ACTUAL BASIC

ELECTRONIC TEST USING

ANALOG MULTI-TESTER
 WARNING
 When testing any form of electronic equipment there are
several precautions you must take:

• Make sure the equipment is disconnected from any form of

power supply.
• Be aware that devices such as televisions, microwaves and so
on, contain components which can hold enough electrical
current to stop a human heart, after it has been removed from
a power supply.

• Electrical current can damage your testing equipment when

used improperly. Remove electronic components to be tested
from the circuit board in testing resistance.
Proper handling of Test Probe in Testing Electronic
Components
 TESTING RESISTOR
 Good Resistor
• The meter reading should be closed to the rated value of the
resistor depending on the tolerance of the resistor.
 Defective Resistor
• The tester pointer does not deflect at all. The resistor is OPEN.
• The resistance reading has a big difference to the resistor rated value. The
resistor is OUT OF TOLERANCE.
 TESTING CAPACITOR
 Most capacitors rarely become damaged, and when they do, you
may notice the following physical features:
• Arcing or burning at the insulator
• an oily film on top of the capacitor or under it.
• An oily smell
• Any bulging on the capacitor
 TESTING CAPACITOR
• Discharge the energy stored to the capacitor by shorting the two
terminal leads momentarily.

• Set the multi-tester ohmmeter range.

Capacitance Range
0.01uF to 1uF X10K
1uF to 47uF X1K
47uF to 1000uF X10
1000uF and above X1
 TESTING CAPACITOR
• Connect the positive probe to the capacitor negative lead to capacitor
positive lead.
 TESTING CAPACITOR
 Good Capacitor
• The tester pointer deflects and then moves back to its initial
position.
 TESTING CAPACITOR
 Defective Capacitor
• The tester pointer won’t deflect at all. The capacitor is
OPEN.
• The tester pointer will rest on the 0-ohm scale. The capacitor
is SHORTED.
• The tester pointer deflects toward the right position but does
not return to its initial position or remains stationary. The
capacitor is LEAKY.
 TESTING DIODE
 Most electronic components physical damage is the first sign to
look for diode:
• Burned cracked diode
• A spot that looks like a blister
• Diodes split in two
• Burnt smell
 TESTING DIODE
• Set the ohmmeter range in X1 or X10. Connect the positive probes of
the tester to the anode of the diode and the negative probe to the
cathode of the diode. It should have no deflection of infinite resistance
• Reverse the test probe. Connect the positive probe to the cathode and
the negative probe to the anode. The tester should deflect but not rest
at zero-ohm.
 Defective Diode

• The tester pointer won’t deflect even if the probe is reverse.

The diode is OPEN.
• The resistance reading deflects and measures the same in
both directions. The diode is SHORTED.
 Why does the tester pointer deflect by connecting the positive probe to the
cathode and the negative probe to the anode? Is it reverse bias? Look at the
figure below.
 TESTING LED
• Do the same steps as that of the diode.
• But instead of monitoring the pointer of the tester, the LED
itself can be used as a tester by connecting the positive probe
of the tester to the negative terminal lead of the LED (X1
ohm setting).
• If the light glows, the LED is OK, if it doesn’t, the LED is
defective
TESTING LED USING MULTI-TESTER
TESTING LED USING A 9-VOLTS BATTERY
 TESTING TRANSFORMER
• A transformer is checked for continuity just like a wire.

• Attach the test probes (any direction) to the terminals of the primary
transformer. The pointer should deflect.
• Attach the test probes (in any direction) to the terminals of the
secondary transformer. The pointer should deflect.
 Defective Transformer

• The resistance of the primary or secondary windings is very

low that the pointer almost rests at zero ohm. The
transformer winding is SHORTED.

• The resistance of the primary and secondary windings is very

high that the pointer does not deflect at all (infinite
resistance). The transformer winding is OPEN.
 TESTING LOUDSPEAKER
• Testing speakers is also similar to testing a transformer because of its
similar materials use.
 Set the ohmmeter to X1 ohm. Attach the positive probe to the
negative terminal of the speaker and the negative probe to the
positive terminal

• The reading could either be 4 ohms or 8 ohms depending on

the rated impedance of the speaker.
• You can hear a scratchy sound because the battery inside the
tester supplies the speaker that causes to produce scratchy
sounds.
 TESTING BIPOLAR TRANSISTOR
 Physical signs that need replacement:

• Crack on the body of a transistor

• Burnt transistor
• A blister
• Burnt smell
• There are several things that make testing a transistor
complicated. Is the transistor NPN or PNP? If you
know what it is, it will make the test a lot easier,
otherwise, you need some extra steps to do. The only
way you can do it is by trial and error.
 Steps in finding out the transistor terminal and type.

• Set the Ohmmeter range in x1 or x10 ohm

• Connect the probe to any terminal lead of the transistor. As an
example, We connected the probe to the first and second
terminal lead.
• If no deflection occurs when connecting a positive probe to the
middle of the transistor lead and negative probe to the left side
of a transistor, try interchanging the connection.
• If deflection occurs, reverse the polarity of the probe like in step
2.
• If the pointer deflects in step 2, remember the probe where you
are testing. Make varying tests on each transistor terminal
until the deflection occurs.
• The pointer deflects in this set-up. Take note of the test probe.
You now have a suspect that the first and middle terminal of the
transistor is the base. However, you still don’t know the
transistor configuration.
• Move the positive probe from the first terminal
to the third terminal, but leave the negative
probe pointed at the middle of the transistor
terminal. If the pointer deflects, you may now
conclude that the middle terminal of the
transistor is the base and the transistor is the
NPN (Reverse in PNP, the positive probe to the
base with respect to the two terminals), because
the negative test probe (positive of the battery)
is used as an input voltage source to operate the
transistor.
• This test is just to probe that the middle terminal is the base and
the transistor is NPN. There should be no deflection in this setup.
If it deflects, the transistor is SHORTED. (for NPN only).
• Set the ohmmeter range in X10K, then connect the positive
probe to the transistor bas (middle terminal of the transistor) and
the negative probe to the first terminal of the transistor. Take
note of the pointer deflection.
• Transfer the negative probe from the first
terminal to the third terminal of the
transistor while the positive probe
remains in the middle (base). Compare
the two deflections on step 7 and 8. The
higher resistance (slight deflection) is the
collector (step 8). And the lower
rersistance is the emitter (step 7).
• Therefore, in the result of our test, the
transistor is NPN. The first terminal of
the transistor is an emitter, second is base
and third is a collector. Take note that this
is only an example. Not all transistors
have this kind of configuration.

• In testing PNP transistor, do the same

procedure but reverse the polarity of the
test probe.
 Defective Transistor

• Two terminals of the transistor reads the same resistance

(almost zero ohm reading) in both direction (step 1 and 4),
the transistor is SHORTED.

• The tester pointer does not deflect in base to emitter or base

to collector (step 2 and 3), the transistor is OPEN.
THANK YOU!