Need help in buying a meter.
Let me start off by saying I'm not an electrical expert, you could say I have no clue, just + = red and - = black, hahaha . I need a meter to check the power coming from a solar panel controller an...
Forum Discussion
I like the second one at $19.99.
I used to teach high school students how to use multimeters, which was a bit risky because connecting the meter for a current (amps) range as if it was a voltmeter caused the selected current range to burn out. The 19.99 meter looks like it has over current protection and auto shutoff to prevent battery burnout, while the cheapo probably doesn't.
Anyway, I suggest you only use the voltage ranges until you master that and have someone to help you in person with current measurement, which is very awkward with a multimeter in an RV.. Voltage is easy and almost impossible to damage anything. Just select a voltage range over 15 volts DC (probably 20 VDC) and touch the red lead to positive and the black to negative.
The meter I have in the RV is this little beauty at $50 on eBay.ca that has regular voltage ranges plus foolproof current readings when used as a clamp-meter.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/UNI-T-UT204A-Digital-Handheld-Clamp-Multimeter-Tester-DMM-Voltmeter-Amp-AC-DC-/261813739440?hash=item3cf5509fb0
Great buy! Takes a month to arrive in the mail, though. You just set the meter to DC amps and clamp the thing around the wire you want to measure the current through.
BTW, you may find an even cheaper clampmeter in local stores but it won't measure DC current. Some even falsely advertise "DC clampmeter" and get away with it because it can measure DC volts.
I used to teach high school students how to use multimeters, which was a bit risky because connecting the meter for a current (amps) range as if it was a voltmeter caused the selected current range to burn out. The 19.99 meter looks like it has over current protection and auto shutoff to prevent battery burnout, while the cheapo probably doesn't.
Anyway, I suggest you only use the voltage ranges until you master that and have someone to help you in person with current measurement, which is very awkward with a multimeter in an RV.. Voltage is easy and almost impossible to damage anything. Just select a voltage range over 15 volts DC (probably 20 VDC) and touch the red lead to positive and the black to negative.
The meter I have in the RV is this little beauty at $50 on eBay.ca that has regular voltage ranges plus foolproof current readings when used as a clamp-meter.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/UNI-T-UT204A-Digital-Handheld-Clamp-Multimeter-Tester-DMM-Voltmeter-Amp-AC-DC-/261813739440?hash=item3cf5509fb0
Great buy! Takes a month to arrive in the mail, though. You just set the meter to DC amps and clamp the thing around the wire you want to measure the current through.
BTW, you may find an even cheaper clampmeter in local stores but it won't measure DC current. Some even falsely advertise "DC clampmeter" and get away with it because it can measure DC volts.
