Tool to verify the readings

Project - Digital energy monitoring system for my home solar panels,
Q. Are there any specific tools out there that can help in verifying the readings of ct sensor just in case to know if the sensor is working or not. I came across clamp meter which basically does what the CT sensor does but sort of is like a multimeter. Please let me know your answer, Thank you.

Yes, a multimeter that can read a.c. current and voltage.

If you have one that can - down to at least the rated output of your current transformer, you can use that. If you have a ā€œproperā€ c.t. that outputs (say) 50 mA like our SCT-013-000, connect the multimeter directly to the c.t. secondary winding and measure the current. You should know, at least approximately, the primary current, so you can calculate what you should be reading, and compare it with what you do read.
If your c.t. has an internal burden, itā€™s a ā€œvoltage outputā€ type, then do the same but you measure voltage instead of current.
If you canā€™t easily get the full rated current of your c.t., remember that you can multiply the primary current by passing the wire many times through the c.t. This is how I can test the 100 A c.t using just 5 A and 20 turns through the c.t.

Your earlier question Which audio jack to use for reading the values from the CT sensor makes me think you donā€™t have any sort of test instrument at all. If you are serious about learning about things electrical and electronic, you really need a good test meter. With one, you could have answered that question yourself within seconds. Years ago, I wrote about multimeters in the ā€˜Learnā€™ section: Learn | OpenEnergyMonitor This is nearly 10 years out of date now, many of those listed are probably no longer available, but the ones listed - or more exactly, their capabilities and the measuring ranges - should give you a good guide for what I think you will need for general experimentation. The warning Iā€™d add is, donā€™t waste money on a very cheap meter. It wonā€™t do many of the things you will find you need to do with it.

Or three. At least two. :grinning:
And a 'scope, but Iā€™ve not got one of those yet.

Thatā€™s extravagant.

Two is nice, but not absolutely necessary. If you have the cash to spend, thatā€™s fine. But I cannot even imagine trying to develop hardware without one. Going back to @Electricnoobā€™s question about the jack socket connections, a measurement of resistance between 3 pins, a different two each time, with the c.t. plugged in would very quickly have identified the pins to connect to.

That too is nice, but far from necessary for most things.

Thanks again robert for your support. I am very serious about learning more about DIY electronics and electronics in general and have ordered a good multimeter right away. Sorry if these sound silly questions to you as my background is finance and I have little to no knowledge about this field but m still curious.

Iā€™ve written this before and Iā€™ll repeat it - if youā€™re willing to learn, Iā€™ll do what I can to help you, and I think I can also say that on behalf of many of the other contributors here.

2 Likes