I'm a multimeter ignoramus

What do I want to set this cheap bastard on, and which jacks do I want the probes in? I followed the instructions as best I could with no good results.
As always, thanks!
Your pal,
Rich

 

It depends on what you're testing.

The black test lead will always connect to the "COM" jack on this meter, and unless you're testing Amperage greater than 200mA and less than 10A (top Jack is for this), the red lead will connect to the middle jack, where you can measure AC or DC Voltage, Resistance, or Current (up to 200mA); depending on what position the selector is in.

It's important to note that this is not an "Auto-Ranging" meter, meaning that you need to select the appropriate range for the expected value of what you are measuring.
This is important because the "resolution" of the displayed result will be different depending on what range the selector is in. You should always be in the minimum range for the value being measured.
For example:
Say you have a standard 6-cell 12V battery. Each cell will supply about 2.14V at full charge, so the voltage across your battery terminals when the battery is fully charged would be 12.84V
Assuming that the battery is in perfect working order, the voltage at 50% charge would be about 2.03V per cell or 12.18V across the terminals.
At 0% charge you could expect about 1.75V or less per cell or 10.5V across the terminals.

As you can see there is not too much difference in the voltage output of a battery that is fully charged verses when it is half charged. If you were to connect your meter to the battery when fully charged, and the range was set to 1000VDC, the display would probably read something like "012". If you connected to the meter to a half charged battery using the same settings the display would probably read the same thing, because the meter is expecting voltage between 200 and 1000 volts and does not have the capacity to display 5 digits plus a decimal point.
Now if you move the selector to the 200VDC range, you will get 12.8 on a fully charged battery; move it again to 20VDC and you will get 12.84, get the idea?

You will see that the measured values become more precise the closer the range is to the value of what is being measured. This is especially important when measuring values of most sensors, especially resistance measurements; sensors typically operate within a pretty tight tolerance as far as their measured values go. Coolant temp sensors are a good example, the resistance values for my bike (6th Gen) should be between 2.3-2.6 Ohms, if you have your meter set in the 2000Ohm or higher range all you will ever see is 2 on the meter, which certainly doesn't tell you anything about the condition of the sensor; the actual value could be 1.9 or 2.1!

With all that being said, it is good practice to set your meter to the highest range for your initial measurements provided you do not know what the measurement will (or should) yield. If you have an odd AC outlet on the wall and you don't know whether its 120V, 240V or 480V, set your meter to the 1000V range for an initial measurement and work backward as far as you can.

I hope that helps!

Matt

 

I just started learning about these to:

[video]http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/4944/ziy.mp4[/video]

you don't see it but the black pin is pushed into the screw of the negative part of the battery.

 

[video]http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5418/9od.mp4[/video]

 

I have one too, and suck at figuring out what I am supposed to set it to for what I want to test. I don't know why, as I am smarter than the average bear, but for some reason I have never ever been able to grasp simple electrical stuff.

 

I did finally manage to test the battery at 5000 rpm using the settings recommended by tinker. I'm still sad because he called my meter gay. Anyway, it said 14 which is okay i guess. Still searching for 1 syllable explanations of other things to check.

 

Have you inspected plug connectors on r/r and on top of starter relay?? Them bitches sometimes melt down and cause charging problems.

 

With the hFE setting you can check the gain of all your transistors. That should provide hours of fun.

Simple rules of metering
#1 voltage checks are always done in parallel with circuit being measured.
#2 current checks are always done in series (meter must be placed in the circuit).

Have fun with your new toy.

:crazy: