Digital Multimeters Guidelines

Some uses of a Multimeter

• Measuring current, voltage, resistance etc.
• Test functionality of capacitor.
• Properly checking if a capacitor is full.

Multimeter Lead Wires

• To ensure the right values are being read attach the lead wires to the proper port of the multimeter.
• Only the red wire switches ports depending on what is being measured and the type of mulltimeter.
• In the Multimeter shown in figure 1, while determining the voltage red lead wire will be in port 4 and when determining the current the red lead will be in port 1 or 2, depending on the current source. Utilize port 1 or the 10A port in this case.

File:Points on a Multimeter.jpg

Figure 1: Ports on a Multimeter

Testing the Multimeter

• To test the functionality of the multimeter, test the continuity. The leads don’t have to be in a specific orientation to test the continuity.
• The continuity can be tested by shifting the dial to the continuity setting shown in Figure 2