I know more than the average bear about electrical stuff, but I'm functionality unable to use a multimeter. For literally decades I've used an old Radio Shack voltmeter usually to check continuity when troubleshooting. I have now 2 cheap multimeters, both free, and I can't figure out with 25 or more settings on the little selector how to do anything with it. Is there a short course online to get me started? Preferably NOT a YouTube video because I can read. Maybe a manual that can print out and study with a meter in hand.
Other suggestions?
Mike Thomasson
[pulled]
mreagant I can't figure out with 25 or more settings on the little selector how to do anything with it.
Fact filled, helpful, and well thought out post deleted.
Nevermind, let the know-it alls with no real depth of knowledge take over this thread.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
LastspikemikeBasically don't stick your multi meter pins into a live socket in your house. It go boom.
I was diagnosing a 230V AC clothes dryer just the other day. Why would my 600V meter go boom?
I check the line voltage both the 230 side and 115 side all the time. Never had a multimeter go boom.
Not sure what tag line you're talking about.
Common sense would dictate.
Thank you, Ed
I've checked the outlets in my house using my DMM - No boom either. I must be doing something wrong...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
i think the only time you can damage a multimeter being used reasonable is when measuring current. many have fuses
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
Kevin, PM mreagant with the fact-filled instructional post. That covers both sides of what's needed without the you-know-what.
Sorry to have offended you, Kevin.
I'll pull off all my comments.
Ed
7j43kMy latest multimeter came with an instruction book. You might do a search for the manufacturer and model that you have--it might be available online.
This is good advice. My $9.00 meter came with a booklet that had way more info than I needed.
I highlighted the three parts that I would need, and I can ignore all the rest.
York1 John
Check out the Harbor Freight Manual on their cheapo meter.
https://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/63000-63999/63759.pdf
I agree with Kevin.
"Nevermind, let the know-it alls with no real depth of knowledge take over this thread.
-Kevin"
I'll not post any more info on this topic. If you need more info email me, my email address is in my Forum Bio.
Over 50 years in electronics.Mel Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Aging is not for wimps.
RR_Mel"Nevermind, let the know-it alls with no real depth of knowledge take over this thread.
so which are which?
correct mis-information, people will thank you
One of the two is the harbor freight meter. It didn't come the manual. I'll print it out and sit down and try to absorb it. My old Radio Shack meter still works for what I need (AC voltage for DCC and track continuity. ) Maybe I don't need it for anything else. Still it's going to be nice to see.
Greg, we all know who Kevin is referring to. I don’t want to feed the troll.Mel Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Aging is not for wimps.
SeeYou190 Fact filled, helpful, and well thought out post deleted.
I don't see how that is helpful to the OP. Every forum on the internet will have good and bad answers. Do we want this to be a forum of just bad answers?
Whenever there is a question in the forum about a train slowing down or not running at all, the obvious question, and the one the questioner never wants to consider is what is the voltage on the tracks?
if the OP intends to put decoders in older locos, measuring amperage is a useful thing to do. I've measured household current as well and am still here to tell about it and so is the meter.
The meters I have are clearly marked with ranges. I can't imagine and MR scenairo where you wouldn't know the range of voltage.
Continuity. Take a piece of sectional track. There is no continuity if you put a probe on the left and the probe on the right. Put it on two places on one rail and there is a buzz. Of course there is usually no need to test L & R unless you screwed up the feeders.
Resistors have color codes but if you can't be bothered looking them up, start high and work your way lower and you won't damage the meter.
Amps The thing to know about amps is that amps aren't forced on anyone. It's like drinking a daiquiri through a straw. You have to suck on the straw, it doesn't force it down your throat. Like a short, if you drop a garden hose in the glass you can suck a lot more daiquiri or amps.
DCC voltage can me measured on the AC scale. It may not be as accurate, but when there are problems it's not 13.4 vs 13.3 V, it's 13.4 vs 8 V.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Just delete the thread and start all over.
Rich
Alton Junction
HenryCould you PM me with your email address.Thank YouMel Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Aging is not for wimps.
You have had it since 2017
7j43kSorry to have offended you, Kevin. I'll pull off all my comments.
I sent you a PM.
LastspikemikeWhy anyone would need a multimeter to check household voltage is beyond me.
Ah, but I'm wasting my time here.
Mike
Lastspikemike Why anyone would need a multimeter to check household voltage is beyond me. I use a table lamp or a hair dryer.
Why anyone would need a multimeter to check household voltage is beyond me. I use a table lamp or a hair dryer.
All these years I have carried a Hair Dryer on the service truck and never yet used it to check for "current", what was I thinking. I remember someone somewhere saying, "A skilled worker always uses the correct tool for the right job.'' Now where did I read that? I hate electric, you can't see it or smell it.
LastspikemikeThat's all you need a multi meter for in model railroading. Voltage and resistance.
you wouldn't be interested in measuring the current thru an LED, lamp, motor, ...? and by resistance, do you mean continuity?
LastspikemikeIf you want to check your electric dryer circuit or electric stove then I recommend caution
i'd recommend caution whenever playing with exposed house power.
yes, beyond you.
but if your rewiring a house, the wires may not be connected to a socket that you can insert a lamp plug into, or you need to figure out which wire is connected to the breaker, or if you're working with old house wiring, you may need to figure which wire is hot and which is neutral
it's a tool that can be used to help solve many problems, some which you haven't had to deal with yet.
SeeYou190 I sent you a PM. -Kevin
And I, you.
Another thread spiked.
Lots of PMs going on in this thread. Too bad when the forum has to go underground.
richhotrain Lots of PMs going on in this thread. Too bad when the forum has to go underground. Rich
That way we don’t feed the troll.Mel Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California Aging is not for wimps.
richhotrainToo bad when the forum has to go underground.
Go underground all you want. I have a Les Nessman Sneaky Snooper! There is no hiding anything from me.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
LastspikemikeRewiring a house requires an electrical permit. Only a ticketed Master Electrician can pull that permit and he or she signs off when the work is complete.
not in my town. when i built my garage i wired it and the inspector approved it
gregc Lastspikemike Rewiring a house requires an electrical permit. Only a ticketed Master Electrician can pull that permit and he or she signs off when the work is complete. not in my town. when i built my garage i wired it and the inspector approved it
Lastspikemike Rewiring a house requires an electrical permit. Only a ticketed Master Electrician can pull that permit and he or she signs off when the work is complete.
Yes, lots of local jurisdictions in the US have homeowner programs for electrical and plumbing. And allow homeowners to be their own general contractors for other work.
But remember, Spike knows all........
Me, I'm just an electrician/electrical designer draftsman who once designed and built bridges, sky scrapers, factories, and today does historic restoration design work, what could I possibly know about it.
I learned how to use my fathers Simpson meter at age 12.
Sheldon
Remember he has now changed the discourse from 'safe and effective' to 'what lawyers have made legal' -- and is thoroughly in his element.
Of course, only a ninny would confuse permitted house wiring or branch installation with changing outlets or switches or even installing a ceiling fan. And here, almost immediately, it becomes important to have a good meter to stick in the slots or test across wires or to ground.
The same class of lawyer who advocated making ethanol denatured with actual poison made the sensible four-wire branch construction illegal in the NEC in 1937. That means that any device leaking current to neutral might produce voltage to local ground on other branches, and this needs to be tested any time you intend to work with a neutral connection.
If you're someone terminally concerned with sticking things in slots, it is easy to get an extra set of test leads and hardwire them to a $2.43 appliance plug from HD... of course you'll have to use common sense with the meter controls before using this, but that was a cardinal point if this thread. You may want to put 120V rated switches in these leads, as testing neutral to ground would need you to use a probe to it, but again common sense is your guide.
Overmod ...the sensible four-wire branch construction illegal in the NEC in 1937.
...the sensible four-wire branch construction illegal in the NEC in 1937.
Being before my time, what IS "four-wire branch construction"?