Measuring motor current (anyone tried this?)

[EricVanWyk]

Originally Posted by billbo911

This is just a thought, without all the details to KNOW if this will work, I can only throw it out as a suggestion.

The power distribution board has led indicators on it to show when a CB is open or missing. The only way these can work is if there is some sort of sensing circuitry across the contacts of the breaker connections. If you are willing to open the PDB, which I am not suggesting you do, you might be able to gain access to these components. Measuring the drop across the sense circuit "could" give you a reading relative to the current flow. Again, without a schematic of the board, I can not say if this will work or not. It is just food for thought.

Cool idea, but not feasible with the current PD hardware (ask again in ~3 years ). The sensing circuit you refer to is super cheap and doesn't actually measure the current. You can check it out, per Joe's suggestion, if you'd like. Its just a FET being used as a comparator, plus some protection.