Need advice on a Triple Play machine Please!

[emelie]

Alright, my dad gave me this volt meter, not digital though.  What's the next step?

[knagl]

Set the meter to continuity testing -- the needle should move all the way over when you touch the two leads together, and then move all the way back to zero when they're not touching.

Once you have that set up, with the slot power OFF, remove the fuses (one at a time), remove them from the black fuse holders, and test for continuity on each fuse (touch one lead from the voltmeter to one side, and the other lead to the other side).  If there is continuity, put the fuse back in and test the next.  If there's not continuity, you have a bad fuse.

[emelie]

OK so my dad's one doesn't work and I hate going to the store soooo.....I'm gonna order one from Amazon.

Is this what I need?

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Volt-Meter-Voltmeter-Multimeter/dp/B001RSREKI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309572798&sr=8-1

Thanks
Em

[Ron (r273)]

OK so my dad's one doesn't work and I hate going to the store soooo.....I'm gonna order one from Amazon.

Is this what I need?

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Volt-Meter-Voltmeter-Multimeter/dp/B001RSREKI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309572798&sr=8-1

Thanks
Em

Yep!

Ron (r273)

[emelie]

ok great thanks!  Ordering it right now!  Heading out to the Marlboro Ranch Tuesday so it should be in by the time I come back

[bigslope]

Are you home yet? I cant't wait to see you get this machine running.

[shortrackskater]

Is she ever coming back? This thread has been very educational...and the suspense is killing me...

[FORDSBS]

I'd say she shacked up with a Marlboro Cowboy.

[emelie]

No Marlboro Cowboy for me but I could have stayed at that ranch forever!

Sorry I never posted back.  I just felt stupid because I got that tester in from Amazon and I know ya'll said to put it on continuity but I don't know where to plug the black and red wires in (there's 3 holes) and what to switch it on (cause nothing says continuity on the machine).  I even looked it up on youtube and I still don't understand

[Ron (r273)]

No Marlboro Cowboy for me but I could have stayed at that ranch forever!

Sorry I never posted back.  I just felt stupid because I got that tester in from Amazon and I know ya'll said to put it on continuity but I don't know where to plug the black and red wires in (there's 3 holes) and what to switch it on (cause nothing says continuity on the machine).  I even looked it up on youtube and I still don't understand

On many multimeters the test lead jacks are color coded red and black for ohms.

The "Ohm" jack may also be marked for use with other functions.

The ohm symbol may be shown, which looks somewhat like a horseshoe.

Some dials may have separate ranges for ohms. Select the range that shows the least "0's" at the beginning.

Some meters may have automatic ranging or a "Range" button to press repeatedly to eliminate the leading "0's."

To test the meter, short the leads together. The reading should be "0." Some meters may have a button to press or a knob to calibrate to zero with the leads shorted.

Never try to measure ohms on a circuit that is energized. Current can damage an ohm meter.

If reading through a diode, different resistances will show when reversing polarity.

When reading higher resistances, be sure not to touch the tips of the meter leads, as the reading could include your body resistance.

Read more: How to Read a Digital Ohm Meter | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5700786_read-digital-ohm-meter.html#ixzz1T4GDL0Ma


Also: http://www.ehow.com/how_4894886_read-multimeter-electric-tester.html

Hope this Helps. THE MAIN THING IS KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TESTING, AC (HOUSE CURRENT) DC ( BATTERY) OHMS (CONTINUITY).
IT WILL BURN UP YOUR TESTER IF IT IS SET WRONG!

Ron (r273)

[StatFreak]

  Ron. Good post.

Here's a video. I figured that a video was worth a couple of thousand words.   My only problem with this video is that he puts down meters without auto-ranging capabilities and then fails to discuss manual ranging much, even glossing over it when he covers amp readings.

So my addition to this video is to warn you that whenever you start to test an unknown voltage (either DC or AC) or current, always start with the meter set to the highest setting. It is also best practice to do this for resistance. If the reading is too small to be useable, then switch to the next lower setting and retest. Continue to do this until you can't turn the dial any lower without overloading the meter. You want to take the final reading at the lowest possible setting on the meter to get the best accuracy.

For example, if you were testing a 9 volt DC battery (but didn't know what the voltage should be), then you would start at the maximum DC setting on the meter and step down until you clearly understood that the measurement was 9.xxx volts. Now, let's say that your meter has a 20v setting, and the next lower setting is 2v. You would take your final measurement using the 20v range, because you would then know that 9v would overload the 2v range.

You can often skip these steps, but when in doubt, better safe than sorry.

This video otherwise covers the basics.

Stat

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/bF3OyQ3HwfU&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/bF3OyQ3HwfU&rel=0</a>

[CommTech]

Nice Starter Video Stat!

Emelie,

Your Meter dose not appear to have the "Continuity" Setting.  That's OK.  No problem.  You will be using the "Ohms" setting instead. The Ohms symbol as Ron mentioned, looks like a horseshoe.
Set your meter for the lowest setting on the Ohms scale to measure continuity. On your meter it appears to be 200.   Your leads go into the bottom two holes. 
The Black lead will always be in the bottom hole. The Red lead will be the next one up for both Voltage and Resistance/Continuity readings.   
Now switch your meter on and touch the two leads together.  You should see a bunch of Zero's on the display.  This indicates Zero Resistance or Continuity.

So now if you remove one of the fuses from the machine and place one lead on each side, you should see Zero Resistance on the display if the fuse is good.

[emelie]

ok so is it the 200 that's near the 750 under AVC?  or is it the 200 that's on the right side under DCA?  Cause that 200 has a u behind it...is that the horseshoe thing ya'll talking about?

Then there's another 200 on the left bottom under some zodiac sign and then another 200 under DCV.

I'd just hate to have it on the wrong 200 and blow the fuses.

[Ron (r273)]

ok so is it the 200 that's near the 750 under AVC?  or is it the 200 that's on the right side under DCA?  Cause that 200 has a u behind it...is that the horseshoe thing ya'll talking about?

Then there's another 200 on the left bottom under some zodiac sign and then another 200 under DCV.

I'd just hate to have it on the wrong 200 and blow the fuses.

For checking Ohms (continuity) Black wire plugs into Com.  Red wire plug into VUmA. Turn dial to the Ohms symbol, 200k.
Turn it on and touch probes together and it should read 00.0

Here is a manual on one that is almost the same.

http://www.cyberpoet.net/ebay/centech.html


Ron (r273)

[stayouttadabunker]

for giggles...  uh.... shouldn't  "AVC"   actually be   "VAC" ? 

[StatFreak]

... Cause that 200 has a u behind it...is that the horseshoe thing ya'll talking about?

Then there's another 200 on the left bottom under some zodiac sign and then another 200 under DCV.
...

Zodiac sign lolol That's the capital Greek letter Omega, and yes, it is the ohm symbol, which is the measurement for resistance in electronics.
It should look like this:    Ω

The "u" after the "200" is a lower case Greek letter Mu (pronounced like the words "Me-you" slurred together) and stands for micro in electronics, meaning one-millionth (1/1,000,000, or 0.000001).
It's different from an English u and actually has a tail, like this:   µ


Hope that helps.


StatFreak

[StatFreak]

While we're at it, a lower case m after one of the numbers stands for "milli", which means thousanth (1/1,000, or 0.001)

[Buzz]

Good God if this Gal isn't confussed enough she will be after reading all this BS.  All this to see if three fuses are good.

If I recall correctly, the three fuses are all mixed up anyway,  EM  put a fuse in the bottom holder and turn on the power. If the lights come on do the same thing with the second fuse same holder, same thing if the lights come on do the same thing with the 3rd and last fuse. IF the lights come on ALL YOUR FUSES ARE GOOD.

[StatFreak]

Good God if this Gal isn't confussed enough she will be after reading all this BS.  All this to see if three fuses are good.
...

Not entirely. She's purchased a volt meter, which has many more uses than reading fuses, and it might benefit her to know how to read the scale values and use the thing. If she's not interested, she can skip it. Knowledge is never BS.

Zodiac sign lolol   ...

BTW Emelie, I didn't intend to be laughing at you. I just thought it was funny. Sorry if that came off the wrong way.

Stat

[stayouttadabunker]

I wish I knew how to type in those symbols for different values on a more regular basis...
My "horseshoe" looks like this on my keyboard...>>> (     ^     )   

[Buzz]

http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/codealt.html

[stayouttadabunker]

oh! That's cool! Thanks Buzz!
I bookmarked it so I can use it later on! 

[FORDSBS]

http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/codealt.html

THANKS BUZZ

[emelie]

Don't worry, you can make fun of me all you want, I know it's all in fun ;p

Yea so anyways I was still all confused and frustrated but then the pest guy came to spray around my house so I asked if he knew how to test fuses with the machine and he did so he tested them for me and they're good yay! He also tested the black plug in and the white plug in and said they had power.

[StatFreak]

(Sorry for the delayed reply. The site was down.)

Don't worry, you can make fun of me all you want, I know it's all in fun ;p

Yea so anyways I was still all confused and frustrated but then the pest guy came to spray around my house so I asked if he knew how to test fuses with the machine and he did so he tested them for me and they're good yay! He also tested the black plug in and the white plug in and said they had power.

Glad to hear it.    
No one was making fun of you; we joke around and get off topic all the time around here.



To the other conversation: You can also open MSWord to get hard to find characters. Go to the top menu and from the "Insert" menu select "Symbol..." It opens up a pop-up where you can select from lots of different symbols. Don't forget to change the font as you browse, as that is sometimes necessary to find what you're looking for.

When you select a symbol, it will display the <Alt> code if there is one, but in many cases there isn't. For example, for the Omega symbol, Ω, it lists the shortcut key as: "03A9, Alt+X" If you see something like that, you can't just enter an <Alt> code in your post, but you CAN insert the symbol into your blank word document, then copy it and paste it into your post! That's what I did for the Ω sign.


Stat