Help with multimeter please

Stallingrad

I am about to check the car battery for a couple of things but the instructions that came with it a vague at best with regard to settings on the dial.

First test: Check that the battery is OK

Second text: Check for parasitic draw/drain.

Can anyone advise which setting on the dial I need for both of the above tests?

Cheers.

nd

to check the voltage set it to the 20 on the left side under the v. Touch the read lead of the meter to the red pole of the batter and black lead of the meter to the black pole.

to check the drain I think you turn the dial to the 10a on the right side. then disconnect the negative of the battery, touch black lead of the meter to the negative battery terminal and the red lead of the meter to the negative lead that normally connects to the battery.If you are getting no reading at 10a turn the dial to the 200m beside it.

mickdw

You would really need to stress test the battery though as voltage reading will not tell you a whole lot.

Stallingrad

Many thanks nd, great advice.

Mick, by stress test do you mean switch on lights, heating, etc. If so what would the expected reading drop to?

biko

Eric goes through the settings here

pred racer

nd wrote: »

to check the voltage set it to the 20 on the left side under the v. Touch the read lead of the meter to the red pole of the batter and black lead of the meter to the black pole.

to check the drain I think you turn the dial to the 10a on the right side. then disconnect the negative of the battery, touch black lead of the meter to the negative battery terminal and the red lead of the meter to the negative lead that normally connects to the battery.If you are getting no reading at 10a turn the dial to the 200m beside it.

+1

With your car off, the battery should read about 13v with the car running it should read 14-14.5 that checks your alternator (eg mine reads 13.95v)

The current test is done with the car off. Do not try to start or run your car with a normal Dvm in series!

If I remeber correctly you are looking for a drain on your batt?? So do the current test with everything off, get an initial reading (should be in the mA range) and pull the fuses for the likely systems. If you see a significant drop after pulling a particular fuse.......bingo.



Edit: on that meter you have pictured you have to change the black lead from COM to 10ADC to read current.

CiniO

nd wrote: »

to check the voltage set it to the 20 on the left side under the v. Touch the read lead of the meter to the red pole of the batter and black lead of the meter to the black pole.

to check the drain I think you turn the dial to the 10a on the right side. And switch the red wire on multimeter to 10A socket. then disconnect the negative of the battery, touch black lead of the meter to the negative battery terminal and the red lead of the meter to the negative lead that normally connects to the battery.If you are getting no reading at 10a turn the dial to the 200m beside it.

I corrected those.
For 10A mode there is different socket, so wire on multimeter must be switched.
Don't try to try the draining current at 200mA, as this will most likely burn the fuse in multimeter. After plugging in, there's usually bigger current going through for a seconds.
Most multimeters at 10A mode show with 2 digits after the dot, so you can find value of up to 10mA

Stallingrad

pred racer wrote: »

+1
Edit: on that meter you have pictured you have to change the black lead from COM to 10ADC to read current.

Thanks Pred, are you sure on the above, I thought the Negative black stayed on the Com port when testing for drain? Did I get that wrong?

CiniO

Stallingrad wrote: »

Thanks Pred, are you sure on the above, I thought the Negative black stayed on the Com port when testing for drain? Did I get that wrong?

No. You got that right.
Black wire stays on COM.
It's the red which goes to 10A socket.
Don't try to test for drain with red wire in right socket or 200mA mode. Always use 10A mode and 10A socket for red wire.

pred racer

Stallingrad wrote: »

Thanks Pred, are you sure on the above, I thought the Negative black stayed on the Com port when testing for drain? Did I get that wrong?

No you and Cinio are right, sorry