Re: Battery/starting issues

Posted by HH56 On 2015/11/16 10:40:41

There should be a setting for A or Amps. Depending on the meter there may be only one Amp setting but if there are two the settings will probably have some sort of indicator next to them. It could say AC or DC or if symbols, one most likely is a sine wave that looks like an S laying on its side for AC. The other probably has something that looks like a straight line for DC. Use the one which says DC or has a straight or dotted line next to it.

Most meters are auto ranging but if not then set the scale for a number greater than expected. If you are looking for 200 amps set the meter on whatever scale it has that will read higher like 300 or 600. If you set too high and the reading is relatively low then set to a lower scale and do again for more accuracy. Do check the max reading the meter can handle. On a clamp it is not as critical if you go over -- it just won't read or will flash an error indication but on those that use leads you could blow the internal fuse if trying to measure amps over the limit of the meter.

Just clamp the jaws around the battery cable and make sure the clamp closes so the two jaws touch each other. Crank the engine and read the value. If you get a reading that is really strange like being very low such as 2 or 3 amps when you expect 200 then the meter may not be able to sense DC thru the clamp.