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So how do I use a multimeter? This tutorial will show you how to use a
digital multimeter (DMM), an indispensable tool that you can use to
diagnose circuits, learn about other peoples electronic designs, and even
test a battery. Hence the multi-meter (multiple measurement) name. We
will be using the SparkFun VC830L throughout the tutorial but these
methods should apply to most multimeters.

Using a Multimeter to test the voltage on a LiPo Battery.

The most basic things we measure are voltage and current. A multimeter is
also great for some basic sanity checks and troubleshooting. Is your circuit
not working? Does the switch work? Put a meter on it! The multimeter is
your first defense when troubleshooting a system. In this tutorial we will
cover measuring voltage, current, resistance and continuity.

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You may want to know about these concepts to help you with this tutorial:
What is Electricity?
Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Ohms Law
What is a circuit?
Metric Prefixes
How to Use a Breadboard
Connector Basics
Polarity
Series and Parallel Circuits
AC vs DC current
PCB Basics

->

<-

A multimeter is has three parts:

Display
Selection Knob
Ports
The display usually has four digits and the ability to display a negative sign.
A few multimeters have illuminated displays for better viewing in low light
situations.
The selection knob allows the user to set the multimeter to read different
things such as milliamps (mA) of current, voltage (V) and resistance ().
Two probes are plugged into two of the ports on the front of the unit. COM
stands for common and is almost always connected to Ground or - of a
circuit. The COM probe is conventionally black but there is no difference
between the red probe and black probe other than color. 10A is the special
port used when measuring large currents (greater than 200mA). mAV is
the port that the red probe is conventionally plugged in to. This port allows
the measurement of current (up to 200mA), voltage (V), and resistance ().
The probes have a banana type connector on the end that plugs into the
multimeter. Any probe with a banana plug will work with this meter. This

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allows for different types of probes to be used.

There are many different types of probes available for multimeters. Here
are a few of our favorites:
Banana to Alligator Clips : These are great cables for connecting to
large wires or pins on a breadboard. Good for performing longer term
tests where you dont have to have to hold the probes in place while
you manipulate a circuit.
Banana to IC Hook : IC hooks work well on smaller ICs and legs of
ICs.
Banana to Tweezers : Tweezers are handy if you are needing to test
SMD components.
Banana to Test Probes : If you ever break a probe, they are cheap to
replace!

To start, lets measure voltage on a AA battery: Plug the black probe into
COM and the red probe into mAV. Set the multimeter to 2V in the DC
(direct current) range. Almost all portable electronics use direct current), not
alternating current. Connect the black probe to the batterys ground or -
and the red probe to power or +. Squeeze the probes with a little pressure
against the positive and negative terminals of the AA battery. If youve got a
fresh battery, you should see around 1.5V on the display (this battery is
brand new, so its voltage is slightly higher than 1.5V).
alt text
If youre measuring DC voltage (such as a battery or a sensor hooked up to
an Arduino) you want to set the knob where the V has a straight line. AC
voltage (like what comes out of the wall) can be dangerous, so we rarely
need to use the AC voltage setting (the V with a wavy line next to it). If
youre messing with AC, we recommend you get a non-contact tester rather
than use a digital multimeter.

Use the V with a straight line to measure DC Voltage

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Use the V with a wavy line to measure AC Voltage

What happens if you switch the red and black probes? The reading on the
multimeter is simply negative. Nothing bad happens! The multimeter
measures voltage in relation to the common probe. How much voltage is
there on the + of the battery compared to common or the negative pin?
1.5V. If we switch the probes, we define + as the common or zero point.
How much voltage is there on the - of the battery compared to our new
zero? -1.5V!

Now lets construct a simple circuit to demonstrate how to measure voltage

in a real world scenario. The circuit is simply a 1k and a Blue super bright
LED powered with a SparkFun Breadboard Power Supply Stick. To begin,
lets make sure the circuit you are working on is powered up correctly. If
your project should be at 5V but is less than 4.5V or greater than 5.5V, this
would quickly give you an indication that something is wrong and you may
need to check your power connections or the wiring of your circuit.

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Measuring the voltage coming off of a Power Supply Stick.

Set the knob to 20V in the DC range (the DC Voltage range has a V with a
straight line next to it). Multimeters are generally not autoranging. You have
to set the multimeter to a range that it can measure. For example, 2V
measures voltages up to 2 volts, and 20V measures voltages up to 20
volts. So if youve measuring a 12V battery, use the 20V setting. 5V
system? Use the 20V setting. If you set it incorrectly, you will probably see
the meter screen change and then read 1.

With some force (imagine poking a fork into a piece of cooked meat), push
the probes onto two exposed pieces of metal. One probe should contact a
GND connection. One probe to the VCC or 5V connection.
We can test different parts of the circuit as well. This practice is called nodal
analysis, and it is a basic building block in circuit analysis. By measuring the
voltage across the circuit we can see how much voltage each component
requires. Lets measure the whole circuit first. Measuring from where the
voltage is going in to the resistor and then where ground is on the LED, we
should see the full voltage of the circuit, expected to be around 5V.

We can then see how much voltage the LED is using. This is what is
referred to as the voltage drop across the LED. If that doesnt make sense
now, fear not. It will as you explore the world of electronics more. The
important thing to take away is that different parts of a circuit can be
measured to analyze the circuit as a whole.

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This LED is using 2.66V of the available 5V supply to illuminate. This is

lower than the forward voltage stated in the datasheet on account of the
circuit only having small amount of current running though it, but more on
that in a bit.

What happens if you select a voltage setting that is too low for the voltage
youre trying to measure? Nothing bad. The meter will simply display a 1.
This is the meter trying to tell you that it is overloaded or out-of-range.
Whatever youre trying to read is too much for that particular setting. Try
changing the multimeter knob to a the next highest setting.

Reading the 5V across this circuit is too much for the 2V setting on the
multimeter.

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Why does the meter knob read 20V and not 10V? If youre looking to
measure a voltage less than 20V, you turn to the 20V setting. This will allow
you to read from 2.00 to 19.99.
The first digit on many multimeters is only able to display a 1 so the ranges
are limited to 19.99 instead of 99.99. Hence the 20V max range instead of
99V max range.
Warning! In general, stick to DC circuits (the settings on the
multimeter with straight lines, not curvy lines). Most multimeters can
measure AC (alternating current) systems, but AC circuits can be
dangerous. A wall outlet with AC or 'main voltage' is the stuff that can
zap you pretty good. VERY carefully respect AC. If you need to check
to see if an outlet is 'on' then use a AC tester. Really the only times
we've needed to measure AC are when we've got an outlet that is
acting funny (is it really at 110V?), or if we're trying to control a heater
(such as a hot plate). Go slow and double check everything before you
test an AC circuit.

Normal resistors have color codes on them. If you dont know what they
mean, thats ok! There are plenty of online calculators that are easy to use.
However, if you ever find yourself without internet access, a multimeter is
very handy at measuring resistance.
Pick out a random resistor and set the multimeter to the 20k setting. Then
hold the probes against the resistor legs with the same amount of pressure
you when pressing a key on a keyboard.

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The meter will read one of three things, 0.00, 1, or the actual resistor
value.
In this case, the meter reads 0.97, meaning this resistor has a value
of 0.97k, or about 1k or 1000 (remember you are in the 20k or
20,000 Ohm mode so you need to move the decimal three places to
the right or 9,900 Ohms).
If the multimeter reads 1 or displays OL, its overloaded. You will
need to try a higher mode such as 200k mode or 2M (megaohm)
mode. There is no harm if this happen, it simply means the range
knob needs to be adjusted.
If the multimeter reads 0.00 or nearly zero, then you need to lower
the mode to 2k or 200.
Remember that many resistors have a 5% tolerance. This means that the
color codes may indicate 10,000 Ohms (10k), but because of
discrepancies in the manufacturing process a 10k resistor could be as low
as 9.5k or as high as 10.5k. Dont worry, itll work just fine as a pull-up or
general resistor.
Lets drop the meter down to the next lowest setting, 2K. What happens?

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Not a whole lot changed. Because this resistor (a 1K) is less than 2K, it
still shows up on the display. However, youll notice that there is one more
digit after the decimal point giving us a slightly higher resolution in our
reading. What about the next lowest setting?

Now, since 1k is greater than 200, weve maxed out the meter, and it is
telling you that it is overloaded and that you need to try a higher value
setting.
As a rule of thumb, its rare to see a resistor less than 1 Ohm. Remember
that measuring resistance is not perfect. Temperature can affect the reading
a lot. Also, measuring resistance of a device while it is physically installed in
a circuit can be very tricky. The surrounding components on a circuit board
can greatly affect the reading.

Reading current is one of the trickiest and most insightful readings in the
world of embedded electronics. Its tricky because you have to measure
current in series. Where voltage is measure by poking at VCC and GND (in

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parallel), to measure current you have to physically interrupt the flow of

current and put the meter in-line. To demonstrate this, well use the same
circuit we used in the measuring voltage section.
The first thing well need is an extra piece of wire. As mentioned, well need
to physically interrupt the circuit to measure the current. Said another way,
pull out the VCC wire going to the resistor, add a wire where that wire was
connected, and then probe from the power pin on the power supply to the
resistor. This effectively breaks power to the circuit. We then insert the
multimeter in-line so that it can measure the current as it flows through to
the multimeter into the bread board.
For these pictures, we cheated and used alligator clips. When measuring
current, its often good to watch what your system does over time, for a few
seconds or minutes. While you might want to stand there and hold the
probes to the system, sometimes its easier to free up your hands. These
alligator clip probes can come in handy. Note that almost all multimeters
have the same sized jacks (theyre called banana plugs) so if youre in a
pinch, you can use your friends probes.

With the multimeter connected, we can now set the dial to the proper
setting and measure some current. Measuring current works the same as
voltage and resistance you have to get the correct range. Set the
multimeter to 200mA, and work from there. The current consumption for
many breadboard projects is usually under 200mA. Make sure the red
probe is plugged into the 200mA fused port. On our favorite multimeter, the
200mA hole is the same port/hole as voltage and resistance reading (the
port is labeled mAV). This means you can keep the red probe in the same
port to measure current, voltage, or resistance. However, if you suspect that
your circuit will be using close to or more than 200mA, switch your probe to
the 10A side, just to be safe. Overloading the current can result in a blown
fuse rather than just an overload display. More on that in a bit.

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This circuit was only pulling 1.8mA at the time of measurement, not a lot of
current. The average reading was closer to 2.1mA.
Realize that the multimeter is acting as a piece of wire youve now
completed the circuit, and the circuit will power on. This is important
because as time goes on the LED, microcontroller, sensor, or whatever
device being measured may change its power consumption (such as
turning on an LED can resulting in a 20mA increase for a second, then
decrease for a second when it turns off). On the multimeter display you
should see the instantaneous current reading. All multimeters take readings
over time and then give you the average, so expect the reading to fluctuate.
In general, cheaper meters will average more harshly and respond more
slowly, so take each reading with a grain of salt. In your head, take an
average range such as 7 to 8mA under normal 5V conditions (not 7.48mA).
Similar to the other measurements, when measuring current, the color of
the probes does not matter. What happens if we switch probes? Nothing
bad happens! It simply causes the current reading to become negative:

Current is still flowing through the system, youve just changed your

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perspective and now the meter reads negative.

Remember! When you're done using the meter, always return the
meter to read voltage (return the probes to the voltage port, set the
meter to read the DC voltage range if necessary). It's common to grab
a meter and begin to quickly measure the voltage between two pins. If
you have left your meter in 'current' mode, you won't see the voltage
on the display. Instead you'll see '0.000' indicating that there is no
current between VCC and GND. Within that split second you will have
connected VCC to GND through your meter and the 200mA fuse will
blow = not good. So before you put the meter down for the night,
remember to leave your meter in a friendly state.

Measuring current can be tricky the first couple of times. Dont worry if you
blow the fuse - weve done it dozens of times! Well show you how to
replace the fuse in a later section.

Continuity testing is the act of testing the resistance between two points. If
there is very low resistance (less than a few s), the two points are
connected electrically, and a tone is emitted. If there is more than a few s
of resistance, than the circuit is open, and no tone is emitted. This test
helps insure that connections are made correctly between two points. This
test also helps us detect if two points are connected that should not be.
Continuity is quite possibly the single most important function for embedded
hardware gurus. This feature allows us to test for conductivity of materials
and to trace where electrical connections have been made or not made.
Set the multimeter to Continuity mode. It may vary among DMMs, but look
for a diode symbol with propagation waves around it (like sound coming
from a speaker).

Multimeter is set to continuity mode.

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Now touch the probes together. The multimeter should emit a tone (Note:
Not all multimeters have a continuity setting, but most should). This shows
that a very small amount of current is allowed to flow without resistance (or
at least a very very small resistance) between probes.
Warning! In general, turn OFF the system before checking for
continuity.

On a breadboard that is not powered, use the probes to poke at two

separate ground pins. You should hear a tone indicating that they are
connected. Poke the probes from the VCC pin on a microcontroller to VCC
on your power supply. It should emit a tone indicating that power is free to
flow from the VCC pin to the micro. If it does not emit a tone, then you can
begin to follow the route that copper trace takes and tell if there are breaks
in the line, wire, breadboard, or PCB.
Continuity is a great way to test if two SMD pins are touching. If your eyes
cant see it, the multimeter is usually a great second testing resource.
When a system is not working, continuity is one more thing to help
troubleshoot the system. Here are the steps to take:
1. If the system is on, carefully check VCC and GND with the voltage
setting to make sure the voltage is the correct level. If the 5V system
is running at 4.2V check your regulator carefully, it could be very hot
indicating the system is pulling too much current.
2. Power the system down and check continuity between VCC and
GND. If there is continuity (if you hear a beep), then youve got a
short somewhere.
3. Power the system down. With continuity, check that VCC and GND
are correctly wired to the pins on the microcontroller and other
devices. The system may be powering up, but the individual ICs may
be wired wrong.
4. Assuming you can get the microcontroller running, set the multimeter
aside, and move on to serial debugging or use a logic analyzer to
inspect the digital signals.
Continuity and large capacitors: During normal troubleshooting. you will
be probing for continuity between ground and the VCC rail. This is a good
sanity check before powering up a prototype to make sure there is not a
short on the power system. But dont be surprised if you hear a short beep!
when probing. This is because there is often significant amounts of
capacitance on the power system. The multimeter is looking for very low
resistance to see if two points are connected. Capacitors will act like a short
for a split second until they fill up with energy, and then act like an open
connection. Therefore, you will hear a short beep and then nothing. Thats
ok, its just the caps charging up.

One of the most common mistakes with a new multimeter is to measure

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current on a bread board by probing from VCC to GND (bad!). This will
immediately short power to ground through the multimeter causing the
bread board power supply to brown out. As the current rushes through the
multimeter, the internal fuse will heat up and then burn out as 200mA flows
through it. It will happen in a split second and without any real audible or
physical indication that something is wrong.
Wow, that was neat. Now what? Well first, remember that measuring
current is done in series (interrupt the VCC line to the breadboard or
microcontroller to measure current). If you try to measure the current with a
blown fuse, youll probably notice that the meter reads 0.00 and that the
system doesnt turn on like it should when you attach the multimeter. This is
because the internal fuse is broken and acts as a broken wire or open.
Dont worry, this happens all the time, and it costs about $1 to fix.
To change the fuse, find your handy dandy mini screw driver, and start
taking out screws. The SparkFun DMM is pretty easy to pull apart. Start by
removing the battery plate and the battery.

Next, remove the two screws hiding behind the battery plate.

Lift the face of the multimeter slightly.

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Now notice the hooks on the bottom edge of the face. You will need to slide
the face sideways with a little force to disengage these hooks.

Once the face is unhooked, it should come out easily. Now you can see
inside the multimeter!

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Gently lift up on the fuse, and it will pop out.

Make sure to replace the correct fuse with the correct type. In other
words, replace the 200mA fuse with a 200mA fuse.
Warning! DO NOT put a 10A fuse where a 200mA fuse should go.
The placement of the fuses may not match the placement of the probe
ports. Read the metal cap on either end of the fuse to double check
which is which.

The components and PCB traces inside the multimeter are designed to take
different amounts of current. You will damage and possibly ruin your
multimeter if you accidentally push 5A through the 200mA port.
There are times where you need to measure high current devices like a
motor or heating element. Do you see the two places to put the red probe
on the front of the multimeter? 10A on the left and mAV on the right? If
you try to measure more than 200mA on the mAV port you run the risk of
blowing the fuse. But if you use the 10A port to measure current, you run a

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much lower risk of blowing the fuse. The trade-off is sensitivity. As we

talked about above, by using the 10A port and knob setting, you will only be
able to read down to 0.01A or 10mA. Most of my systems use more than
10mA so the 10A setting and port works well enough. If youre trying to
measure very low power (micro or nano amps) the 200mA port with the
2mA, 200uA, or 20uA could be what you need.

Remember: If your system has the potential to use more than 100mA you
should start with the red probe plugged into the 10A port and 10A knob
setting.
With sub $50 digital multimeters, the measurements you are likely to take
are just trouble shooting readings, not scientific experimental results. If you
really need to see how the IC uses current or voltage over time, use an
Agilent or other high quality bench unit. These units have higher precision
and offer a wide range of fancy functions (some include Tetris!). Bunnie
Huang, hardware designer behind Chumby, uses high-precision current
readings to trouble shoot boards during the final testing procedures of a
Chumby. By looking at the current consumption of different boards that
have failed (for example a given failed board uses 210mA over the normal),
he could identify what was wrong with the board (when the RAM fails, it
generally uses 210mA over normal). By pinpointing what may be potentially
wrong, the rework and repair of boards is made much easier.

Everyone has his or her preference, but in general multimeters that have
continuity are preferred. Every other feature is just icing on the cake.

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There are fancy multimeters that are autoranging, meaning they

automatically change their internal range to attempt to find the correct
voltage, resistance, or current of the thing youre poking at. Auto-ranging
can be very helpful if you know how to use it. Generally speaking,
autoranging multimeters are higher quality and generally have more
features. So if someone gives you a multimeter with auto-range, put it to
use! Just know how to get it into manual mode. A circuits voltage or current
can fluctuate quite quickly. With some of the systems, the current or voltage
is so sporadic that the auto-range cant keep up sensibly.
A back-lit LCD is fancy, but when was the last time you measured your
circuit in the dark? We generally steer clear of scary forests and situations
that require us to test stuff in the middle of the night, but some people may
want or need a dark-friendly multimeter.
A good click on the range selector is actually a major plus in our book. A
soft knob is usually indicative of a shoddy meter.
Decent probes are a plus. Over time the leads will tend to break down at
the flex point. Weve seen wires come completely out of probes - and its
always at the moment you need the probes to work! If you do break a
probe, they are reasonably cheap to replace.
Auto-off is a great feature that is rarely seen on cheaper multimeters. This
is a feature that can benefit beginners and advanced users alike, as its
easy to forget to turn the meter off at 2AM. The SparkFun digital multimeter
doesnt have this feature, but luckily the meter is very low-power. Weve left
the multimeter for two days straight before the 9V battery began to get low.
That said, dont forget to turn your meter off!
Youre now ready to use your digital multimeter to start measuring the world
around you. Feel free to start using it to answer many questions. I believe
my LED is getting 20mA, is it really? How much voltage does a lemon
have? Is a glass of water conductive? Can I use aluminum foil to replace
these wires? A digital multimeter will answer these and many more
questions about electronics.

Now that you know the basics of how to use a digital multimeter, check out
these tutorials to use your new skill:
Testing LED and Diode Polarity with a Multimeter
LEDs

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Diodes
Electric Power
Battery Technologies
Powering Your Project

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