Welding Tips and Tricks

Is there a way to measure welder amperage with multimeter, and if so how to do it?

For AC welders, I would use a Clamp Ammeter.
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qwerty12 wrote:Is there a way to measure welder amperage with multimeter, and if so how to do it?

I save only standard multimeter and it has only DC amperage measuring.

Can I do it with that multimeter?

It is possible, but difficult.

"Google Translate" won't understand.

What is your first language? Maybe I can get a translation the old-fashioned way.

Steve S

A "standard" multimeter is capable of reading DC amperage, but usually only in very low ranges. Possibly 10 amps at best. In order to do this, you would have to place the meter in series with one of your cables. Just the small size of these leads on the meter is enough to tell you that they cannot carry any load. You can use it to read accurate voltage though.Voltage is measured in parallel with the output of your machine. I would use alligator clips and clip these onto the terminals of your welder where the leads come out. MAke sure your range setting is either on "auto" or set high enough to measure the open circuit voltage output of your welding machine. Should be around 60 to 80 volts DC. The actual arc voltage will be shown while you are welding, and be down around 20 to 30 volts DC.
In order to measure the amp output, you can get clamp on meters to read DC amps and just loop the jaws around one of your cables. The majority of clamp-on meters are AC amps only. They can read as high as 400 amps though. They work on the basis of the electromagnetic field that surrounds the cable. They use the induction principle.