Newbie question on clamp style meters

[mx125]

Bound to be a dumb question but . . .

I have a basic probe meter . . and don't have the expertise to jump it in line with modern flashlight circuits to test DC amp draw. And as it's only for interest sake, it's not worth me risking damage. Then i thought a clamp style meter might help . . . and that made me wonder what would happen if you placed the clamp around the body of the light (the batteries effectively). Would the current through a bettery produce a valid signal to clamp meter and display amps? Or is the current movement within batts different than through a conductive material/wire?

 

[jayflash]

You would need a very small clamp to get around the proper wire (not the cells) that utilizes Hall-effect elements to detect DC. Most or all inexpensive, clamp type, current meters only work for AC - AFAIK. Perhaps some CPF's electronic techs will have better info than I provided.

On some lights it's easy to measure current by simply removing the tail cap or separating the cells and inserting the probes to complete the circuit.