On Tue, 23 Oct 2001 19:20:20 -0700, "wolfcreek1" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Chuck ~ > >I apologize for my lack of scientific/electrical mind and requesting further >clarification, meaning you only get typing practice... Please don't apologize for requesting info and/or clarification. Besides, it's all Bob's fault! You don't need to meter to make CS, just time. Metering is a refinement. Anyway, word pictures are confusing so I'm attaching a small diagram for you. It shows your milliameter in series as I described. The water is the resistive load. If you touch the silver wires together, you will bypass the load and short your battery (batteries) out again and pop your meter again. CAUTION!!! When you start, there will be practically no current. Run it until the current is what you want it to be (probably 3 or 4 milliamps). Probably take 30 to 45 minutes. As far as metering goes, the meter must be in parallel to read the voltage drop across a load or a voltage source. It must be in series with the element you want to know the current going through. Don't do it the other way around. >but so I completely >understand, a "parallel" connection 'seems' to me to be putting my postitive >MM lead to my positive battery terminal and my negative MM lead to the same >positive silver wire? I believe I crossed over to the opposite (negative) >silver wire with my negative MM lead. Is this what I did wrong? Again, >sorry for not being up to par, but want to understand before I attempt this >again with a new fuse. > >If my interpretation of your message below is incorrect, could I have >shorted out my fuse by initially taking my positive and negative MM leads >and placing them both into the distilled water? =) Don't HIT me too hard, >I'm at least trying and give you techies a good laugh once in awhile! > >Thank you! > >Julie & Critters > >> When you measure voltage, you place your MM leads on both sides of what >you want to measure the voltage across. This is a parallel connection. >> You've done this correctly! Current is measured in series and some load >must be in the circuit to limit the current. That's the water! >> >> When you measure current (that's the milliamps) you must break the circuit >> between one battery terminal,connect one terminal of the multimeter, then >> connect the other terminal of the MM to the silver wire. >> So The leg to one silver element will be: >> Battery terminal-> MMterminal->other MMterminal ->silver wire ->water. >> The other leg will be: Other battery terminal ->other silver wire -> >water. >> >> As an aside, if this were an analog multimeter instead of a digital, it >most >> probably would have destroyed the meter. >> Chuck Spending a year dead for tax purposes !
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