00:00Have you ever needed to measure the electric current passing through a wire,
00:04without being able to cut it or disconnect anything?
00:07Yeah, I have needed to, and what saved me was this little guy right here.
00:19I admit that when I got this equipment for the first time, I was quite curious.
00:26The reference I have for multimeters and clamp meters comes from a brand called Fluke,
00:31and I see it being used a lot in the industry. But I ended up coming across a device from
00:38this brand
00:38in the hands of an electrical technician inside an electrical room, and it's from a brand called
00:44Finners. Doing some research on the internet, I found out that it's a Chinese brand, Chinese,
00:49that has been gaining ground in the measuring instruments market with equipment that has
00:55competitive prices and an eye-catching look. And so when the guy who's on the job, who goes into an
01:03electrical room, who really gets his hands dirty, recommends equipment to you that he uses and says
01:10it's good, I thought it was worth testing. And as Barone used to say, I bought it, it's in my
01:17hands,
01:17and let's talk a little more about this equipment. This little guy here, I bought this model, the DMC-100,
01:24which from what I saw, is the first clamp meter released by the company, and right away,
01:30the difference from traditional models is striking. It has a 2-inch color screen, something I honestly
01:37had never seen in this type of equipment. Most clamp meters, and even the multimeters out there, use
01:46simple monochrome displays, with black numbers on a gray background. Now, with this full color display,
01:54it even looks like a cell phone. But, okay, what is a clamp meter, and why is it different from
02:01a regular
02:02multimeter? Well, a traditional multimeter measures electric current, and needs to be connected in series
02:09with the circuit, which means turning off, cutting the wire, interrupting the flow of energy, and
02:15connecting the test leads to the wires, closing the circuit with the multimeter itself. On the other
02:20hand, the clamp meter uses a Hall Effect sensor at the tip, which is this clamp, that opens and closes.
02:32And you simply open the clamp, put the wire inside, and close it. This sensor detects the magnetic field
02:38generated by the current passing through the conductor, and converts that into a reading. And the
02:44cool thing is, you can do it without disconnecting anything, or interrupting the circuit, which makes
02:50the process much safer. It's a huge advantage when you're working with high currents, where cutting,
02:56the cable would be impractical, and even dangerous. And most of the multimeters on the market, they have a
03:02very low limit for current measurement with the test leads, reaching a maximum of 10 amperes.
03:09And above that, either you melt the test lead, or you burn out the multimeter itself. And how do I
03:16know
03:16that? Because I was the crazy guy who connected a cheap multimeter to a motor, and just saw some
03:23capacitors explode inside the multimeter. You are so dumb. And that's what this little guy here is for.
03:30It measures both alternating current and direct current, up to 600 amperes, which covers pretty much
03:39any residential, automotive, and most light industrial applications. Just to give you an idea,
03:46the electric shower in your house probably uses something between 30 and 50 amperes. A
03:53residential split air conditioner uses something around 5 to 15 amperes, depending on the power.
03:59You can measure all of this without having to unplug the equipment from the outlet.
04:05But besides measuring current, the device works as a full multimeter.
04:10It measures AC and DC voltage, resistance, capacitance, frequency, and temperature.
04:17It also tests diodes and continuity, which I use a lot.
04:22Now the cool thing is the non-contact voltage detection, the famous NCV, which beeps when you
04:30bring the device close to a live wire. I tested this function by passing it near outlets, and there's
04:37a part on the top of it that detects if there's any live wire. And this is good for finding
04:42the hot
04:44side of an outlet, or even checking if the system is turned off. And for example, under this table,
04:51there are several wires, and if I pass it over the top of the table, it already finds the live
04:56wires.
04:57Now the really cool thing is the TRMS. But what does TRMS mean, and why does it matter? TRMS stands
05:05for
05:06true, root, mean square, or true RMS value. Most cheap multimeters use average responding measurements,
05:16which works well when the current is a perfect sine wave. But in the real world, with switching power
05:24supplies, frequency inverters, battery chargers, and electronic controllers, the waveform is rarely a
05:31pure sine wave. TRMS calculates the actual value of the current, regardless of the waveform shape,
05:40which means that your measurements in modern circuits will be much more accurate. And finding
05:46this technology in such an affordable meter, compared with other models on the market, I can tell you
05:52that it makes a huge difference. Besides that, it has what we call 10,000 counts of resolution,
06:00which in other words means that it can display values with up to four digits. For current measurement,
06:08the specified accuracy is plus or minus 2.5 plus 10 digits, which is the standard for clamp meters
06:16that use a whole sensor. Now, one thing I noticed is that the current reading changes very little
06:22depending on the tilt of the device. But I found out that this is normal behavior for this type of
06:28sensor.
06:28And what's interesting is to look at the sensor's waveform and see any current variation during the
06:36measurement directly on the screen. Another thing I noticed is that in DC current measurement,
06:42when you turn it on to measure, even without clamping it on any wire, it already shows values on the
06:49screen.
06:50Then I found out that you need to zero the device before measuring by quickly pressing the power button.
06:56This zeroing system compensates for the influence of magnetic fields in the environment,
07:02and it's a standard procedure for any clamp meter, not something exclusive to this model.
07:09And the cool feature is the current measurement with a voltage estimate by the clamp meter,
07:15where it shows both the current, the voltage, and calculates the estimated power.
07:20But okay, I've been talking so much about this little guy here,
07:24but is it really a piece of equipment you could use in your daily life?
07:28Well, for the price, I can say yes. And it's really worth having one of these at home.
07:33Imagine that you have an electrical installation at home, and you want to check if the circuit breaker
07:38is handling the load passing through it, or even check if the cable used was sized for the current
07:46running through it. You open the clamp meter, place it around the cable, and see exactly what current
07:53is flowing. So you're having a problem with your car, and you want to see if there's any parasitic
07:59draw that could be draining your battery even when it's turned off, and even find out what the car's
08:06peak starting current is, to see if the battery is good. In the case of motors, you can measure the
08:12starting current and compare it with the nominal current, which helps identify overload or wear.
08:20For those who work with solar panels, you can measure the current generated by the panels
08:25without disconnecting anything from the inverter. So if you like this little guy here, and think
08:31it can help you in your daily routine, or use it for work, I'll leave the product link in the
08:37description
08:37and in the pinned comment. Seriously, I really needed to use it. So much so that I got this little
08:42guy here
08:43to test an idea that I had for a photovoltaic system. And what I'm saying here is based on my
08:49hands-on experience, and not on a manufacturer's spec sheet. And if you have one, or bought one,
08:55come back here in the comments and tell me what you thought. Who knows, maybe Affinil will decide
09:00to sponsor us with some other device. And there's something else. One thing I really liked was that
09:06this works with a rechargeable battery. So no more having to unscrew that annoying little screw that
09:13holds the battery cover, just to change the batteries. Because with this one, you just plug
09:19it into a regular charger with a USB-C cable you already have. Anyone who works in the field knows
09:25that this is an advantage, but, well, not everything is perfect. And here I have to share the experience
09:32of the guy who recommended this little guy to me. Since he works in electrical rooms with large diameter
09:39cables, the clamp opening is limited. And from what I saw here, it supports an opening of 25 mm in
09:49diameter,
09:50which is enough for most residential applications. It may be too small for thicker industrial cables.
09:59And the buttons have dual functions. And in the first few days, I struggled a bit, because I would often
10:06press the wrong button until I got the hang of it. The temperature measurement with the included sensor
10:12was quite inaccurate in my tests. But I think it's more about the type of thermocouple used.
10:20But, honestly, I wouldn't buy a clamp meter just to measure temperature.
10:26But on the plus side, it comes in a case, so you can carry it around, already with the voltage
10:32measurement probes, and also the temperature measurement probe, as well as a USB-C cable.
10:39It also has its own firmware, which you can check for updates on their website,
10:43and update by plugging it into your computer. Speaking of price, I bought this little guy here
10:48in China, and it costs about 190 reais at the official Finirce store on AliExpress, as of today, in 2026.
10:59Which I consider fair for what it offers, but it's a price that can vary depending on some promotion.
11:06So it's worth keeping an eye out there to see if there's any coupon or promotion going on.
11:12But the whole point is, if you need to measure very low currents in the range of just a few
11:17milliamps,
11:21this is not the ideal equipment for you. And no clamp meter would be. For that, a traditional
11:26multimeter in series with the circuit is still the best option. Now, if you work with electricity,
11:34whether you're a professional or an enthusiast, this little guy here is a great tool with great value
11:39for the money. And if you've made it this far and enjoy this content, and want to help us bring
11:46more
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12:01keep making videos like this. Are you interested in growing professionally or developing a new
12:06technical skill? Scan the QR code or the link in the description and discover a page with all the
12:13courses we recommend. And you, have you ever used a clamp meter? What was the most unusual situation
12:20where you needed to measure current without disconnecting anything? Leave it here in the
12:25comments because I want to know. Over here are two interesting videos that you need to watch to
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12:38That's it, engineering enthusiasts. Sending you a big hug, and I'll see you in the next video.
