Products > Test Equipment

Best practices for not damaging DMM?

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orb:
Do a triple check before you even think about to measure something.

bastl_r:
If you want to measure the voltage on a larger transformer, turn it on first and then contact the test probes.
Many years ago I destroyed a HP3457a.... :bullshit: The input hybrid, all the protection transistors and the 8052 on the measurement side....
I had incorrectly connected a large toroidal transformer on the primary side, and after the fuse tripped, made three more power-up attempts....

Brumby:

--- Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 08, 2023, 09:41:48 am ---
--- Quote from: RoGeorge on January 08, 2023, 09:29:11 am ---Don't try to measure how many amps "has" a 12V battery :palm:, or even worst, how many amp "are at" the mains socket outlet.  :scared:

--- End quote ---
Ah yes, don't be me.  I had a couple of extension cords pulled through a 1" plastic pipe (impact shielding in a garage-type situation) for work lights, and needed to check which one was which.  So, I connected one, and measured the AC voltage at the other end.  Because I was thinking "I must measure AC voltage, and not AC current; remember: NOT AC current!", I switched my DMM to ~A, of course, and stuck the probes in.

ZAP.

Oopsie.  Only blew the DMM fuse, though.

--- End quote ---

Quite some many moons ago, I had a guitarist friend ask me what was a good multimeter to buy.  I pointed him to Fluke and he threw $700 at buying one.  I was stunned - but I was soon glad when he told me he tried measuring his "household current". 

Cue: your trick.

I got a call to say it made a loud noise and wasn't working properly - the casualty also being a fuse.  I'm forever thankful I pointed him to a meter that could handle that.

Brumby:
+1 on the Current measurement caveat.

Never leave a meter in current measurement configuration.

tooki:
Here’s one: never use a multimeter to try to measure anything inside itself. Every once in a while there’s a thread here about someone killing their multimeter because they tried measuring its own battery voltage, for example.

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