A multimeter is a necessary item to check electrical equipment. It is vital to know the ohms symbol for its correct usage. People who belong to an electrical background know how to read multimeters and their symbols but the average Joe/Jane may need some help, that’s why we’re here.
There are some tips and factors for reading the parameters like ohms, capacitance, volt, and milliamperes, and anyone can master meter readings.
To read Multimeter Ohms Symbol, you need to have a basic understanding of voltage, resistance, and continuity reading; idea about diode and capacitance test, manual v/s auto range along with jacks and buttons.
Multimeter symbols you need to know
Here we will discuss voltage, resistance, and continuity.
- Voltage helps measure direct current (DC) voltage and alternating current (AC) voltage. The wavy line over the V signifies AC voltage. The dotted and solid V line signifies DC voltage. mV with one dotted and one wavy line signifies AC or DC millivolts.
- Current can be AC or DC and is measured in amperes. A with a wavy line represents AC. A with one dotted and one solid line represents DC.(1)
- A multimeter is also used to check the break in an electrical circuit. There are two outcomes for measuring the resistance. In one, the circuit remains open, and the meter reads infinite resistance. The other reads the closed one in which the circuit reads zero and is closed. In some cases, meters beep after detecting the continuity.(2)
Diode and Capacitance Tests
The diode test function tells us whether a diode is working or not. A diode is an electric component that helps change the AC to DC. A capacitance test includes capacitors that are devices to store charge and a meter that measures the charge. There are two leads with every multimeter and four types of jacks in which you can plug the leads. The four jacks include the COM jack, A jack, mAVΩ jack, and mAµA jack.
Manual vs. Auto Range
Two types of multimeters can be used. One is the analog multimeter and the other one is a digital multimeter. The analog multimeter includes more than one range setting and has a needle within. It cannot be used for measuring sensitive measurements because the needle will not deflect on a large range. The needle will deflect to its maximum at a small range and the measurement does not exceed the range.
The digital multimeter has a range of settings that you can select with a dial. The meter automatically selects the range as it does not have range settings. The auto-multimeters function in a much better way than the manual range settings-based multimeters.
References
(1) Ohms Law- https://electronics.koncon.nl/ohmslaw/
(2) Multimeter Info – https://www.electrical4u.com/voltage-or-electric-potential-difference/
