help with basic multi meter use

[Duffy]

My Valk died last Saturday rolling up to a stop sign... dead, no lights, no anything. Checked fuses, all good. Towed home.  

Now I am trying to learn how to use thsi Sperry SP-5A Multi-meter to trace down the power problem.

The Sperry manual on line is apparently over my head....  

To test the battery, I set the mA to 50 (as instructed higher than the 12 volt battery) and probed the battery. The meter made one big swing to the right, then nothing. Now it shows no indication at all. Did I do something wrong already?

[Ricky-D]

It might be you lunched the tester.

Volts are what you should be looking at.

A bad battery is what I think you have.

***

[Duffy]

Ricky D, ok so here is the stupid part: on the multi meter, is mA 50 (underscored by a line and dots) the right dial setting for a battery check?

Or should I be setting it at V 50 (followed by a line and dots)

[Rocketman]

You're looking for volts.  Set it for V 50.  That will tell it to look for volts, and to set the scale for a max of 50.  I am betting that the next lowest setting is V 10, and that will peg the meter if your voltage is where it should be. 
As for killing the meter, it's possible that you fried the fuse when you set it across the terminals in amp mode (A 50), but check your battery on volt mode, and it should read SOMETHING, even if the battery is bad.  If it reads zero, check a known good battery with the meter to make sure the meter is functioning/set up properly.

[Joe Hummer]

You will want to follow the instructions in section 6.2 for replacing the fuse.  Chances are, you fried the bad boy...but the fuse should have protected the meter.  

With Volts, you place the meter between the power source and ground.  For example, across the posts on the battery.  If you are trying to check the operation of a switch to make sure power is getting through it, you place the negative lead on the frame and use the positive lead to check the output of a switch.  And make sure your meter is on DC Volts for checking the bike's electrical system.  FOr checking your house wiring, the AC Volts would be used.  

If you want to check amps, you place the meter in series with the device you want to check amps on.  So, on a simple circuit, you would connect the one lead of the meter to the positive battery post, and the other lead to the positive battery lead.  Power would then go through the meter and tell you how many amps you were drawing for a certain load.  

To find out if a light housing is still grounded properly, you would use the Ohm setting on your meter.  You connect the negative lead to the frame or battery negative post with lead attached, and test with the positive lead.  Just touch any metal part on the housing and see if you get a reading.  The higher the reading, the less continuity you have.  You want to have a pretty low reading...a little above 0.  You can also use this method to test if a wire is broken in the middle.  just clip the negative lead to one end of the wire and use the positive lead to check the other end.  Again, you are looking for a low reading.  

Hope this helps.  

Joe

[Duffy]

Ok, off to get a fuse for the SP-5A...

[Duffy]

New fuse is .315-Amp, old was .025-Amp, that was the smallest I could find at Pep Boys or Radio Shack.. both 250-Volt fuses

So, new AA battery for Multimeter too.

Now, to be clear about the settings on the multimeter dial: 

mA (over a line over dots) is ? MiliAmps?

V (followed by a line over dots) is ?Volts?

Red V (followed by a squiggly line) is ??

OHM (x1k) is Ohms, which are used to test fuses, right?

This is the basic knowledge level I am starting at, thanks for your patience.

[Joe Hummer]

New fuse is .315-Amp, old was .025-Amp, that was the smallest I could find at Pep Boys or Radio Shack.. both 250-Volt fuses

So, new AA battery for Multimeter too.

Now, to be clear about the settings on the multimeter dial: 

mA (over a line over dots) is ? MiliAmps?

V (followed by a line over dots) is ?Volts?

Red V (followed by a squiggly line) is ??

OHM (x1k) is Ohms, which are used to test fuses, right?

This is the basic knowledge level I am starting at, thanks for your patience.

The line with the dots is DC....the ~ line is AC.  Ohms measures the resistance of things.  usually the lower number, the more connected things are.  You want to be careful not to measure ohms on a powered circuit as it will blow the fuse. 

Good luck on your checking...

Joe

[Duffy]

Well, now I am learning something....  

OK, so after setting the dial properly 50 Volts DC , I get a reading of about 10 volts. I tested the vtx batter next, it has been sitting a while, and I get about 8 volts, but will turn the bike lights right on.

So, for following the power to the trouble, what should I try next? Ignition switch?

[Duffy]

...and what setting on the multimeter for tracing the power to the problem? Still 50 Volts DC, I assume?

[Pete]

Duffy on some meters using a fuse different than original will affect the accuracy of the meter.

Test a new AA, AAA, C or D cell battery it should show 1.5 to 1.55 volts to test you meter.

[Duffy]

Actually, now I am thinking the meter should be set to mA for testing current, is that right?

[Duffy]

Duffy on some meters using a fuse different that original will affect the accuracy of the meter.

Test a new AA, AAA, C or D cell battery it should show 1.5 to 1.55 volts to test you meter.

Seems to be OK. I tested the AA battery I took out of the multimeter, it test between 1.5 and 2... must be a good battery too. 

[Pete]

On a AAA, AA, C, D battery you can test either way.
Volts - 1.5 volts  =    Ma - 1500 mil-amps

[Pete]

Well, now I am learning something....  

OK, so after setting the dial properly 50 Volts DC , I get a reading of about 10 volts. I tested the vtx batter next, it has been sitting a while, and I get about 8 volts, but will turn the bike lights right on.

So, for following the power to the trouble, what should I try next? Ignition switch?

10/8 volts is way to low, should be 12.6 to 12.8 volts for a fully charged battery without any drain on it. Usually 10 volts and below will not energize a starter, the lowest I have seen is 9 volts that would slowly turn the starter on an old KZ I had.

If you are testing at the switch or start switch, starter relay, with the switch on, it will be lower with the headlight on, still should be close to 12 volts.

Seems you need to be charging the batteries if your readings are correct (or looking for new batteries).

[Pete]

After resolving the battery or meter issue.

I would start by testing for 12+ volts on the feed to the main switch.

It sounds like your main switch or the feed to the switch is not carrying 12 volts, most items are fed thru the main switch.

Have you check the large MAIN fuse? and battery and ground connections for continuity?

Switch the meter to OHMS low scale and probe each side for a connection, look for low resistance (low number) high resistance (high number or infinity) = no good connection.

[Duffy]

Thanks Pete (and others in this thread). 

The main fuse is good, but has no cover - didn't know that until trying to solve this issue.

I will charge the battery overnight and see where I stand after work on Monday.

[hubcapsc]

My Valk died last Saturday rolling up to a stop sign... dead, no lights, no anything. Checked fuses, all good. Towed home.

Once, right after doing some maintenance, I had gotten about 10 miles from home and the same
thing happened to me. Some how, during the maintenance, I had rocked the kill switch (which I never
use or think about) half way between on and off. A bump (or something) made it go from on to off...

I felt silly as a eased the Valkyrie off the tow truck, but I made the second day of the ride...

Good luck...

-Mike

[Rocketman]

My Valk died last Saturday rolling up to a stop sign... dead, no lights, no anything. Checked fuses, all good. Towed home.

Once, right after doing some maintenance, I had gotten about 10 miles from home and the same
thing happened to me. Some how, during the maintenance, I had rocked the kill switch (which I never
use or think about) half way between on and off. A bump (or something) made it go from on to off...

I felt silly as a eased the Valkyrie off the tow truck, but I made the second day of the ride...

The kill switch won't disable the lights, just the starter.

[olddog1946]

9 OUT 10 TIMES PROBLEMS THAT KILL ALL POWER can be attributed to poor connections..More specifically grounds...try reading you battery voltage from positive on the battery to the frame and you may find low or no voltage..reading across the posts will just read the juice in the battery..
any current draw reading you try to take with mili amps will most likely blow your meter..DC systems draw multiple amps not mili amps..

[Ricky-D]

Charging a poorly performing battery can be foolhardy!

A standing charge on a good battery should be at least 12.8 volts.

After you charge the battery, and install it in the bike:

Take a continuous reading across the battery posts while trying to start the bike. Readings should not drop much below 11 volts and rebound almost immediately when stopped.

That's if you have a good battery!

***

[Walküre]

And it's easy to tell if you have a bad battery - it will be hanging out on the street corner, with the spark plugs and thermostats, smoking cigarettes and telling dirty jokes....






Somebody STOP me!!!