4 ms·

A current clamp meter will not tell you anything unless you break out the individual wires you want to measure. Having both live and neutral running through the

A current clamp meter will not tell you anything unless you break out the individual wires you want to measure. Having both live and neutral running through the clamp will cause the electric field of the neutral to cancel out the field of the live whenever the device draws current, so the meter will be unable to read anything.

jchw 3y ago
This isn't too big of a deal since at least around here, appliances tend to be wired with screw terminals. So, in a lot of cases there actually is a separate place to measure hot and neutral without any terrible hacks. (Not sure if that applies to my dryer, though: I should check.)
- chongli 3y ago
  My dryer (I live in Canada) has a 240V plug with a heavy-duty cable, no exposed wires. My dishwasher is wired directly into the mains (I installed it myself) but neither the laundry washer nor the dryer are hard-wired.
  - wtallis 3y ago
    Your dryer may have screw terminals at the other end of the power cable: those are often sold separately and installed when you take delivery of the dryer, because there are multiple types of outlets your home could have for an electric dryer.
    - chongli 3y ago
      If there are screw terminals they are internal to the machine. The power cable goes directly into the machine with no exposed terminals.
      - pixl97 3y ago
        I mean, no not really. Take off the plate where the wire goes into the machine and there is a terminal block at that point. Unless you have some very odd machine I have never (and I've installed quite a few machines) seen one that comes with the wire.
        chongli 3y ago
        I watched the delivery guys install the machine. They brought it into the laundry room, took the packaging off, hooked up the flexible ventilation duct, and plugged it in. They didn’t do any wiring. I’m in Canada (as I said at the top of this thread). Are you in the US? Perhaps it’s different there.
  - Scoundreller 3y ago
    > My dishwasher is wired directly into the mains (I installed it myself) but neither the laundry washer nor the dryer are hard-wired. You probably have an “American” dishwasher like a GE or Whirlpool. If you upgrade to a “European” one like a Bosch or Miele, you’ll need to wire up a socket in an adjacent cabinet and plug it in, or buy their ~$50 junction box. The Europeans like to move with their appliances instead of leave them in place. It’s another reason for their big kitchen appliances like fridges being smaller: so it’s easier to move and it will fit wherever you move next.
    - nuancebydefault 3y ago
      We just installed a new kitchen that replaced our old and were told that appliances like fridges and microwaves need to be plugged into an accessible wall socket, due to safety regulations. We even needed to move a few in-wall mains sockets to accomplish that. The 2F 7kW induction furnace is hard wired though. That said, in either case it should not be hard to single out an L or N wire and clamp it to detect flowing current. However a vibration or acoustic sensor is probably easier and cheaper.

jchw 3y ago

This isn't too big of a deal since at least around here, appliances tend to be wired with screw terminals. So, in a lot of cases there actually is a separate place to measure hot and neutral without any terrible hacks. (Not sure if that applies to my dryer, though: I should check.)

chongli 3y ago
My dryer (I live in Canada) has a 240V plug with a heavy-duty cable, no exposed wires. My dishwasher is wired directly into the mains (I installed it myself) but neither the laundry washer nor the dryer are hard-wired.
- wtallis 3y ago
  Your dryer may have screw terminals at the other end of the power cable: those are often sold separately and installed when you take delivery of the dryer, because there are multiple types of outlets your home could have for an electric dryer.
  - chongli 3y ago
    If there are screw terminals they are internal to the machine. The power cable goes directly into the machine with no exposed terminals.
    - pixl97 3y ago
      I mean, no not really. Take off the plate where the wire goes into the machine and there is a terminal block at that point. Unless you have some very odd machine I have never (and I've installed quite a few machines) seen one that comes with the wire.
      - chongli 3y ago
        I watched the delivery guys install the machine. They brought it into the laundry room, took the packaging off, hooked up the flexible ventilation duct, and plugged it in. They didn’t do any wiring. I’m in Canada (as I said at the top of this thread). Are you in the US? Perhaps it’s different there.
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  > My dishwasher is wired directly into the mains (I installed it myself) but neither the laundry washer nor the dryer are hard-wired. You probably have an “American” dishwasher like a GE or Whirlpool. If you upgrade to a “European” one like a Bosch or Miele, you’ll need to wire up a socket in an adjacent cabinet and plug it in, or buy their ~$50 junction box. The Europeans like to move with their appliances instead of leave them in place. It’s another reason for their big kitchen appliances like fridges being smaller: so it’s easier to move and it will fit wherever you move next.
  - nuancebydefault 3y ago
    We just installed a new kitchen that replaced our old and were told that appliances like fridges and microwaves need to be plugged into an accessible wall socket, due to safety regulations. We even needed to move a few in-wall mains sockets to accomplish that. The 2F 7kW induction furnace is hard wired though. That said, in either case it should not be hard to single out an L or N wire and clamp it to detect flowing current. However a vibration or acoustic sensor is probably easier and cheaper.