Voltage Monitor

[digNbubbs]

I use a Kill-A-Watt plugged in to an outlet here in my office to keep an eye on things. While it is not as economical as the above mentioned meters, I like the fact that I can watch power usage on devices to get a feel of my power drains.



Here is a great review if anyone is not familiar with it - http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/...monitor_review



--kev

[george henry]

Dale , great idea



2002 PREVOST XL 45
2006 THOR HURRICANE (lots of custom mods inside & out)

[Dutch Star Don]

Dale....Good idea and works in your situation. As you can see, no good idea goes uncriticised.

[hamguy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NeilV:
Dale,

While I can appreciate the effort and results I can also recall the legal ramifications the last time a test probe like that was provided for a multimeter. An accidental bump and you have a bare live 110 volt prong hanging from the wall.

I would be inclined to use angled banana plugs and make the holder clamp them to the face of the meter so they can't be unplugged and accidently exposed.

Especially since that seems to be right under a window shade where it would be more prone to getting bumped, please give a bit more thought into making this safer.

Kind regards, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Everything has some inherent danger to those who are unaware. While this has potential (pun intended) to be a hazard, I would bet many of us have power cords lying under rugs. I have a friend that makes a good living examining fire scenes and should he find evidence of this foo-pah, the insurance company denies the claim.

[isa]

I have used a similar setup with a digital VOM for years. To prevent the banana plugs from coming out of their respective receptacles the chromed ends of my banana plugs have slits in them. Using a very small screwdriver open up the chromed slits slightly so that you get a very tight fitting plug into the receptacles of the digital VOM.

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

Another thing to be aware of with the inexpensive volt-meters, even the digital ones, is they typically are not True RMS Voltmeters. This is definitely an issue when you are trying to see what the voltage output of your generator and/or inverter is.