Have A Multimeter In Your Toolbox
In today’s world there are a lot of reasons to have a multimeter in your toolbox. Though it wasn’t always the case where everyone had a multimeter, in fact, the most common hand held meter that was around for the do-it-yourself-er was the analog volt meter. The biggest reason was because of the cost and lack of knowledge. Now the cost of a digital multimeter is of no concern unless you want the higher quality multimeter.
There are many types of multimeters on the market with cost starting below $10.00 up to many hundreds of dollars. There are still analog multimeters available though they are harder to find because everyone wants a more easy to read digital multimeter. I remember the days when my trusty little analog voltmeter would give me a reading that was all over the scale and it was very hard to pin point the exact reading when charging a battery and 13.8volts was the goal.
You don’t have to be a electrician to under stand the basics of electricity but you better respect it or it will knock you on your butt or worst! Even DC [direct current] can give you trouble, have you ever touch a spark plug when your car engine is running or how did you feel after touching a electric fence?
AC [alternating current] is the common power source for the home or job. The first rule in trouble shooting anything electrical is to turn off all power sources before you start to disassemble anything and then take your multimeter and test the wires for any electricity before your hands touch anything. Turning off the light switch isn’t enough go to the beaker box and turn the power source off. Even then you better test the wires because you may have a back feed from another source.
Just the volt meter in your multimeter will save you a lot of agony when doing house repairs. With a little practice you will find that trusty multimeter giving you a lot of satisfaction in hunting down that faulty circuit or why that light doesn’t work. Common sense and a good book on how to work with electricity using a multimeter will put you in good standing.