Battery Spark

[Kemosabe]

my Cen-Tech multimeter's leads were shot (lead disconnected from wire), so i bought some new leads from fasttech. upon using the new leads, i noticed a spark between the lead tip and the negative end of the battery. im not sure if i was doing something wrong- perhaps i had the neg lead plugged inot the pos lead terminal. i cant recall. the reading was completely inaccurate which is nothing out of the ordinary for my $5 multimeter. but perhaps something else was going on here..

does anyone know if a spark is of great concern? have i damaged my battery? i plan to get a new multimeter so im not really too concerned if i damaged that. im pretty sure the leads are either not the right leads for my meter (is that a thing? do you need particular leads for particular meters?) or perhaps the leads are just bunk leads- which would be a little surprising because the leads are built better than the cen-tech leads. but who knows, look/feel can be deceiving i guess.

 

[Kemosabe]

bump...
its there a better place to post this? sorry if its in the wrong place but i couldnt find a Battery subforum.
any help would be appreciated.

 

[Oomee]

Sketchy details mate , and not easy to clear up on the nets .

Might have selected current instead of volts .
Cheap meters have volts ohms and current on the same lead socket , so if you accidentally select amps it will conduct and blow the internal fuse of the meter .

That's just a guess though mate, not easy over the net

 

[Kemosabe]

wel im just glad to hear that a battery spark isnt raising any red flags with you. i know that a spark isnt a big deal with my vmod, as you can see a tiny spark from the fire button to the battery whenever you press the fire button. and this was detailed by vapage, so i know a small spark isnt bad.

but i wasnt sure about a larger spark- especially from a multimeter rather than a mod. and on top of that, i was using new leads that im still not sure are right for my meter.

thanks for your opinion

 

[Oomee]

You could take out the fuse from the meter , put the meter back together and read it's(fuse) resistance ... should be zero (short circuit) if good and over range (open circuit)if blown .
If the fuse is blown , then it really points towards measuring the battery volts when on Current(Amps) range .

Leave the fuse out if you want (or still learning) , it only protects the amps range , and without one it won't go putting a short circuit on anything unexpectedly !!

It is worth a note that those with more expensive meters , a mistake like this can be expensive , those HRC fuses can be an arm and leg :EEK: !

 

[Rickajho]

The fuse in any Cen-Tech I've run across is neither removable or replaceable. They are really cheap meters with a pig tail fuse soldered in place.

 

[AttyPops]

Yeah, kinda missing information. So guesswork:

1) A spark can happen almost anytime. The smaller the gap the less voltage needed. If you happened to have the lead really close to the battery but not touching it (like .01 mm) there could be a spark. Heck, you can get a spark from static electricity and a doorknob too.

2) The meter should be high-impedance. AKA mega-ohms, when reading voltage. If you had it set to amps, however, that's different. So could the function setting have been wrong?

If still in doubt, get a $20 meter (See how easy it is for me to spend your money? lol)

 

[Kemosabe]

i think the thing you say about the lead being really close to the battery but not touching it was what happened. glad to hear this isnt a problem. i was tesing an eFest batt at the time and it just so happens that my eFest batts were not lasting as long as my AWs (they used to) but i think thats just eFest for ya and not any damamge i might have caused.

i had it set in the DCV category, at 20. i really only use this meter for testing batt voltage because when trying to test resistance, it never settles in, always jumping around slightly. but that might be due to my hands not being steady. i think i need alligator clip leads. hopefully harbor freight has those when i go to get my new multimeter. i see that they have these:

does anyone know if i can clip these onto the ends of my leads and use the clips to test resistance?

 

[Rickajho]

does anyone know if i can clip these onto the ends of my leads and use the clips to test resistance?

You can, but it can get rather kludgy working with a meter connected to a lead connected to a lead connected to a battery.

The problem with these Cen-Tech meters is they either work right - or they don't. They should always be checked out in the parking lot before you leave Harbor Freight. There's nothing wrong with them - as long as you get one that's working right.

If you are having a problem with one that won't settle down take it back for an exchange. (Harbor Freight is pretty liberal on their return/exchange policy.) If you set if for resistance, with the leads not connected to anything, and the reading bounces all over the place and won't zero out within 2 seconds it has a problem and needs to be exchanged.

 

[VV_James]

i think the thing you say about the lead being really close to the battery but not touching it was what happened. glad to hear this isnt a problem. i was tesing an eFest batt at the time and it just so happens that my eFest batts were not lasting as long as my AWs (they used to) but i think thats just eFest for ya and not any damamge i might have caused.

i had it set in the DCV category, at 20. i really only use this meter for testing batt voltage because when trying to test resistance, it never settles in, always jumping around slightly. but that might be due to my hands not being steady. i think i need alligator clip leads. hopefully harbor freight has those when i go to get my new multimeter. i see that they have these:

does anyone know if i can clip these onto the ends of my leads and use the clips to test resistance?

That's the same meter I'm currently using...
Put the red (positive) lead in the center hole, and the black (Negative) lead in the bottom hole For checking voltage AND resistance...

When checking battery voltage and pretty much any other e-cig related voltage set the dial to DC 200 (about the 11 O-Clock position) and when checking resistance set the dial to the 6 O-Clock 200 position.

When checking resistance always touch your leads together, and whatever the meter reads is the internal+leads resistance. If using the alligator clips, do the same thing touch the clips together to get the internal+leads+clips&wires resistance...

This number should be subtracted from any final readings you get from whatever you are measuring to get an accurate reading....

Higher end meters have a tare feature that allows you to do this and then zero the meter so you don't have to remember to subtract...

Hope that helps..






Apparently Necessary Disclaimer: The item(s), and/or vendor(s) mentioned above, were purchased/patronized for my personal use, and in no way sold by or affiliated with my business interests...

 

[Rickajho]

The Cen-Tech meters do have an auto zeroing feature. (At least they say they do...) If it won't auto zero get it replaced.

 

[Kemosabe]

You can, but it can get rather kludgy working with a meter connected to a lead connected to a lead connected to a battery.

The problem with these Cen-Tech meters is they either work right - or they don't. They should always be checked out in the parking lot before you leave Harbor Freight. There's nothing wrong with them - as long as you get one that's working right.

If you are having a problem with one that won't settle down take it back for an exchange. (Harbor Freight is pretty liberal on their return/exchange policy.) If you set if for resistance, with the leads not connected to anything, and the reading bounces all over the place and won't zero out within 2 seconds it has a problem and needs to be exchanged.

thanks for that. i guess my meter is busted regarding resistance. but batt voltage was fine until recently. i wonder if its possible to have one of those functions working and one not. maybe its user error. i try my damnedest to hold the leads steady but its hard without clips. then again, maybe i shouldnt have to hold them that steady and my meter was never right regarding resistance in the first place. maybe thats why they decide to give them away for free from time to time. hmmmm bad batches?

That's the same meter I'm currently using...
Put the red (positive) lead in the center hole, and the black (Negative) lead in the bottom hole For checking voltage AND resistance...

When checking battery voltage and pretty much any other e-cig related voltage set the dial to DC 200 (about the 11 O-Clock position) and when checking resistance set the dial to the 6 O-Clock 200 position.

When checking resistance always touch your leads together, and whatever the meter reads is the internal+leads resistance. If using the alligator clips, do the same thing touch the clips together to get the internal+leads+clips&wires resistance...

This number should be subtracted from any final readings you get from whatever you are measuring to get an accurate reading....

Higher end meters have a tare feature that allows you to do this and then zero the meter so you don't have to remember to subtract...

Hope that helps..






Apparently Necessary Disclaimer: The item(s), and/or vendor(s) mentioned above, were purchased/patronized for my personal use, and in no way sold by or affiliated with my business interests...

thanks. i was aware of all that except the part about using 200. id been using 20 with great results until my leads became disconnected from themselves. so i bought new leads (these: https://www.fasttech.com/products/1114600 ) but i havent gotten them to give me an accurate reading. i wonder if the leads are faulty or if they are not right for my meter. i'll try them at "200" and report back.

regardless, im getting a new cen-tech from HF for free from the coupon i found. gonna get some alligator clip leads, cash in the free meter coupon, and take it from there. if it still sucks, im getting a slightly better meter.

 

[VV_James]

thanks. i was aware of all that except the part about using 200. id been using 20 with great results until my leads became disconnected from themselves. so i bought new leads (these: https://www.fasttech.com/products/1114600 ) but i havent gotten them to give me an accurate reading. i wonder if the leads are faulty or if they are not right for my meter. i'll try them at "200" and report back.

regardless, im getting a new cen-tech from HF for free from the coupon i found. gonna get some alligator clip leads, cash in the free meter coupon, and take it from there. if it still sucks, im getting a slightly better meter.

It don't take much to get a better meter, but fr a throw-away meter those cen-techs aren't that bad...
I've gone through about 5 of them though, and have never yet found one that would auto zero the resistance!

 

[Oomee]

It is normal to get some change of a resistance measurement when hand-holding the leads .
Clean the ends of the probe , make sure they are shiny bright , no tarnish or dirt .

I measure resistance at the 510 of the atty , IMHO this is a better solution :
It measures the load presented to the mod.
It tests not just the coil , but the atty too for shorts and open circuit .

Dave the legend has done a test of budget multimeters :

 

[Rickajho]

thanks for that. i guess my meter is busted regarding resistance. but batt voltage was fine until recently. i wonder if its possible to have one of those functions working and one not. maybe its user error. i try my damnedest to hold the leads steady but its hard without clips. then again, maybe i shouldnt have to hold them that steady and my meter was never right regarding resistance in the first place. maybe thats why they decide to give them away for free from time to time. hmmmm bad batches?

The problem with resistance on that meter has been reported here. More than once. You have to realize that "quality control" for something like this meter means if they put a battery in it and it turns on it leaves the factory. I've cracked one of these open and the construction inside there couldn't be much cheaper. Be nice to that rotary switch!

thanks. i was aware of all that except the part about using 200. id been using 20 with great results until my leads became disconnected from themselves. so i bought new leads (these: https://www.fasttech.com/products/1114600 ) but i havent gotten them to give me an accurate reading. i wonder if the leads are faulty or if they are not right for my meter. i'll try them at "200" and report back.

regardless, im getting a new cen-tech from HF for free from the coupon i found. gonna get some alligator clip leads, cash in the free meter coupon, and take it from there. if it still sucks, im getting a slightly better meter.

You should be using the "200" setting for volts and ohms - that's the "200 ohms (or volts) or less" positions.

Free bonus gift? If you have a choice, get the meter with stock number 98025 on it. For whatever reason there are fewer negative reviews on HF about that one. The packaging and the meter look identical, but the one with the other stock number has more complaints.

Don't forget to test it before you leave the parking lot! lol - sorta...

 

[Kemosabe]

The problem with resistance on that meter has been reported here. More than once. You have to realize that "quality control" for something like this meter means if they put a battery in it and it turns on it leaves the factory. I've cracked one of these open and the construction inside there couldn't be much cheaper. Be nice to that rotary switch!



You should be using the "200" setting for volts and ohms - that's the "200 ohms (or volts) or less" positions.

Free bonus gift? If you have a choice, get the meter with stock number 98025 on it. For whatever reason there are fewer negative reviews on HF about that one. The packaging and the meter look identical, but the one with the other stock number has more complaints.

Don't forget to test it before you leave the parking lot! lol - sorta...

Yeah it's a coupon that I found in maxim magazine. You get a free multimeter with any purchase. So I'm gonna get the alligator clip leads and cash in the free meter thing. I will get #98025. Thanks for that. I have a HF right near me. Ill test it for sure. Heck, I'll test that puppy on the counter I purchase it at.

 

[VV_James]

Yeah it's a coupon that I found in maxim magazine. You get a free multimeter with any purchase. So I'm gonna get the alligator clip leads and cash in the free meter thing. I will get #98025. Thanks for that. I have a HF right near me. Ill test it for sure. Heck, I'll test that puppy on the counter I purchase it at.

Instead of the leads with the clips on both ends, see if they have the package of leads with the clips on 1 end that plug straight into the meter... Sometimes they do, and those are better if you're going to use clips... You don't have to worry about the extra resistance...

 

[AttyPops]

They make alligator clips that snap onto the probes too.

@Oomee that video is hilarious in parts. The guy is funny. Particularly with the G.S. meter.....

 

[VV_James]

They make alligator clips that snap onto the probes too.

@Oomee that video is hilarious in parts. The guy is funny. Particularly with the G.S. meter.....

Yes, true enough.. But anytime you add a connection you increase the resistance, and the potential for a bad connection....