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Why do we want fast continuity detection in a multimeter?

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floobydust:
I use older DMM's that use an analog comparator (no MCU involved) for the continuity detect.
This gives lightning fast response which is invaluable if you are looking for a bad connection. Wiggling things you can "hear" the scratching sound of the bad connection and find it FAST. Is it the cable, the connector, the switch etc., you can find right away.
Not so with these sluggish MCU-involved DMM's.

Fungus:

--- Quote from: floobydust on June 05, 2023, 04:22:59 am ---Wiggling things you can "hear" the scratching sound of the bad connection and find it FAST. Is it the cable, the connector, the switch etc., you can find right away.

--- End quote ---

Yep. People often complain about the "bad sound" of the scratchy ones sound but they give more info.

CatalinaWOW:
I agree with the many prior posts that say that fast is good.  I have seen no specific statements about how fast is good enough.  I am sure that everyone's opinion on this will vary, but to give the OP something to work with I will mention what I think the numbers should be.

Human reaction time to a sound or other stimulus is a few hundred milliseconds, with many variable involved.  So times faster than two or three hundred milliseconds are probably not discernable by everyone, and not of major benefit to anyone.  The possible exception to this is the sweeping over a connector example, where a faster time would allow you to more quickly determine that a pin somewhere in the connector was connected.  But even in this case a slower, human limited scan would be needed to find the specific pin.  Maybe a half interval search would still benefit from the faster time, but that isn't an approach that many will use.

I have become very impatient with a couple of meters that I have owned that have reaction times in the one or two second or longer time frame.  To the point that those meters are no longer in the active stable.  So response times under a second are desirable.

I will also point out that those who don't prefer to use a beeper for continuity and just watch the meter are forced to be relatively slow and methodical because it isn't possible for most people to place a probe and watch the meter at the same time.  In many situations it is difficult to place the probe (and keep it from touching things it shouldn't) without watching continuously.  The beep is invaluable in these situations.

Fungus:

--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on June 05, 2023, 05:05:00 am ---I agree with the many prior posts that say that fast is good.  I have seen no specific statements about how fast is good enough.

--- End quote ---

It's very subjective and will depend on what you use your meter for.

eg. I already said I never find myself zipping down connectors. I guess the people who "zip" are trying to figure out unknown PCBs which is something I never really do. I mostly build my own stuff so 99% of the time I know where the probes are supposed to go,  I'm just checking for bad connections and/or short circuits.

I own very fast meters but I wouldn't say it's life or death for me.

BeBuLamar:

--- Quote from: Fungus on June 05, 2023, 07:14:33 am ---
--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on June 05, 2023, 05:05:00 am ---I agree with the many prior posts that say that fast is good.  I have seen no specific statements about how fast is good enough.

--- End quote ---

It's very subjective and will depend on what you use your meter for.

eg. I already said I never find myself zipping down connectors. I guess the people who "zip" are trying to figure out unknown PCBs which is something I never really do. I mostly build my own stuff so 99% of the time I know where the probes are supposed to go,  I'm just checking for bad connections and/or short circuits.

I own very fast meters but I wouldn't say it's life or death for me.

--- End quote ---

I actually rarely ever used the continuity feature. I almost always use the resistance measuring function. But sometimes I use the continuity to troubleshoot an intermittent connection and when it breaks it breaks very briefly.

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