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How To Use a Multimeter
Wait, how do I use a multimeter? This is a common question for beginners and I am surprised by my own assumptions that people 'just know' how to use one. I even remember floundering in engineering school when they gave us no direction at all. So in an attempt to remedy this missing link, I hope this tutorial shows you the basics. For this tutorial we will be using the SparkFun VC830L. I've looked long and hard for a good, low-cost multimeter and the VC830L is everything I need in a day-to-day multimeter.
Multimeters are a tool that we use to measure multiple characteristics of electronics. Hence the 'multi'-'meter' (multiple measurement) name. The most basic things we measure are voltage and current. I use a multimeter for some basic sanity checks and some rough measurements. Is the regulator outputting 5V? If the regulator is outputting 4.2V instead of 5V, then possibly the input voltage is not high enough. Perhaps something else is wrong? Put a meter on it! The multimeter is your first defense when troubleshooting a system.
What does DMM stand for? It's just another name for digital multimeter (DMM).
How to Measure Voltage
To start with something simple, let's measure voltage on a AA battery: Pull out your multimeter and plug the black probe into COM ('common') jack and the red probe into mAV Ω. Set the multimeter to "2V" in the DC range (DC is a straight line, AC is the wavy line). Squeeze the probes with a little pressure against the positive and negative terminals of the AA battery. The black probe is customarily connected to ground or '-' and red goes to power or '+'. If you've got a fresh battery, you should see around 1.5V on the display!
Now let's measure voltage on a breadboard or on a device: Set the knob to "20V" in the DC range (the DC Voltage range has a V with a straight line next to it). With some force (imagine poking a fork into a piece of cooked meat), push the probes onto two exposed pieces of metal. One probe should contact a GND connection. One probe to the VCC or 5V connection:
Now why did we set the multimeter to the 20V DC setting? Multimeters are generally not autoranging. You have to set the multimeter to a range that it can measure. For example, 2V measures voltages up to 2 volts. 20V measures voltages up to 20 volts. So if you've measuring a 12V battery, use the 20V setting. 5V system? Use the 20V setting.
What if you set it to the wrong range? Don't worry, nothing bad will happen. If you try to use the 2V setting to measure a 3.7V LiPo battery, you will probably see the meter screen change and then read '1'.
Why does the meter knob read 20V and not 10V? I believe this weird limitation is pretty standard on DMMs. If you're looking to measure a voltage less than 20V, you turn to the 20V setting. This will allow you to read from 2.00 to 19.99. But why 20.00V and not 10.00V? It has to do with the number of segments the manufacturer has to build into the LCD. '1' takes two segments as the first/most significant digit. To display '2', you need (nearly) a full 7-segment display. It's cheaper to build a more simple display, so the first digit on many multimeters is only able to display a '1' so the ranges are limited to 1 9. instead of 9 9.99. Hence the 20V max range instead of 99V max range.
Note: There are fancy multimeters that are autoranging, meaning they automatically change their internal range to attempt to find the correct voltage, resistance, or current of the thing you're poking at. Set the knob to 'Voltage' and forget it. I've used an autoranging meter once or twice and, while it was fancy, it unfortunately just annoyed me. Because some readings can fluctuate quite quickly, the autoranger can get confused, quickly switching between the 20mA mode and 200mA mode trying to figure out what is going on. I prefer the manual mode multimeters. (high-end bench models often have a 'manual' mode to overcome this problem).
Warning: I generally stick to DC circuits (the settings on the multimeter with straight lines, not curvy lines). Most multimeters can measure AC (alternating current) systems, but I don't mess with them. It scares me every time I need to check a wall outlet. AC or 'main voltage' is the stuff that can zap you pretty good. I VERY carefully respect AC. If I need to measure it, I double check everything. Really the only times I've needed to measure AC are when I've got an outlet that is acting funny (is it powered?), or if I'm trying to control a heater (such as a hot plate).
How to Measure Resistance
I have to admit, I don't know how to read the color codes on a resistor. I know, BAD ENGINEER! But the online calculators are so easy to use! But if you don't have internet access, a multimeter is also handy at measuring resistance. Set the multimeter to the 20kΩ setting and hold the probes against the resistor legs.
If the multimeter reads '1', it's overloaded. You will need to try a higher mode such as 200k Ω mode or 2M Ω (megaohm) mode. If the multimeter reads 0.00 or there abouts, then you need to lower the mode to 2k Ω or 200 Ω.
Let's say you go into 2kΩ mode and the multimeter reads "0.329" (0.33 of the 1, setting is 330), then you probably have a 330Ω resistor commonly used to limit current into LEDs. Remember that measuring resistance is not perfect. Temperature can affect the reading a lot. Also, measuring resistance of a device while it is physically installed in a circuit can be very tricky. The surrounding components on a circuit board can greatly affect the reading.
How to Measure Current
Reading current is one of the trickiest and most insightful readings in our world of embedded electronics. It's tricky because you have to measure current in series. Where voltage is measure by poking at VCC and GND (in parallel), to measure current you have to physically interrupt the flow of current and put the meter in line. Said another way, pull out the VCC wire going to the breadboard and then probe from the power pin on the power supply to the VCC rail on the breadboard.
The current consumption in most of my projects is under 200mA. I run pretty small systems. So let's say you want to measure an ATmega328 with a blinking LED. Make sure the red probe is plugged into the 200mA fused setting. On my favorite multimeter (I'm not just saying that, I really do have/use one at home and work) the 200mA hole is the same port/hole as voltage and resistance reading (the port is labeled mAV Ω). This means you can keep the red probe in the same port to measure current, voltage, or resistance. Just remember: you have to measure current in series, not parallel.
The current mode works the same as voltage and resistance - you have to get the correct range. So set the multimeter to 200mA. In the image above, I've pulled the wire out of the VCC pin on the bread board power supply and added another wire to the VCC rail. This way I can more easily connect the red probe to the wire coming out of the power supply, and the black probe to the wire sticking out of the bread board. This effectively "breaks" power to the breadboard. We then insert the multimeter inline so that it can measure the current as it "flows" through to the multimeter into the bread board.
Now connect the red probe to the VCC pin on the power supply, and the black pin to the VCC rail on the bread board. Realize that the multimeter is like a piece of wire - you've now completed the circuit and the breadboard is now energized (and will start running). This is important because as time goes on the microcontroller, or sensor, or device being measured may change its power consumption (such as turning on an LED can resulting in a 20mA increase for a second, then decrease for a second, etc). On the multimeter display you should see the instantaneous current reading. All multimeters take readings over time and then give you the average so expect the reading to fluctuate. In general, cheaper meters will average more harshly and respond more slowly, so take each reading with a grain of salt. I generally look for a range, such as 7 to 8mA under normal 5V conditions (not 7.48mA). To give you a rough idea of power consumption: 8mA (0.008A) on a 5V system is incredibly small (0.040W). A light bulb will easily consume 40W, or 1, times more energy.
For the pictures above I cheated and used alligator clips. When measuring current, it's often good to watch what your system does over time, a few seconds or minutes. While you might want to stand there and hold the probes to the system, I'm lazy. So these alligator clip probes come in handy. Note that almost all multimeters have the same sized
Changing the Fuse
When I first started in electronics back in 2002, one of the first things I did with my brand new multimeter was to measure current on my bread board by probing from VCC to GND (bad!). This will immediately short power to ground through the multimeter causing the bread board power supply to brown out. As the current rushed through my multimeter, the internal fuse heated up and then burned out as 200mA flowed through it. It all happened in a split second and without any real audible or physical indication that something was wrong. Wow, that was neat. Now what? Well first, remember that measuring current is done in series (interrupt the VCC line to the breadboard or microcontroller to measure current). If you try to measure the current with a blown fuse, you'll probably notice that the meter reads '0.00' and the system doesn't turn on when you attach the multimeter like it should. This is because the internal fuse is broken and acts as a broken wire. Don't worry, I do this all the time and it costs about $1 to fix.
Find your handy dandy mini screw driver and start taking out screws. The SparkFun DMM is pretty easy to pull apart.
Lift the face of the multimeter slightly.
Once the face is unhooked, it should come out easily. Now you can see inside the multimeter!
Lift gently up on the fuse and it will pop out. Make sure to replace the correct fuse with the correct type. In other words, replace the 200mA fuse with a 200mA fuse. Do not put a 10A fuse where a 200mA fuse should go. The components and PCB traces inside the multimeter are designed to take different amounts of current. You will damage and possibly vaporize traces if you accidentally push 5A through the 200mA port.
