[tps_title]C) – Measuring Current[/tps_title]
- A common mistake that engineers make while measuring current is that they forget to switch the red probe to the inputs meant for measuring current. The red probe must be inserted into either of the terminals marked with the “mA” and “A” symbols respectively whereas the black probe needs to be inserted in the COM terminal as in the previous cases.
- Turn off the power supply and break the circuit in the path for which you need to measure the current. A good option is to pull out a resistor from one end and insert the probes between the loose end of the resistor and the point where the resistor was originally connected.
- Turn on the power supply and observe the reading being displayed by the multimeter. This is the current flowing through the path where your probes are connected.
Now here is a very useful tip to prevent any damage to the multimeter while measuring current.
- Since the multimeter needs to be added in series to the corresponding path of the circuit, all the current that flows through the circuit has to flow through the multimeter’s internal circuitry as well.
- Therefore it is crucial to prevent any damage to the multimeter that may be caused by high current flowing through the circuit. To ensure this, the best practice is to first measure the current with the red probe connected to the “10A” terminal and then move the probe to the “mA” terminal only after confirming that the current in question is less than 1A.
In the next section, we will demonstrate how to test diodes using a multimeter.
