8 Comments

The rule for working on anything over 50 volts is test your meter first on a known live source, test the equipment that you are working on to see if it still has power, then test your meter again to make sure it’s still working. The process is called a live-dead-live test. This make sure that what ever you are using to test a circuit did not fail during before testing process

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Joseph Bulger is correct, this is the way to use your meter. NFPA 70E requirements.

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Hi Mike,

Are we due for the third installment on the Autoformer?

Thanks!

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author

Next week!!! It’s a doozy…😁

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I'm all primed up!

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Non-contact voltage testers DO WORK on 12v circuits when they have a Hall sensor. There are many such voltage meters on the market.

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author

I do believe you’re referring to a clamp ammeter with an AC/DC clamp. Those have Hall Effect sensors instead of a current transformer in the jaws.

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founding

Batteries in your Digital Multimeter sometimes go bad. I had that issue while testing a 12VDC battery in my Jeep & the dang meter kept going UP in voltage, like it just kept on going up. What the heck, everything looked like it was hooked up correctly! After pausing I thought could it be the meters 9 volt Battey, sure enough it was & I replaced it & all is well. My Digital meter cost under $40 bucks, but it would be nice if there was a battery TEST button, maybe the more expensive ones do!

Snoopy

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