... don't know the difference in an ohm or volt.
I have to unlearn the great electricity lesson my father taught me nearly 40 years ago, "Don't mess with electricity...it can kill you..or plumbing, it will make you wish you were dead."
I am just looking for a good basic tool. I will have to grow into it even in its most basic use. I have enough sense to know you were giving good advice...I just had no idea what to do with it. Kinda the same situation I had as a teenager, I had a Fender Telecaster but I might as well as had a $69 Wal-Mart special for what I was able to do with it...
Love that expression... Made me laugh...
Anyway, here's your first lesson (and it's very easy. I teach mechanical guys about electrickery all the time)....
It's also interesting that you used a plumbing scenario, as the way I explain electricity and those symbols is also a plumbing analogy....
Here goes.
so, what are all these things, volts, amps, ohms, current, resistance?
Voltage (measured in 'volts', symbol 'V') is electrical pressure, like you pounds per square inch in hydraulics.
Current (measured in 'amps', symbol 'A') is electrical flow, like gallons per hour.
Resistance (measured in 'ohms', symbol 'Ω') is the restriction to flow.
Those are the basics.
Thinnking about that, you will also notice that wires, which carry the electricity, have 2 characteristics. Their size (measured in mm2, or gauge) and the insulation. Think of their size as a water pipes' diameter. The more flow you want, the large the pipe needs to be. Now think of the pressure. The higher the pressure, the thicker the wall needs to be, same as electricity, the higher the voltage, the thicker the insulation.
Something I also need to mention is the difference between AC and DC. DC, Direct Current is just like the water flowing from your garden hose, it's constantly flowing in the same direction. This is what you'll find in your car and boat, DC... AC, Alternating Current is what it's name says, alternating. Due to the way electricity is produced in the power station, the easiest way is to make it go positive and negative alternately, at about 60 times per second (50 time per second where I live)... Sometimes you will see AC as a '~' symbol, and DC is '⎓'
Ok, on to the symbols on your meter and what they mean.
By now you will have noticed the Ω symbol. The meter produces a current on the leads (don't worry, it's very small) and sees how difficult it is to push that current through what you are testing. The result is read on the dial as ohms. The higher the number, the more resistance. On your meter there are multiple ranges for most quantities. If you are unsure of what you are expecting to see, start will the highest range.
I have one of the meters you just bought. And they are incredibly easy to use. They don't use symbols, just the letters of the thing you're looking for. You have 4 holes for the leads. The black lead always goes in the '-COM' hole (bottom left). The red lead will go into the hole of the value you're trying to read, and based on the dial position. The holes are labelled appropriately. The only hole with a symbol is the bottom right. That is the hole you'd put the red lead if you are measuring anything but DVA (most 2 stroke ignitions measurements will require DVA) and high current DC (that's the top left hole and the dial pointing at '10A' position).
When using it to measure resistance (Ω) you need to do 2 things first. One is to put a battery in the back of the meter, so it can generate the voltage it requires. The second is to 'zero' the meter. We do that by touching the ends of the leads together. And turning the Ω ADJ knob (top left) until the needle reads on the '0' of the top scale. You'll also notice the needle swings over a mirror. You use the mirror to make sure you are looking directly over the needle and that removes any 'parallex' error.
One last thing. If you are not going to be using the ohms readings, don't bother putting a battery in. The meter only needs the battery for those readings, and we usually forget about the battery until it leaks and kills the meter....
Cheers and good luck. Any questions, ask away....
Chris..........
