Is it ok to carbon copy clone internal hd to the only time machine back up copy?

Question

I Only have 1 external hd that is the only time machine backup copy of my internal hd.
wwould I risk losing the backup if I ccc internal to it?

Answer 1

If the external drive is large enough, and has enough free space, just use Disk Utility to create a new partition to clone to, that way you won't interfere with your TM backup.
For instructions see "Create new partitions on a disk" (About half way down the page) in:
Disk Utility 12.x: Partition a disk
You may be able to create new partitions on a disk without losing any of the files on the disk. Each partition works like a separate disk. You may need to create a new partition if you want to install multiple operating systems on your computer. You can also create partitions to help organize your files.
As a precaution, back up your data before creating new partitions on your disk
Open Disk Utility, in the Utilities folder in Launchpad.
Select the disk where you want to create a new partition and click Partition.
Select an existing partition in the Volume Scheme list, and click Add (+).Disk Utility splits the partition into two, leaving the data from that partition in one of the new partitions. If the partition is less than half-full, Disk Utility creates two partitions of equal size. Otherwise, it creates one partition large enough for the data, and another partition with the remaining space.
Resize the partitions as needed.You can drag the dividers between the partitions in the Volume Scheme list, or you can select a partition in the Volume Scheme list, and then enter a value in the Size field.
Choose how to format the partitions that will be erased or created.For each new partition, select it, enter a name, and then choose a format.
Click Apply.
Creating a new partition on the external drive will not cause you to lose data.
Keep in mind that this will significantly reduce the amount of space available for TM, and thus, will reduce how far back in time TM will maintain a backup. If you are planing on making this a permanent thing you might want to invest in a second external drive in the near future.