So I bought a DMM from home depot and...

[RJesus 10+ year member]

I have no idea how to use it.

The instructions are so confusing //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

heres a pic of it...

Can someone tell me how to:

1) set the DMM to measure the voltage of my amp leads to set my gains

2) set the DMM to measure the voltage of my preamp outputs on my hu

3) set the DMM to measure the resistance of grounding locations

Any way to use this thing to measure my alt's output?

Click to read more...

 

[revrider1 5,000+ posts]

Pics to blurry?

 

[CRXBMPN 5,000+ posts]

that made me chuckle, but yes the pic is blurry

 

[UpGradde 10+ year member]

Jesus, I was looking at that same dmm at home depot. Thank you that I didnt get it.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/redface.gif.62fdbfe1a101588a808c4cff71bcb942.gif Looked complicated to me:laugh:

 

[RJesus 10+ year member]

update:

 

[J31Rob 5,000+ posts]

I lol'd out loud. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[cx-7heaven 10+ year member]

The v in the upper left is dc volts, upper right is ac volts, a in lower left is dc amps. to measure your speaker outs, go to the red 200 in upper right. I dont think it will measure low enough for preouts. I dont think you can measure your alt with this, as it says "200mA max " which means 200 milliamps max. Thats 200 millionths of an amp

 

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

asdfsdfasd

 

[cx-7heaven 10+ year member]

That is not a DMM //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

Sure it is, not a very good one, but it is a multi meter, I dont know if its digital, old school ones used to have a swing needle, I dont know if they make them like that anymore.

 

[cx-7heaven 10+ year member]

asdfsdfasd

LOL, I see what you did thar...

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

Also the cables will go in different ports depending on what your measuring. Yours has A, Omega, Com, and V. The black wire will always go in Com. If your measuring amperage put the red in A, if your measuring resistance put the red in Omega, if your measuring voltage it goes in the V.

Don't worry about measuring the resistance of your grounding point, it's going to read 0 whether it's a great ground or a shitty ground because resistance changes with current so just find a good ground and your good.

Your first two questions you just need to measure the AC voltage.

 

[Blunt 10+ year member]

The v in the upper left is dc volts, upper right is ac volts, a in lower left is dc amps. to measure your speaker outs, go to the red 200 in upper right. I dont think it will measure low enough for preouts. I dont think you can measure your alt with this, as it says "200mA max " which means 200 milliamps max. Thats 200 millionths of an amp

no it will measure low enough for preouts on the ac volts side

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

The v in the upper left is dc volts, upper right is ac volts, a in lower left is dc amps. to measure your speaker outs, go to the red 200 in upper right. I dont think it will measure low enough for preouts. I dont think you can measure your alt with this, as it says "200mA max " which means 200 milliamps max. Thats 200 millionths of an amp

it should read your pre outs just fine or at least close enough to set your gain. Its probably not extremely accurate with that 200 volt range but hey thats all you got and it will get you close enough. Also 200 mA is not 200 millionths of an amp. 200 mA is 200 thousandths of an amp or .2 amps . Your not really gonna be able to use this dmm for any kind of amperage measurement. Chances are even a remote turn on output from your headunit is going to exceed .2 amps and don't even think about trying to measure your alternator output with this thing.

 

[cx-7heaven 10+ year member]

it should read your pre outs just fine or at least close enough to set your gain. Its probably not extremely accurate with that 200 volt range but hey thats all you got and it will get you close enough. Also 200 mA is not 200 millionths of an amp. 200 mA is 200 thousandths of an amp or .2 amps . Your not really gonna be able to use this dmm for any kind of amperage measurement. Chances are even a remote turn on output from your headunit is going to exceed .2 amps and don't even think about trying to measure your alternator output with this thing.

Ok, so I'm off by one decimal place.....

 

[Max_Power 10+ year member]

why god didnt you just get the $4 one from harbor freight like everyone else. LOL