Help learning to use a multi meter

[sjtaylor_199]

I have a multi meter which I used to do some wiring in my car and have used it to check if wires are safe in my house before swapping broken sockets etc, but other than checking voltages and continuity I don’t know what else I can do with it. Can anyone recommend a site to help me the instruction book that came with it is very basic. For instance how do I use it to check for an earth or to check if a switch is working I know the switch will be something to do wit resistance but not how to check?

Thank You

Stephen

 

[skwirrel]

Stephen

Instead of learning to use a multi meter it might be a good idea to get a book on basic electricity. I'm sorry if this sounds patronising but if you have basic understanding of things like Ohm's Law and current flow etc then you will easily understand how to use a multimeter.

If your meter has a buzzer on it to check for continuity then you can check if a switch is working BUT SWITCH OFF POWER AT CONSUMER UNIT before doing a continuity test.

You can do the same to test basic earth continuity, but this will not show whether you have a good earth as a multimeter does not have this capability

Cheers

Dave

 

[ZenStalinist]

To check the earth, you should check the voltage across live and earth, which should be somewhere around 230 volts, the voltage across neutral and earth should be 0 volts. That would test whether there IS an earth, but it wouldn't test whether the Earth is good, bad or otherwise (i.e. it might have too much impedence)