Clamp meter

Clamp meter

— the full name of such a device is "current clamps". Initially, such devices were developed to measure current in a non-contact way — this method allows you to not break the circuit and ensures safe measurements even at high currents and voltages. Non-contact measurement is carried out using a device that really resembles tongs: two sponges wrap around the wire, forming a closed circuit, and according to the characteristics of the magnetic field acting on the sponges, the device determines the current strength in the wire.

At the same time, we note that among modern pincers there are rarely specialized models designed only for non-contact measurements. Most often, such devices are multimeters (see the relevant paragraph), supplemented with clamps and supporting many additional functions.