<p>This is in with <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/394/when-building-a-ramps-1-4-based-printer-can-i-safely-plugin-just-some-of-the-co">my other question about components</a> and the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/389/in-the-standard-pc-cable-wire-that-goes-from-the-wall-outlet-to-the-switching-po">other question about electricity</a>; how can I check to see how many amps are being pulled?  Can I check a component at a time to make sure I'm not going over the limit, and then just add them all in together once I've summed the amps to make sure it's safe to hook everything up.  The amps shouldn't change right?  </p>

<p>What settings should my multimeter be set to?  And to check how much it's pulling, do I just put the multimeter's leads on the green terminals on RAMPS 1.4?</p>

[{'answer_id': 405, 'author': 'TextGeek', 'author_id': 40, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/40', 'pm_score': 4, 'selected': True, 'text': '<p>To measure amps (current), the meter has to be wired in series with the item to be measured (for this reason, ammeters are designed to have very low resistance). </p>\n\n<p>This has the down-side that you have to disconnect the component to put the meter in line with it. That makes it hard to do the "check a component at a time" method you mentioned.</p>\n\n<p>An ammeter measures <em>actual</em> current flow, so you really can\'t test a component for it in isolation. Components can have wildly different "current draw" depending on the situation. For example, motor current varies with torque and speed; current through a resistor varies with the voltage across it; and so on.</p>\n\n<p>There are special "clamp-on" current meters that just clamp around a conductor and report the current by using induction. Very nice if you have one.</p>\n\n<p>If you just want the total current the entire RAMPS board is pulling, put the ammeter between the power supply and the RAMPS power input connection(s). Be <em>very</em> sure not to have the meter set to read volts or ohms when you do this (it might or might not survive).</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 406, 'author': 'Eric Johnson', 'author_id': 43, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/43', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>The easiest method is to use a Clamp On amp meter on either the hot or neutral of your power supply.  </p>\n\n<p>In most cases clamp on meters only work with AC xor DC power so you would only be able to get the reading on one side of the power supply.</p>\n\n<p>Multiply this number by the voltage and you get the wattage.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 444, 'author': 'Daniel M.', 'author_id': 156, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/156', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': "<p>If you don't want to stick a multimeter on the wire, I recommend getting a kill-a-watt meter. Pretty much, you plug it into the wall, and plug the printer into the meter, and it has a little screen that shows the result.</p>\n"}]
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