Multimeter use help

1) If you dont know what voltage youre gonna encounter, start with the meter being set on the higher voltage ranges then work your way down.

2) Many have Red + leads and Black -, so hook then up to DC accordingly, or they peg the meter bass ackwards.

3) The meter should have scales for DC volts and AC volts and ohms, so set if for what youre gonna encounter, again starting at higher then expected n work your way down.

4) If you wanna measure resistance/continuity, set it on the ohms scales and dont hook the leads to anything that has voltage running to it.

5) Most tractor troubleshooting is for DC in the 6 and 12 volt ranges, so set the meter in the 25 or 50 volts etc ranges for proper needle deflection when measuring voltages.

If all else fails, break down n read the directions I reckon, lol

John T, retired electrical engineer in Indiana

AC = Alternating Current, like you get out of the wall in your house, polarity alternates 60 times/second.

BY CONVENTION, the terms AC and DC are used to describe both voltage and current, i.e., DC voltage has only one polarity, AC voltage alternates polarities. You need to blame someone back in the early days of electrical power for that convention, probably either Thomas Edison, who favored DC power distribution, or George Westinghouse, who favored AC power distribution (and won, by the way).

Keith
(Not yet retired electrical engineer)