To check battery strength,you need a load tester.Not a multimeter.Set to "DC volts",the multi meter can test battery voltage .Even then,the meter can read 12 volts on a 12 volt battery,but the battery may actually be near "dead",and/or have "bad" cells.

On the multi-meter shown in the link - the DCV scale is in the 9 to 12 o'clock position, the scale you should be using is the 20 VDC scale.
However to test the strength of the battery, a load tester is required as tom k de say's in the previous post.
Most auto supply part outlets will load test a battery for free - but they do expect you to buy a replacement from them if yours is bad, Any Walmart (that I've been to) also has this service, just a pain to get through security with the battery to be tested.
Something tells me from your questions, you might be better off, finding a friend that has electrical troubleshooting experience to help you through this first time.

As steve2ski said above, set the dial to 20V which is somewhere between 9 and 12 o'clock. Put the black lead into the bottom plug and the read lead into the middle plug.

Don't use it in the amperage mode unless you know what you are doing. In this mode hooking it up the wrong way in the circuit can ruin it. In the voltage mode it is really hard to ruin unless you use the wrong range (i.e. 2V range instead of 20V).

This will allow you to test where you have voltage in various parts of the wiring. It will tell you a little about your battery, for instance, if it is really dead, then the voltage will be significantly less than 12V. But the battery can be 12V and still incapable of supplying much current.

Thanks guys. I tried that but it didn't work. I set it to DCV and 20, the black (negative) lead in the bottom hole, the red right above that, but nothing registered, and it was showing ".00". Strange. If the testers battery was low it wouldn;t have shown .00, I think anyway.

Yeah, your right steve2ski. I need someone around here with that electrical experience, but their about as dumb as I am about this stuff. :)

A word of caution on digital Multi Meters. If the internal battery used in the meter is low, you will get screwy results on most voltage readings.

Check the leads to make sure they are good. To do so, switch to the OHMS range, between 6 & 9 o'clock. When the leads are touched together, it should read near zero. Don't forget to reset before trying to measure V.

Appreciate it. I'll try that lead test too. Does it matter which number it's set on?

Nope. Ohms is just resistance. When the leads are shorted together, there should be next to 0 resistance, so it would probably read something like 002??

Jim,

Once you test the leads, do another simple test: Take a D,C, AA or AAA batteries and check the voltage. You can look on the side of the batteries and know what your DC voltage is supposed to be. This'll give you a good benchmark to compare with to see if your meter is setup correctly. After that, go check out your lawn mower's battery, etc.

Yep, it sounds like you connected the leads to the battery while in current mode.

Some of these small meters have a fuse that blows when connected to the battery in current mode.

So take the back off and look for the fuse. I soldered a small wire (ie number 30 awg) across my fuse when I did that.

JerryO

Thanks for the info guys. I'll try to find out what's happening with this thing.

Well, I took off the back of the case. There's a 9-volt battery inside that's dated 2003...think I'll start there.

Also, the fuse in there is the kind that's the clear type and doesn't have a wire through it. If it pops doesn't this type turn cloudy? Can't remember. I'm gonna replace the 9-volt and see if that does anything.

Nevermind. This thing is a pile of crap. Got a new 9-volt for inside to try and nothing. Turned the dial to ACV and watched it go nuts. Turned it back to test a battery on DCV and nothing. Took the 9-volt back out and threw the whole damn thing in the trash. I was so dadgum mad, but I should have expected it. Buy it for $5 and expect it to work too. I must have been crazy.

jimtnc,

I have a yellow Harbor Freight meter exactly like yours. It's about 7 years old and gets used often and gets bounced around the toolbox a lot.

I'll admit it's not the equal of my Fluke meter but it's a lot of meter for cheap.

There are Mondays, Wednesdays, an Fridays in China just like everywhere else. You might want to try another meter and have someone at HF show you that it works and how it works before you pay for it.

Consider the possibility that the gods are telling you that you shouldn't be fooling around with electricity.

justalurker - yeah, maybe you're right. I've done many dangerous things in my life and got away with it...maybe electricity is not one of them. :)

I need a couple of things from HF, so I might check a new meter out and see if I got a bad one.

I just bought 2 of the red ones from HF last week. They both seem to work fine. These will be my "loaners" that other people can use when they need one or extras that go into various tool boxes.

Again, it's no match for my Fluke, but for $3 each, I didn't expect it to be.

Interestingly, it's got a setting for testing transistors, diodes and small 1.5V and 9V batteries as well as normal AC/DC voltage and resistance. Not too bad for $3 on sale.

At $3 each on sale you can give them away on Halloween to the next generation EEs out there and they're almost the right color.

They must have those sales at different times across the country. Don't have one here that I know of, but hell,I think I could pop for another 4 bucks if I had to.

jimtnc,

When I posted that link in the other thread the meters were on sale for $2.99. The sale ended and the meters are back up to their outrageous regular price of $7.99. Still a deal.

If you watch that link and wait till the meter goes on sale the local HF store will match the price if you print it out and take it with you.

Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, lurker.

Well, I told you it was the fuse, not the battery.
When putting the meter in current mode and putting it across the battery, the large amp flow destroys the very thin wire in the middle of the fuse. You said your fuse had no wire, so it was bad.

JerryO

You're probably right jerry. If I knew it was there to start with I would have checked it, and no I didn't read the instructions carefully enough. I didn't expect to take the box apart to QA it, I was just trying to learn to use it. LOL! I'm sure now that I must have shorted it out somehow. Ahhh well. Another lesson learned. It's probably a good idea for me to ask these kinds of questions before I buy anything else. : )

from my first post
Something tells me from your questions, you might be better off, finding a friend that has electrical troubleshooting experience to help you through this first time.

All training costs something, you are just getting started in the "School of Hard Knocks" !

Sometimes its cheaper and quicker to pay someone to troubleshoot and repair than to go to school on a new subject.

jimtnc, As steve2ski said, All training costs something.

But useing a meter is very useful and worth learning. besides at under $10, it fairly cheap.

Try to use JUST the voltage mode. And keep the range high enough.
Usually 20 volt range (it should read 12 to 15 volts) for cars, but that may change if the car makers get their 42 volt batterys. And much higher in parts of a hybrid. You want to check AA cells? go ahead, but they will drop some in use, so don't believe they are quite as good as they test.

Useing a meter with house voltage can be real helpful also, BUT BE CAREFUL. The meter must be set to AC (much house volteage is 115 volts AC, but cook stoves, dryers, welders, etc are 230 VAC) as opposed to the DC used for cars and mowers (some mowers use AC (12 to 15 volts), mostly for lights on low end units).
Resistance should only be used when a circuit doesn't have any power applyed. It is a good way to check for a blown fuse, IF you have a working meter. All good fuses will read near zero ohms. This is the same as touching the leads together.

Current measurements can be useful, but I prefer to use the clamp on meters (clamp goes around one wire) and own a sears meter that has both 40 and 400 amp max ranges for both DC and AC. I paid $60 as I remember. It is handy to put the clamp around the battery wire and watch the current as you turn items on and off. Same for house hold appliances (I split the wires on an extention cord).

For a little electrical theory, The easyest is compareing it to water flow. That is pressure, flow rate, and restrictions.

Voltage is like PSI.
Amps is like gallons per minute.
Resistance is like a almost closed valve.

Power is force thru a distance. ie. pressure times flow rate. That would be volts times amps equals watts. As we buy it from the power company, it is KW or kilo watts (1,000 watt hour units for about a $.10 here).

JerryO

Thanks for the explanation, Jerry. I'll probably have to re-read it several times to make any sense out of it (I do that with most things I read anymore at my age), but my primary reason for wanting to learn really came from my tractor.

I have a smaller tractor I use to cut with that had starting problems last summer. If I had been able to effectively use the meter I would have been able to tell that the solenoid was bad (which we guessed this anyway and bought one), and also test the other A to B to C points in that electrical chain. Seems to me that kind of stuff is good to know.

For you DVM savy techs here's a heads-up...

Stopped by Harbor Freight today and they have their better DVM on sale for the give-a-way price of $16.99

Along with the usual functions this meter also reads Hz and includes a temperature probe. Those are unusual features for a sub $100 meter.

Don't know when the sale ends.

Harbor Freight 37772 DVM