Got Ampere metering in a wrong way with Brymen BM829s

[dark.viking]

Hello good people!
Need some help with my multimeter - Brymen BM829s.
I'm a beginner to clarify ))

So, I've done the BIG mistake by using the DMM for taking A measurements directly on a 220V socket. And the house circuit responded with a nice spark.
I was completely wrong with this. Already know this.
However, how can I check that the DMM is working?
And how can I check the fuses?

I assume that the fuse on 10A is broken.
There is no more "beep jack" sound for input error on the Brymen, as it was before.
When I tried to check the resistance (with the same DMM), there was a signal on µA probe input, but there was no signal on A/mA input. Does it mean that the fuse is dead on A/mA?

P.S. I do not have another multimeter to do some direct tests.

Any hint or assistance will be really appreiated.

[Jwillis]

You won't do that again will you ?  You'll have to open the meter up. There should be 2 fuses . One should been 10A and one should be around 600mA . Pull the 10A fuse and check for continuity . If no good , replace fuse and see if the meter works. Also check the smaller fuse and replace if required. 
If the meter does not work then you'll have to buy another one.

And stop messing around with mains power until you have a lot more experience . Please.

[rsjsouza]

You can check the meter by trying the other ranges (V/Ω) to see if they are working fine.

As Jwillis said, to verify and/or replace the fuse you need to open the meter. The post below shows a few pictures of its internals and the 10A is the one on the left

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/timing-brymen-829s/msg934293/#msg934293

(edit: much better pictures)

To test if the fuse is working, you can either make a simple circuit with two AA cells, a LED and a few wires to see if the LED lits up when it connects to the fuse.


                  |\ |
    ______________| \|__________
    |             | /|         |
    |             |/ |         |
    |             LED          |
 ___|___                      ---
   ___   2 x AA               | |
 _______  (3V)                | | Fuse
   ___                        | |
    |                         ---
    |                          |
    |__________________________|




Also, I reiterate what Jwillis said: don't do this again. We have all done such things and I know by now that you will never forget this experience. Good luck!

[tunk]

Do the other ranges work - e.g. does a new AA cell show ~1.6V?
Or if you short the probes in the resistance mode?

[BeBuLamar]

I think your meter is fine except the 10A fuse is blown.

[TimFox]

Note that the proper replacement for the 10 A fuse will be expensive:  they are safety-rated to keep the meter from blowing up in your face when you connect line voltage to the ammeter.

[rstofer]

EEVblog store has fuses but I don't know if they are correct for your meter.

https://www.eevblog.com/product/multimeter-fuse-pack/

I wouldn't worry a lot about 11A versus 10A, the fuse is really there to protect against 1000A faults.

[tunk]

Or just remove the fuses, and reinstall them when you've got more experience.

[dark.viking]

Thanks to all!
And no, will not do it again 

So, after doing some tests, the meter works fine.
But the 10A fuse is dead. Will need to order it and replace. It has Bussmann fuse BM-S/FUSE-11A.

By the way, the method with continuity test using the DMM's own probe also works. Got the signal on mA input and no signal on A input.

[dark.viking]

USD 11-12, as I have been able to find

[Terry Bites]

We've all done it!
I did it to one of these when I was a kid. It seemed like a good idea at the time, I'd just meaured the line current on our phone line. What could possibly go wrong?

[rstofer]

Or just remove the fuses, and reinstall them when you've got more experience.

That's not a bad idea!  I had thought of just plugging the current input jacks with epoxy but your idea is more easily reversible.

It's pretty rare that I actually want to break into a circuit and measure current.

[radiolistener]

I've done the BIG mistake by using the DMM for taking A measurements directly on a 220V socket. And the house circuit responded with a nice spark.

Such experience helps to learn that any measurements and connections on the mains needs double checking before any action

I remember my experience with that, in my case I got burned out DM830 and melted probes

It also helps to understand why a good branded CAT IV 1000V probes and DMM are better than Chinese cheap crap.
If something will going wrong, good DMM and good probes that meets safety requirements can save your life or at least help to avoid injury and burns

[Vovk_Z]

P.S. I do not have another multimeter to do some direct tests.

A very strange situation when you have only an expensive Brymen DMM and don't have another cheap one. 

[Vovk_Z]

But the 10A fuse is dead. Will need to order it and replace. It has Bussmann fuse BM-S/FUSE-11A.
...
USD 11-12, as I have been able to find

You may use any other cheap fuse until you work only with low voltages.

[Trader]

Don't worry, I did the same, but my DMM cost $18.

My DMM still working in ALL measures correctly, except the Current.

So, I've done the BIG mistake by using the DMM for taking A measurements directly on a 220V socket. And the house circuit responded with a nice spark.

[BeBuLamar]

Or just remove the fuses, and reinstall them when you've got more experience.

That's not a bad idea!  I had thought of just plugging the current input jacks with epoxy but your idea is more easily reversible.

It's pretty rare that I actually want to break into a circuit and measure current.

There are 2 sides to this.
1. As you said in normal troubleshooting in an industrial enviroment there is very little need to use a DMM to measure current. Almost all current measurements are done with a clamp meter. Very rarely I do need to measure the output of a 4-20ma transducer but that's rare. So for this I have used the Fluke 12, Fluke 114 and Fluke 113 all don't have the current measuring function. No A jack.
2. But I do find a use for the current measurement function of a DMM. When in the 10A range the resistance of the meter is less than 1 ohm and thus it's good to use as a jumper. The probes are good to touch the points you want to jump than a piece of wire (if you have a piece of wire handy). If you make a short it would blow the fuse much better than a piece of wire. But doing so many times I forgot to put the lead back to the right port and thus blowing the fuse.

[TimFox]

I often use the mA and A ranges to measure current in low-voltage (< 50 V) circuits by connecting the DVM with normal banana plugs between the lab power supply and the relevant circuit, especially when measuring more than one load from a single supply (with more than one DMM).  I built a separate metal box for measuring AC current in 120 V circuits, with a fuseholder, that uses a simple current transformer (readily available from distribution) and appropriate load resistor to drive a grounded AC voltmeter.

[Vovk_Z]

I built a separate metal box for measuring AC current in 120 V circuits, with a fuseholder, that uses a simple current transformer (readily available from distribution) and appropriate load resistor to drive a grounded AC voltmeter.

I built a plastic box (for 220/230VAC tests) with different shunts (1R, 10R, external lamp) switched by a switch, a Chinese panel LCD meter (power-voltage-ampere-PF-multimeter), and an output standard socket, and two output clamps. It is powered via isolating 400VA power transformer. By default, I use "a lamp" position in my switch (a 40W lamp is ok for most of my work). It has an easily changeable fuse too (for example, to test a fuse rating for a new device).

[Monkeh]

2. But I do find a use for the current measurement function of a DMM. When in the 10A range the resistance of the meter is less than 1 ohm and thus it's good to use as a jumper. The probes are good to touch the points you want to jump than a piece of wire (if you have a piece of wire handy). If you make a short it would blow the fuse much better than a piece of wire. But doing so many times I forgot to put the lead back to the right port and thus blowing the fuse.

They make fused jumper wires, resettable short finders, and so forth for exactly this purpose..

[dark.viking]

Totally agree !!!

[dark.viking]

Single meter is more than enough for me ))
The cheap one has fallen into pieces long time ago.

[t1d]

Please be forewarned that these type of fuses are highly faked on Ebay/Amazon/etc. And, the genuine ones are often not cheap. But, I (IMO) emphatically recommend that you go to the effort and expense to source genuine, OEM, identical fuses.

[BeBuLamar]

The fuse cost me $14.

[dark.viking]

Sure, I know that.
We have an authorized dealer in my country. This company sells all the original accessories for Brymen.