Measuring Surge Watts: What Did I Do Wrong?

[kh56]

I attempted to measure surge watts on my refrigerator today. I used the Klein Tools line splitter. I set it to "inrush" and then opened the refrigerator until I heard the compressor startup. The number I got was 209.2 amps. If I multiply that by 120 volts I get 25,104 watts which certainly cannot be correct. Then, just for fun, I changed the settings to voltage and only got 0.046 volts. That also doesn't sound right. What am I missing here?

 

[JoeHam]

Take a look at your Klein splitter.

I’ll bet it says 10X where you clamped on.

Freaked me out also the first time I used it until I remembered to move the decimal point! ?

 

[Horsefly]

Take a look at your Klein splitter.

I’ll bet it says 10X where you clamped on.

Freaked me out also the first time I used it until I remembered to move the decimal point! ?

Yep, I'm sure that's it.

Also @kh56, you can't measure voltages with the clamp meter. It measures the field created by current flowing through the clamp. To measure voltage (potential), you need to use the probes.

 

[kh56]

I’ll bet it says 10X where you clamped on.

Yes! That's it. Thanks for the help on this!

It still seems high though. 20.92a x 120v = 2,510.4w

The refrigerator was measured to run at 79.2 watts. Would the surge watts be 2,510?

 

[kh56]

To measure voltage (potential), you need to use the probes.

Thanks! I wasn't aware of this.

 

[RCinFLA]

Little high but not unrealistic. Several things that can cause it to be high. If you recycle ON too soon you can have extra compressor head pressure that has not equalized or start capacitor thermistor may not have cooled down enough to get full effect of start capacitor.

Keep off for at least 30 minutes then check it. If you repeat restart too often the compressor can get hot enough to trip the overtemp protection circuit breaker in compressor. It can then take a few hours to cool it back down enough to get a normal startup current surge.

 

[kh56]

Keep off for at least 30 minutes then check it.

I'll give this a try.