Please forgive my lack of electrical knowledge, but I have this pocket multimeter and am wondering if it is able to check the battery on my lx. For the totally unitiated it does not appear yo have a 12 volt test setting. If it can be used where would I set the pointer to?
Rms, Instead of just telling you which scale to use….here’s some basic helpful info that might save you from blowing too many fuses on your meters during your learning curve. Especially since your OTT handle is RMS, which in the electrical measurement department stands for “Root Mean Square”.
V DC = Volts Direct Current
V AC – Volts Alternating Current
mA DC = milli amps (1/1000 amp) Direct Current (not to useful for general tractor troubleshooting but good for blowing meter fuses!)
BATT = checking common AA, D, C, 9v flashlight batteries, etc.
Ohm x 1K = Ohms resistance x 1000
Ohm ADJ = For adjusting the ohm reading to “Zero” when you short the test leads together.
Example for V DC: The settings of 10, 50, 250, are the maximum full scale reading in volts that can be safely read in each of those selections. If you were expecting to read 120 Volts DC you would select the 250 VDC setting because 120 volts falls within that range. Your tractor battery is in the 12 to 13 volts DC so you would select the 50 VDC setting to check your tractor battery voltage.
If you’re unsure of a voltage that you want to check, select the highest range first. Then when you see which range the voltage would fall into….then select the proper lower range for better resolution of the reading.
Note the meter scales are laid out (top to bottom) OHMS, Volts (250, 50, 10) etc.
Each meter scale corresponds to the respective setting you have chosen on your meter.
If you select the 50 VDC range to read your battery voltage, you will be using the middle scale (Volts) that has the 50 at the full scale range on the right side of the meter face.
If you are measuring ohms. You would be using the top scale. And since the meter shown has the ohm scale x 1K…..that means you would multiply the reading by 1000 to get the actual resistance value.
Selecting too low of a scale on this meter you will likely “Peg” the needle to the far right and may damage the meter movement and may also blow a fuse. That’s why if the value to be measured is unknown, you start with the highest scale and work your way down to the proper scale.
On your new electronic meter, if the value being measured is “out of range” (improper scale selected) you will most likely see an “OL” or other indication on your LED display. Depending on the meter, it might be more forgiving of making mistakes. You may still blow an internal meter fuse, but they’re easily replaced.
As an example of choosing the right scale and seeing the better resolution: select the 250 VDC scale and read your tractor battery voltage. (remember to read it on the 250 FS (Full Scale) range (top scale).
Then select the 50 VDC range and read the voltage on the 50 FS (Full Scale) range. This will give you a much better (more accurate) resolution.
Do Not select the 10 VDC range as that is usually below your battery voltage. You will peg the needle to the far right of the movement and possibly damage the movement if your battery is fully charged.
However, if the previous scales show that your battery is bad or discharged to a lower level than 10 Volts….then you can safely use this scale to more accurately read any voltage below 10 volts.
As a new user of a multi meter, you should not try to measure resistance with your meter when the battery voltage is present in the circuit. Especially with this analog meter (needle movement vs the LED meter). Until you become more familiar with taking circuit readings with your meter, you’d want to measure resistance with the device completely disconnected from the circuitry.
These are just some very basic “how to’s” in helping you get started in understanding those different settings. It would be a shame to damage that nice little vintage analog meter!!
Hope it helps a little!!
David
