ANALOG VS.

DIGITAL METERS
Ul ti matel y, your di agnosi s of vehi cl e
el ectr i cal system pr obl ems wi l l come
down to usi ng a vol tmeter , ammeter , or
ohmmeter to pi npoi nt the exact l ocati on of
the pr obl em. Ther e ar e two types of each
meter anal og and di gi tal .
Analog met er s use a needle and
calibr at ed scale t o indicat e values.
Digit al met er s display t hose values on a
digit al display.
Thi s chapter wi l l hel p you under stand
how these meter s wor k as wel l as the
advantages and di sadvantages of each.
Befor e usi ng a meter , r ead the
manufactur er 's oper ati ng i nstr ucti ons.
Readi ng anal og meter s usual l y r equi r es
si mpl e mental cal cul ati ons. For exampl e,
a meter mi ght have thr ee vol tage r anges:
4.0 V, 20 V and 40 V, but onl y two scal es:
4.0 V and 20 V. I n order to use the 40 V
r ange, you need to mul ti pl y the needl e
readi ng on the 4.0 V scal e by 10 (or for
that matter, the 20 V scal e by 2).
Di gi tal meter s ar e usual l y si mpl er to
r ead and many wi l l adjust to the pr oper
r ange r equi r ed for the ci r cui t or devi ce
they are
connected to. These meter s ar e known as
auto-r angi ng meter s. Other di gi tal
meters requi re the operator to sel ect the
pr oper r ange. I n any case i t i s i mpor tant
to l ear n the symbol s used i n a di gi tal
r eadout so you can i nter pr et the r eadi ng.
The el ectr i cal uni ts of measur e symbol s
ar e:
M for mega or million
K for kilo or t housand
m for milli or one-t housandt h
u for micr o or one-milliont h
The thr ee types of meter svol tmeter s,
ammeter s and ohmmeter sconnect to
the ci r cui ts or devi ces i n di ffer ent ways.
Thi s i s necessar y to get accur ate
measur ements and to pr event damage to
the meter s.
VOLTMETERS
ANALOG AND DIGITAL
Vol tmeter s measur e vol tage or vol tage
dr op i n a ci r cui t. Vol tage dr op can be
used to l ocate excessi ve r esi stance i n the
ci r cui t whi ch coul d cause poor
per for mance or i mpr oper oper ati on. Lack
of vol tage at a gi ven poi nt may i ndi cate an
open ci r cui t or gr ound. On the other
hand, l ow vol tage or hi gh vol tage dr op,
may i ndi cate a hi gh r esi stance pr obl em
l i ke a poor connecti on.
Vol tmeter s must be connected i n par al l el
wi th the devi ce or ci rcui t so that the
meter can tap off a smal l amount of
cur r ent. That i s, the posi ti ve or r ed l ead i s
connected to the ci rcui t cl osest to the
posi ti ve si de of the battery. The negati ve
or bl ack l ead i s connected to gr ound or the
negati ve si de of the ci r cui t. I f a vol tmeter
i s connected i n ser i es, i ts hi gh r esi stance
woul d r educe ci r cui t cur r ent and cause a
fal se r eadi ng.
ANALOG AND DIGITAL METERS

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Because vol tmeter s ar e al ways hooked to
a ci r cui t i n par al l el , they become par t of
the ci r cui t and r educe the total r esi stance
of the ci r cui t. I f a vol tmeter has a
r esi stance that i s too l ow i n compar i son to
the ci r cui t, i t wi l l gi ve a fal se
measur ement. The fal se r eadi ng i s due to
the meter changi ng the ci r cui t by
l ower i ng the r esi stance, whi ch i ncr eases
the cur r ent fl ow i n the ci r cui t. The effect
a vol tmeter has on the ci r cui t to whi ch i t
i s attached i s someti mes r efer r ed to as
"l oadi ng effect" of the meter . The l oadi ng
effect a vol tmeter has on a ci r cui t i s
determi ned by the total resi stance of the
ci r cui t i n r el ati on to the i mpedance of the
vol tmeter .
Ever y vol tmeter has an i mpedance,
whi ch i s the meter 's i nter nal r esi stance.
The i mpedance of a conventi onal anal og
vol tmeter i s expr essed i n "ohms per vol t."
The amount of r esi stance an anal og
vol tmeter r epr esents to the ci r cui t
changes i n r el ati on to the scal e on whi ch
i t i s pl aced. Di gi tal vol tmeter s, on the
other hand, have a fi xed i mpedance
whi ch does not change fr om scal e to scal e
and i s usual l y 10 M ohms or mor e.
I mpedance i s the bi ggest di ffer ence
between anal og and di gi tal vol tmeter s.
Si nce most di gi tal vol tmeters have 50
ti mes mor e i mpedance than anal og
vol tmeter s, di gi tal meter s ar e mor e
accur ate when measur i ng vol tage i n
hi gh r esi stance ci r cui ts.
For exampl e, i f you ar e usi ng a l ow
i mpedance (20,000 ohms per vol t) anal og
meter on the 20 vol t scal e (the vol tmeter
represents 400,000 ohms resi stance to the
ci r cui t) to measur e vol tage dr op acr oss a
1,000,000 ohm component i n a ci r cui t, two
and a hal f ti mes as much cur r ent i s
fl owi ng thr ough the meter than thr ough
the component. You ar e no l onger
measur i ng just that component, but the
component pl us your meter , gi vi ng you a
fal se r eadi ng of the actual vol tage dr op
acr oss the component. Thi s si tuati on
mi ght l ead you to bel i eve the vol tage at the
component i s l ow or that ther e i s hi gh
r esi stance somewher e i n the ci r cui t or
that the component i s defecti ve when i t i s
just the meter you ar e usi ng.
I f you use a di gi tal meter wi th 10 mi l l i on
ohms of i mpedance to test the same
component, onl y 1/10 of the cur r ent wi l l
fl ow thr ough the meter , whi ch means i t
has very l i ttl e effect on the ci rcui t bei ng
measur ed.
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AMMETERS
ANALOG AND DIGITAL
Ammeter s measur e amper age, or
cur r ent fl ow, i n a ci r cui t, and pr ovi de
i nfor mati on on cur r ent dr aw as wel l as
ci r cui t conti nui ty. Hi gh cur r ent fl ow
i ndi cates a shor t ci r cui t, uni ntenti onal
gr ound or a defecti ve component. Some
type of defect has l ower ed the ci r cui t
r esi stance. Low cur r ent fl ow may
i ndi cate hi gh r esi stance or a poor
connecti on i n the ci r cui t or a di schar ged
batter y. No cur r ent i ndi cates an open
ci r cui t or l oss of power .
Ammeter s must al ways be connected i n
ser i es wi th the ci r cui t, never i n par al l el .
That i s, al l the ci r cui t cur r ent must fl ow
thr ough the meter . I t i s connected by
attachi ng the posi ti ve l ead to the posi ti ve
or battery si de of the ci rcui t, and the
negati ve l ead to negati ve or gr ound si de of
the ci r cui t, as shown.
CAUTI ON: These met ers have ext remel y l ow
int ernal resist ance. I f connect ed in parallel, t he
current running t hrough t he parallel branch
created by the meter might be high enough to
damage t he met er along wit h t he circuit t he met er
is connect ed t o. Also, since all t he current will
flow t hrough t he ammet er when it is connect ed be
sure t hat t he circuit current will not exceed t he
maximum rat ing of t he met er.
Ther e i s not a gr eat di ffer ence between
anal og and di gi tal ammeter s. Di gi tal
meter s ar e often capabl e of measur i ng
smal l er cur r ents, al l the way down to
mi cr oamps. They ar e easi er to use
because they gi ve a speci fi c val ue,
el i mi nati ng the need to i nter pr et the
anal og meter 's needl e on i ts scal e.
Gener al l y speaki ng, most di gi tal
ammeter s ar e combi ned wi th a vol tmeter .
OHMMETERS
ANALOG AND DIGITAL
An ohmmeter i s power ed by an i nter nal
battery that appl i es a smal l vol tage to a
ci r cui t or component and measur es how
much cur r ent fl ows thr ough the ci r cui t
or component. I t then di spl ays the r esul t
as r esi stance. Ohmmeter s ar e used for
checki ng conti nui ty and for measur i ng
the r esi stance of components. Zer o
r esi stance i ndi cates a shor t whi l e i nfi ni te
r esi stance i ndi cates an open i n a ci r cui t
or devi ce. A r eadi ng hi gher than the
speci fi cati on i ndi cates a faul ty component
or a hi gh r esi stance pr obl em such as
bur nt contacts, cor r oded ter mi nal s or
l oose connecti ons.
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Ohmmeter s, because they ar e sel f-
power ed, must never be connected to a
power ed ci r cui t as thi s may bl ow a fuse i n
the meter and damage i ts batter y. Unl ess
the ci r cui t bei ng measur ed contai ns a
di ode, pol ar i ty (attachi ng the l eads i n a
par ti cul ar or der ) i s i nconsequenti al .
An anal og ohmmeter shoul d be
cal i br ated r egul ar l y by connecti ng the two
l eads together and zer oi ng the meter wi th
the adjust knob. Thi s compensates for
changes i n the state of char ge of the
i nternal battery.
CAUTI ON: Analog ohmmet ers may apply a
higher volt age t o a circuit t han a digit al
ohmmet er, causing damage t o solid st at e
component s.
Use analog ohmmet ers wit h care. Digit al met ers,
on the other hand, apply less voltage to a circuit, so
d amage i s l ess l i k el y.
Anal og meter s can al so bi as, or tur n on,
semi -conductor s and change the ci r cui t
by al l owi ng cur r ent to fl ow to other
por ti ons of the ci r cui t.
Most di gi tal meter s have a l ow vol tage
setti ng whi ch wi l l not bi as semi -
conductor s and a hi gher vol tage setti ng
for testi ng semi conductor s. The
i nfor mati on di spl ayed on a di gi tal meter
i n the di ode test functi on di ffer s fr om one
meter br and to another . Some di gi tal
meter s wi l l di spl ay a val ue whi ch
r epr esents the per cei ved r esi stance
of the di ode i n for war d bi as. Other meter s
wi l l di spl ay the for war d bi as vol tage dr op
of the di ode.
Di gi tal ohmmeter s do have one
l i mi tati on. Due to the smal l amount of
cur r ent they pass thr ough the devi ce
bei ng tested, they cannot check some
semi conductor s i n ci r cui ts, such as a
cl ampi ng di ode on a r el ay coi l .
Many anal og ohmmeter s wi l l , when
swi tched to the ohm functi on, r ever se the
pol ar i ty of the test l eads. I n other wor ds,
the r ed l ead may become negati ve and the
bl ack l ead may become posi ti ve. The
meter wi l l functi on pr oper l y as l ong as
you ar e awar e of thi s and r ever se the
l eads. Thi s i s especi al l y i mpor tant when
wor ki ng wi th di odes or tr ansi stor s whi ch
ar e pol ar i ty sensi ti ve and onl y al l ow
current to fl ow from the posi ti ve to the
negati ve end. To check for pol ar i ty
r ever sal , set the ohmmeter i n ohm
functi on and connect i ts l eads to the l eads
of a vol tmeter (red to red, bl ack to bl ack).
I f the vol tmeter shows a negati ve val ue,
that par ti cul ar ohmmeter r ever ses
pol ar i ty i n ohm functi on. Most di gi tal
meter s do not r ever se pol ar i ty.
You shoul d note that ohmmeter s do l i ttl e
good i n l ow r esi stance, hi gh cur r ent-
car r yi ng ci r cui ts such as star ter s. They
cannot fi nd poi nts of hi gh r esi stance
because they onl y use a smal l amount of
cur r ent fr om thei r i nter nal batter i es. I n a
l ar ge conductor (such as a batter y cabl e),
thi s cur r ent meets l i ttl e r esi stance. A
vol tage dr op test dur i ng ci r cui t oper ati on
i s much mor e effecti ve at l ocati ng poi nts
of hi gh r esi stance i n thi s type of ci r cui t.
Taken wi th per mi ssi on fr om the
Toyota Advanced El ectr i cal Cour se#672,
ANALOG AND DIGITAL METERS

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ANALOG AND DIGITAL METERS

ASSIGNMENT NAME:
1. Expl ai n how readi ng an Anal og meter di ffers from a Di gi tal meter.
2. Expl ai n the fol l owi ng el ectri cal uni ts of measure symbol s ( M, K, m, u ).
3. Li st three types of meters.
4. Descri be how vol tmeters are connected to a ci rcui t.
5. Expl ai n how meter l oadi ng affects the ci rcui t.
6. Descri be meter i mpedance and how i t effects a ci rcui t?
7. Li st the fi xed i mpedance val ue of a di gi tal vol tmeter.
8. Expl ai n how the i mpedance of a di gi tal meter di ffers from an anal og meter.
9. Descri be how ammeters are connected to a ci rcui t.
10. Expl ai n how anal og ohmmeters di ffer from di gi tal ohmmeters i n setup.
11. Expl ai n what precauti ons one shoul d take whi l e connecti ng an ohmmeter to a
ci rcui t.