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 Using a multimeter		  New Topic  Topic Locked
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Mike L
Deckhand

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15 Posts
Initially Posted - 06/15/2004 :  14:56:14  Show Profile
Some of you may shake you heads, but here's the question: where, specifically, should the probes on a multimeter be touched to determine (1)that the wiring on my mast is all operational, and (2)that the anchor light fixture is operational, and (3) that the steaming light fixture is operational. The mast is down, by the way. Thanks for any help you can give.
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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts
Response Posted - 06/15/2004 :  15:09:53  Show Profile  Visit Frank Hopper's Homepage
In electricity the term continuity means a completed path for the current. If you have a single piece of wire you most certainly have continuity between the two ends. The following presumes you have an existing problem that you are trying to identify. In trouble shooting circuits you need to step through every opportunity for continuity to fail. That would be every terminal and every socket contact. You can work backward from the most complex or forward from the most simple, I am a simple guy. I would take a lone "known good piece of insulated wire" and terminate it with the first terminal of a mast wire, take the other end down to the plug and test for continuity between the plug pin and the end of wire I had just rigged. All multi-meters have a continuity test setting. If there is continuity then you hear a beep. If I heard a beep then I would remove the test wire from the terminal (making sure I re-terminated the mast wire) and get a helper or conjure a means to hold the test wire to the socket connector of the bulb socket... check for continuity. You continue this process working through the circuit path until you find the "open". It is amazing how often the open is just corrosion preventing the current from flowing. Wire and hardware seldom actually brake.
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EricCS
1st Mate

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USA
40 Posts
Response Posted - 06/16/2004 :  09:25:20  Show Profile  Visit EricCS's Homepage
Mike,

Last year I had some difficulty with the anchor and steaming lights on Charm's mast and had the mast unstepped over the winter to check continuity of the wires.

I bought a plug and socket, plus two pairs of alligator clips from a local hardware store, and wired pairs of clips to the other components. With these I could plug into an already-owned extension cord to form an electrical loop between the pins at the mast base and the contacts within the light fixtures of the masthead and anchor lights.

Now touching one probe of my multi-meter to one pin of the mast plug and the other probe to the corresponding alligator clip produced a beep from the meter, indicating the current was able to flow from the meter, through the plug, up the mast to the light fixture, then back through the extension cord. No beep indicates an open circuit -- no current, no light.

I was also able to use the extension cord and its alligator-clip attachment to connect my car battery to the base of the mast, lighting the appropriate lamps and proving their functionality.

HTH
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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.