Well, unfortunately, nothing you measure without it being in the water will reflect real life current draw
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You can use a clamp on amp meter. I use one at work all the time to check the amps in compressor in heat pumps and A/C s. There isn't a R/C ship out there that will pull enough amps that my meter can't handle. They sell a good one that is resonably priced at Home Depot and radio shack.
Yep just use a clamp on. Its also what I use, I have a smaller one, that fits into the boat with no problem.
Clamp ons measure AC power... IF they pickup anything, it would be the noise being generated on the wire by the motor.
Dang it, dang it dang it! Justin beat me to it No AC => no expanding and collapsing magnetic fields => no generator action => nothing for a clamp-on ammeter to measure. Also, even if you were running 6 or 12vac, the clamp-on ammeters in common use are calibrated for 110/220/440vac and the calibration wouldn't be valid for such low voltages, if it even picked them up at all.
Actually they do make DC ones, google it if you dont believe me. They just sense the current differently.
There are some, I admit that. Having googled it, they do exist, using hall-effect sensors (which really, you shouldn't need the 'clamp-on' part for...
really? ok.... go to Visit this site type in dc clamp ammeter hit the "im feeling lucky" button wait for page to load scroll down to section where it says Digital AC/DC Amps notice that they exist
Mine has a very small clamp, and will measure both AC or DC amps, AC or DC volts, and make resistance measurements. I put the boat in the water, clamp on the meter, hold the boat, and go to full throttle, so it actually shows a little higher current draw, since the boat is not also moving through the water, the props have a little more resistance.
Its not a clamp on ohmmeter... it has leads too. Had to double check myself & then check to see if the leads were doing the DCA... don't seem to be. Here's the attachment I would need: Visit this site