I'm attempting to use my DMM to identify a parasitic drain in my car's electrical system.

I'm using a Chinaseum-brand DMM with an amp clamp. After I set the thing to DC amps and before I clamp it to the target conductor, it displays a range between 0.1A and .22A. This makes t'shooting with this tool impossible. The user manual is useless,

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

The Z/F button will zero the meter. The hall sensor in the clamp will sense stray fields and needs to be calibrated.

Ideally, clamp it to the wire with no current flowing, zero it, then turn on the current. If you can't turn it off, bring the clamp near the wire, zero it, then clamp it on.

 

For a low parasitic drain, a series ammeter is a better choice. The hall effect sensor types will be either cheap or accurate, not both. A one ohm ten watt resistor will work for small drain currents.
Usually the drain is the memory function on the radio or one of the computerized modules. On my old car it was the powered closer for the side sliding door. The switch actuator was a bit worn.