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The wiring of the multimeter will handle what it is designed to handle. There are usually separate jacks for the positive lead for measuring "high" current. It will be labeled 10A max or some such, depending on the meter.
Put the + lead in the correct jack and neg. lead in the COM jack and select the proper current range on the meter and then do what you said.
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Multimeters have a kit you have to use to measure amps. It's not intuitive and a PIA. There should be instructions with pictures so show the correct setup. Done wrong you can easily let the smoke out just about anywhere along the line.
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Interesting subject and one that I was curious about also. Yesterday evening being cold and damp I thought I'd check out the CBs power output.[ electrical ] I have a heated liner as does my wife. I plugged them in and the voltage which had been showing 14 V [engine running]. dropped to 12.5. I could rev up to 5k and the volts would climb to 12.8. Then I turned on my heated grips--- volts dropped to 11.5 and would climb no higher when I revved the engine, uuummm. Now notice that my heated gloves are not on which would be a further draw. So my conclusion is that we can both wear heated liners but must cycle the electrical draw and I can wear my heated gloves and being connected thru my liner will cycle too, but no heated grips. Without wife I will be alright with liner, gloves and grips.
(12-08-2013, 03:08 AM)xpacpal1x_imp Wrote: Okay...who has sufficient experience to summarize/conclude on this thread for me? I've been seriously considering purchase of a heated jacket liner and heated gloves...should I cancel that plan, given what's been disclosed about the limitations of the CB1100 electrical system? I'm very concerned that a company like Powerlet is suggesting the CB1100 is not suited for heated gear.
Also, how much of what's been discussed translates into real world concerns. In other words, who (other than Ole) has been running heated gear and what are your experiences?
If the consensus is that gloves and a jacket liner are okay, what specs should I look for in these items to ensure I don't overburden the CB1100 electrical system?
See my post today and yes, I've been using heated gear a lot and haven't had any problems, but ran the test to see if the bike could handle both of us with heated gear and it can if you have a controller that cycles. Both our heated liners are 90 watt.
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What is this kit you are talking about? Not trying to be a jerk, but I am an electronics tech and use a lot of multimeters. Most are Fluke. All the ones I use and have need no kit to measure current. I know that clamp on kits are available, but just for what he wants he doesn't really need something like that. I do have a Fluke clamp on meter, but mine is for AC only. I'd like to hear about the kits though.
One fluke I am looking at right now has a plug for up to 300mA and another plug for 10A. The positive lead goes into one of these and the negative into the common plug and the selector set to AC amps or DC amps.
I have a little Circuitmate (Beckman) and it will only handle 200mA. And the plug, or jack, is labeled 200ma. Check your meter for what it will handle.
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My Widder Vest draws about 50 watts. That is what Widder told me when I bought it. I am unsure what the Honda heated grips draw, but like I said, I have only run the grips on medium. The GPS draws hardly anything. I have had good results, no headlight dimming, no rough idling, blinkers blink just fine. I wish I could give you all some data to go with my experiences but I can't. I just know I have stayed very warm on the CB11 when wired up. And the bike always spins right up at gas and rest stops. I love heated clothing can not ride the shoulder seasons (or bike to Alaska twice) without it. Literally a lifesaver in 2008 when I was up north of the border. Some mornings I crawled out of my tent with everything white with frost and couldn't wait to get on the bike so I could warm up!  I know that sounds stupid but it is true,,,,,
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(12-10-2013, 10:23 AM)Lord Popgun_imp Wrote: What is this kit you are talking about? Not trying to be a jerk, but I am an electronics tech and use a lot of multimeters. Most are Fluke. All the ones I use and have need no kit to measure current. I know that clamp on kits are available, but just for what he wants he doesn't really need something like that. I do have a Fluke clamp on meter, but mine is for AC only. I'd like to hear about the kits though.
One fluke I am looking at right now has a plug for up to 300mA and another plug for 10A. The positive lead goes into one of these and the negative into the common plug and the selector set to AC amps or DC amps.
I have a little Circuitmate (Beckman) and it will only handle 200mA. And the plug, or jack, is labeled 200ma. Check your meter for what it will handle. +1 ..... good advice
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The kit I'm familiar with is a shunt with leads. Always seemed a bit kludgy to me (could not justify a Fluke for the few tasks I needed it for so I went with a Radio Shack unit). Clamp on would be uber cool. It is my understanding that clamps don't work on DC though.
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Rboe,
Thanks for that info. and the shunt thing sounds right to me. I'm going to look it up and see whats up. I don't pretend to be familiar with all test equipment as there is a LOT of it!
Clamp on meters work on AC as the magnetic field is constantly changing. They work much like a clamp on tachometer. You need that changing field. If there are clamp on DC meters, I am also not familiar with those. Maybe I'll look it up but I don't know how it would work. (Having mentioned tachs, I use a SmarTach wireless tach)
If I wanted to meter the entire CB's current draw, meters like mine that will only handle 10A will not do the job.
Oh yeah, if you ever want a Fluke, buy off the internet. The list prices are stupid high, IMO, and the prices on the internet are much better. And if you still like the old analog days, you can still buy a Simpson 260!
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I was thinking of testing each item separately through the controller.
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Well if you want to create a current, pass electric field lines through a magnetic field (or the other way around, if you are the electron you can't really tell which if not both are moving). With AC the electric field is pulsating (since the two fields really co-exist, one 90 degrees out of phase with the other both are doing it but that can muddy the waters) and I'm assuming the clamp is a field coil then a current is induced into this coil and the meter can deduce the amperage.
With DC you have the initial field build up which will generate a pulse but once it hits the steady state there is no movement in the fields and no current generated in a pickup coil. So you have be more clever in finding the amps.
When I got my multimeter the Internet was still pretty small and commercial use was frowned upon in the extreme. Oh man how things have changed.
Dang, I sound like an old man there. 
Just thinking out loud here, there is a "cheap" voltage indicator consisting of a bang of LED's. They start with a red light, some yellows and ending in green.
http://www.kuryakyn.com/products/872/led-battery-gauge
I installed this on the Quota as it had a weak electrical system. At a glance you can tell if the battery is being charged or not. Seems to me one of these guys could also tell you if you were over loading the electrical system with your gear and preventing the battery from being charged. On a really cold day you could judge how badly you were doing and cycle the heat on and off, knowing just how far you had to go.
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