Use a Multimeter

[VladTepes]

How to Use a Multimeter

Lesson 1:
To test for voltage - turn multimeter to 20V DC - put the red wire on your battery positive and the black on your battery negative terminal - the meter should show somewhere between 12.00V and maybe 13.00V.

Lesson 2:
To measure voltage (less than 20V) if something has power - get the black multimeter cable and  hold it against a good known earth - like your battery negative, then probe the power wire (or the one you think has power with the red lead) - if anything shows on the meter when it is set to 20V DC you will know if it has power or not...by the voltage readout on the display.

Lesson 3:
Sometimes there is power called "Switched"  - that means - no key turned on  - no power to those wires..

CONTINUITY

Lesson 4:
put the multimeter to "OHMS" - upside down "Q" - normally a range or setting of 200 is good to test things.
put both probes together (I promise you won't get zapped) - the reading should be 0.00 (this is good) ...this means there are no breaks and very little resistance between the probes...

Lesson 5:
now measure from the positive battery terminal to the solenoid - there should be little to no resistance here either...

Lesson 6:
now measure from one end of a piece of known good electrical wire to the other end - again there should be little or no reading..

Lesson 7:
IF you get a measure of "1"' or overflow - this means there is a BREAK in the wire cable somewhere.

The following links are also very helpful as they are guides with photographs:

How to Use a Multimeter - Sparkfun

Demystifying the Multimeter: A Beginner’s Guide - gearheaddiva

How to Use a Multimeter - wikiHow


For those who prefer videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF3OyQ3HwfU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdUK6RPdIrA

[Mrg]

thank you i have always wont to know about the mult meter cheers

[froudy]

An invaluable piece of kit that you can't really manage without when playing with bikes