Things to do with a DMM

[doublevision 10+ year member]

i been searching this forum for a while and it seem you could do so much with a DMM. So i think we should compile them here to get rid of all these threads and to let noobs such as me know the capabilities of a DMM. People should post step by step instructions such as what you are measuring, the setting the DMM must be on, where each probe goes, etc.

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[Ali1 10+ year member]

not a bad idea for a sticky

 

[doublevision 10+ year member]

i think this is a good idea. I just bought a DMM and would like to know how to measure some things.

 

[Torgus 10+ year member]

if you don't understand basic electrical theory a dmm is useless, unless you have a writeup telling you how to use it...also no dmm is alike take a $500 fluke it can do a hell of alot more then a $30 radiocrap one. making this a sticky is 1) stupid. 2) more stupid. learn how electrons flow n such then you will understand a dmm...

 

[Torgus 10+ year member]

i think this is a good idea. I just bought a DMM and would like to know how to measure some things.

what would you like to measure and why do you think a dmm will help you?

i'm not trying to be rude but seriously...to use one past it's basic functions you need to know, aka school, electrical theory.

oh. and you could just google this and get your answers.

 

[QuantumWell]

what would you like to measure and why do you think a dmm will help you?
i'm not trying to be rude but seriously...to use one past it's basic functions you need to know, aka school, electrical theory.

oh. and you could just google this and get your answers.

QFT. DMM's are relatively useless for anything but basic diagnostics. You need an oscilloscope to make serious analytical observations.

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

this is thruth.

but a multimeter is good for testing the resistance of a coil to see weather its good or bad, testing the output voltage of an amplifier to set the gain properly, testing battery and remote lines in troubleshooting weather a wire is properly conducting or is shorted\open.

the biggest thing you can use a meter for is testing stock wiring harnesses in vehicles for constant 12v, switched 12v and ground. the only other test equipment i carry in my toolbag is a 1.5v battery for popping speakers to make sure the line i am using is a speaker and its the correct speaker im looking for.

a multimeter like he said, is used for basic troubleshooting in my opinion. very rarely will you make any serious deductions other than "it works", or "its broke" using a multimeter.