Hey all-

I have a favor to ask of you. I purchased a multi-meter while I was still in high school (about 6 years ago). The problem is, I never learned how to use the thing and I have lost all the instructions. I was wondering if anyone knew of any websites that would give me some general knowledge of how to use it? I have searched, but I haven't really found anything. Or if anyone could give me some tips on how to use it?

I purchased the meter at Bimart and it is a Cal Term 64420-1220, if anyone wanted to know.

Thanks so much for the help! Besides, I know that there are probably other people in the same boat as me.


Matt
1974 F-250 4x4 Highboy

 

Matt,
I am not familiar with the model meter that you have but I will try and give some pointers. Multi-meters can be used to measure AC, DC, Current, or Resistance. I do not know your electronic background so you will have to forgive me.

Battery's are DC (Direct current)only. If you are using a meter that is analog(meaning it has a scale with a deflecting needle) you will have to watch your polarity with the meter leads. Always ground the black lead to the frame or "-" side of the battery when making measurments. If you dont, you can damage the needle on the scale as it will try and deflect backwards. If you are using a digital readout meter having the wrong lead grounded will not damage it. The voltage will just read as a negitave reading.

When measuring AC (Alternating current)it does not matter which lead is grounded as the voltage is sweeping "+" to "-" and back to "+" 60 times a second. The reading will always be a positive number.

To measure current the meter has to be "in series" between the power source and the item being powered. In other words the meter becomes part of the path the current must go thru to get to whatever its powering. You must NOT excede the rating of the meter or "smoke"!!!! Also always have the red lead on the "hot" side.

When making a Resistance reading you are using the battery in the meter as a power source and current is sent out one meter lead to be received by the other lead thur whatever you are measuring. If you touch the leads together you will see the meter needle deflect to the opposite side of the scale. This is 0 ohms, or no resistance. A digital meter will read approxamatly 0. Example: Measure resistance of a fuse. Put the meter leads on each end of the fuse. Since a fuse is just a piece of wire it has little to no resistance and should measure near 0 ohms. A bad fuse with it's wire burned open cannot pass current and will read "000" on a digital meter and on an analog meter you will not get any meter movement. This is "Open". Remember NEVER do a resistance measurement on anything that has power appiled to it.

All of this is hard to discribe in text but I hope it will help you. Please feel free to e-mail me if I can help clear any of this up.
Lee

 

Lee-

Thanks for the help! I don't know much at all about electronics. I do have another question. The meter has a dial with all sorts of settings. I figure that they are the standard settings for a multi-meter. Can anyone clue me in on what they mean?

Also, to measure a battery, I suppose that you need a volt-meter, not a multi-meter, am I correct?


Matt
1974 F-250 4x4 Highboy

 

Matt,

The multi-meter as the name states is a "multi-purpose" meter. Meaning it is a volt meter, a current meter, a resistance checker all in one. If you refering to a rotary dial then this should help.

As for the dial, to measure DC(a battery) the dial should have a setting that is labled VDC(volts DC) or it may have a stright line "---" symbol.

To measure AC there will be a "VAC" or a symbol that sort of looks like an "S" on it's side. "~".

For a resistance measurement there should be a dial position with the greek symbol of "Ohmega". This looks sort of like an "O" that is not closed at the bottom with a tail on each side.

For a current measurement there should be an "A" for amps, or a "mA" for milliAmps, or maybe "uA" for microAmps depending on the model.

If ya have any more questions just fire away.
Good luck
Lee

 

 

The whole bunch of positions will also refer to the range of the display. You usually and go from muli-volts to 500 volts. So if you wanted to measure your outlet voltage, a range from 0-250vac would be good, anything smaller might not give you good reading. It's like the speed-o only goes up to 85, after that you don't know how fast you're going except faster than 85.

I hope this helps a little more.

Chris

In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king.