Voltmeter Dmm "Calibration"?? Mine just out of spec?

[WOT]

I forget which thread I read this in, but someone was talking about how there DMM was not giving the proper ohm resistance and they knew how much it was out of spec by simply touching the pos and neg together, and (Im assuming) there should be no resistance, so you should get 0.0

Well when I wired my 4 subs to 2 ohm, it measured at 2.4, thought nothing of it, then just a week ago I wired them to .5, but it measured .9, thought nothing of it still figured it was just from having so many connections etc.

When I touch the pos and neg probes together I get +.4 So Im assuming my DMM is out by .4

But is there a way to zero it out? Or just remember.... I give it out quite a bit, and it makes me wonder if maybe the voltage function may be off aswell.

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[Einzee 10+ year member]

There is always some sort of resistance in the test leads themselves. It is always a good idea to determine the resistance by first touching them together before you make any measurements. Set your meter near the lowest setting (0.000) and touch the leads together to find the "lead resistance". I also suggest wiggling the leads a little while making this measurement to make sure you have a good connection AND to make sure that your leads are not broken inside of the insulation.

The fact that you loan your meter out concerns me because some people do not exactly treat tools with the proper care that is needed to insure a long and accurate life for the tool.

Just my 2 cents.

p.s. always use fresh batteries.

 

[WOT]

There is always some sort of resistance in the test leads themselves. It is always a good idea to determine the resistance by first touching them together before you make any measurements. Set your meter near the lowest setting (0.000) and touch the leads together to find the "lead resistance". I also suggest wiggling the leads a little while making this measurement to make sure you have a good connection AND to make sure that your leads are not broken inside of the insulation.
The fact that you loan your meter out concerns me because some people do not exactly treat tools with the proper care that is needed to insure a long and accurate life for the tool.

Just my 2 cents.

p.s. always use fresh batteries.

**** the batteries in this thing must be 3 years old lol, Ill change those forgot about that

 

[grimreper912003 5,000+ posts]

**** the batteries in this thing must be 3 years old lol, Ill change those forgot about that

I noticed a +.4 - .6 ohm increase with dying batteries.

 

[thch 10+ year member]

some DMMs will have a zero function. it might be labeled "relative" or "delta" or have a triangle (delta) symbol.