Industrial Maintenance Technician Practice Test 2025 – Your All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

The clamp-on ammeter is specifically designed to measure current in a conductor without requiring direct contact or disconnection. To measure kilovolt-amperes (kVA), which represent the apparent power in an electrical system, the clamp-on ammeter is used in conjunction with the voltage measurement.

In practical applications, the kVA is calculated using the formula:

\[ \text{kVA} = \text{Volts} \times \text{Amperes} \times \text{sqrt(3)} / 1000 \]

Here, the clamp-on ammeter provides the current measurement, and the voltage is typically measured separately. By combining these two measurements, an accurate calculation of kVA can be made.

While other equipment like a wattmeter, power factor meter, and digital multimeter can provide useful electrical readings, they either do not measure current directly (in the case of wattmeters), are more specialized for different functions (like assessing power quality with a power factor meter), or may not effectively measure current in a live circuit without disconnecting it (as in the case of a digital multimeter). Therefore, the clamp-on ammeter is the most suitable equipment for accurately measuring kilovolt-amperes in both safe and efficient conditions