One of the safest ways to measure current is with a clamp. Clamps do not require you to break the circuit and they safely measure wires with thousands of amps. In this video, we measure DC current in the lab, AC current of a reflow oven controller, and the DC current in a car using a Tenma 72-7226 True RMS Clamp Meter.
This video was the last one I did before moving to a new house / lab.
Learn how to use an LCR meter, such as the Tenma 72-10465, to measure reactive components. An LCR meter uses an AC signal at different frequencies to characterize capacitors, inductors, and even resistors. They can also provide impedance measurements. These include phase angle, ESR, quality factor, and dissipation factor.
You can even use the 72-10465 to sort components by their tolerance range.
What does it mean for a DMM to have 3.5 digits? How much more accurate is a 5.5 digit multimeter versus a 4.75 digit meter? Many people assume that more digits mean more accuracy. However, these numbers express the precision of the meter, not its accuracy! In this video, learn about a DMM’s accuracy, and what does “half a digit” mean.
As I often do, I messed up the decimals in this one.
Measuring the effectiveness of a heatsink or the thermal load of a CPU requires thermal test tools. In this episode, learn how an IR Thermometer and a Thermocouple could be used on an electronics workbench. Many multimeters (DMMs) include the ability to measure temperature with a K-type thermocouple. See examples of when each measurement could be used.
Originally intended to use the episode to show how hot the Pi 4 would get. However, by the time I got around to producing it, a new version of Raspbian came out, resolving the temperature issues. To heat up the Pi, I used this toolset from GitHub: XXXXX.
See show notes on element14A multimeter is the go-to-tool for electronics measurements. Knowing how to use it to measure voltage, current, diodes, and transistors can save time (and frustration) while troubleshooting. In this video, James explains how the multimeter works, so that you can understand them better. After watching, you will gain a solid DMM basics understanding.
The first Workbench Wednesdays episode covered a pen-style DMM. Back when we were first developing the show, the intent was to be more of a review show and less of a tutorial show. That episode became a mix of both. So we decided to do a straight-up tutorial on DMM basics. Measuring voltage usually has not tripped up too many people, especially on an auto-ranging meter. The main thing to remember with current is to move the red lead back to the voltage input immediately after making a measurement. I touched on continuity briefly but hope to come back and cover that more in the future.
After watching this episode, I would recommend moving to the bench power supply tutorial. After a DMM, the bench supply is one of the most used tools.
See show notes on element14