dumb dmm question

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

I bought a dmm not even a year ago and I think its broken already. No matter what setting on ohm I put it to, it will read 1 even when its not touching anything. Then with I touch it to something it goes to 0. The volt meter on it works fine. its a sperry. I know theyre cheap but its a pita the buy another

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[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

Do you have it plugged in to the proper connection?

My cheap walmart DMM has worked for over 2 years.

 

[plugitin 5,000+ posts]

fuse?

 

[J31Rob 5,000+ posts]

Are there multiple lead plugins? May have some wires crossed..

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

touch the leads together to reset it?

 

[Bobby322 10+ year member]

Yeah the pos and neg wires are in the right spot. When I touch them together it goes to 0 then when I let the go it goes back to 1. I checked the battery and I touched it to my tounge and it shocked me so I guess its still good. Idk why it would work on volt side but not ohm side.

 

[fuggles 10+ year member]

maybe "1" is the display for infinite resistance. measure something of known resistance.

kent

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

Yeah the pos and neg wires are in the right spot. When I touch them together it goes to 0 then when I let the go it goes back to 1. I checked the battery and I touched it to my tounge and it shocked me so I guess its still good. Idk why it would work on volt side but not ohm side.

Try a new batt. They often get screwy when the batt goes low. The tongue method is not very accurate //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

maybe "1" is the display for infinite resistance. measure something of known resistance.
kent

x2. read a vc or something to seeif it reads a full ohm off if so the calibration may be off

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

maybe "1" is the display for infinite resistance. measure something of known resistance.
kent

my cheapo radioshack DMM does this.

 

[Boomintempo 10+ year member]

My craftsman does this too. 1 is just stands for infinite. The 1 is displayed all the way to the left of the lcd. It should read zero when you touch the leads together because, well, there isn't any resistance between the leads!!!

Sounds like your dmm is working fine to me. Find the manual for it online and read up on how to use it if you're confused.