The 732 is actually an older model, and has been replaced by the 61-744.


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

BTW,

You can print out a pdf of the 61-732 manual here:

http://idealindustries.com/support/instructions.do


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

Bruce Wayne said:


> True RMS is a more accurate meter. If a meter is not TRMS, it just does a peak-to-peak reading. This is fine for probably 90% of the time. But, when reading noisy signals, square waves, offset waveforms, etc, then TRMS gives a better reading.
> 
> If you bought it used, then I know you paid less than $69. The 732 is actually an older model, and has been replaced by the 61-744.


Not so. Many are average reading AC meters and as far as peak to peak, many TRMS meter don't have that function built in but you calculate it, RMSx1.414=PP.

On top of that many meters are AC-coupled TRMS which isn't "really" TRMS. The "real" TRMS function will say AC+DC. In Fluke DMMs, only the high end meter have that function.


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## Chris Kennedy (Nov 19, 2007)

Toronto said:


> Btw what does True RMS mean anyway?


root mean square


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

wptski said:


> Not so. Many are average reading AC meters and as far as peak to peak, many TRMS meter don't have that function built in but you calculate it, RMSx1.414=PP.


I was trying to give a short and simple answer, without going into a lot of detail. I wasn't trying to say that a TRMS meter gave a peak-to-peak reading (RMSx1.414). I was trying to say that a averaging meter (which is a non-TRMS meter) only looks at the total peak-to-peak signal, and just gives a average RMS reading. In other words, it does not take into account a DC offset, or noise on the signal, or a distorted waveform, square wave, etc. A TRMS meter will sample the waveform at many points, and a non-TRMS will just take a average reading (based off the peak-to-peak signal).


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

For "pure" waveforms, simple conversion coefficients exist for equating Peak, Peak-to-Peak, Average (practical, not algebraic), and RMS measurements to one another: 












Bear in mind that the conversion constants shown here for peak, RMS, and average amplitudes of sine waves, square waves, and triangle waves hold true only for _pure_ forms of these waveshapes. The RMS and average values of distorted waveshapes are not related by the same ratios: 











This is a very important concept to understand when using an analog meter movement to measure AC voltage or current. An analog movement, calibrated to indicate sine-wave RMS amplitude, will only be accurate when measuring pure sine waves. If the waveform of the voltage or current being measured is anything but a pure sine wave, the indication given by the meter will not be the true RMS value of the waveform, because the degree of needle deflection in an analog meter movement is proportional to the _average_ value of the waveform, not the RMS. RMS meter calibration is obtained by "skewing" the span of the meter so that it displays a small multiple of the average value, which will be equal to be the RMS value for a particular waveshape and _a particular waveshape only_.


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

Get a O'scope never worry if the waveform is deformed again!


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

I'd like to see the tool belt that unit fits in. :thumbup:


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

I've seen a Fluke T5 measure incorrectly on a sine wave signal that wasn't really distorted that much!


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## Bruce Wayne (Jun 14, 2009)

wptski said:


> I've seen a Fluke T5 measure incorrectly on a sine wave signal that wasn't really distorted that much!


A Fluke T5 is not TRMS.


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

drsparky said:


> Get a O'scope never worry if the waveform is deformed again!


I bought one of these a few years ago at a government surplus sale for $75. It is a very good scope and has about every function available when it was made in the late 70s. Yes it does not fit in my tool bag.:thumbsup:


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## heavysparky (Jun 2, 2009)

I have the 61-766 and it does the same thing.
does the 61-732 have "tight sight"


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

Bruce Wayne said:


> A Fluke T5 is not TRMS.


Yes, I know that but the pont is that it didn't take very much to fool it!

Here's good page about the AC-coupled TRMS meters: http://www.enginova.com/true_rms_volts.htm


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## Mike_586 (Mar 24, 2009)

Toronto said:


> Hey does anyone else have one of these meters?


I bought one for my backup set of tools, had two replaced under warranty and even the third one was wonky but wasn't worth the effort to keep getting replaced, I'll never buy another. Tossed it and got a T5-1000 for a backup. I don't know if I just happened to get hosed with all three coming off a bad production run, at that point I really didn't care. Ideal makes some good stuff, but I've never had any good experiences with testers or tracers made by them and have just written off Ideal in that department.


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## electricalperson (Jan 11, 2008)

drsparky said:


> I bought one of these a few years ago at a government surplus sale for $75. It is a very good scope and has about every function available when it was made in the late 70s. Yes it does not fit in my tool bag.:thumbsup:


 i hope that came with an instruction manual


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

I used that model in the Air Force. A scope is a scope, they all work the same.


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