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What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring?

Posted By: Blakcharger440

What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 03:27 PM

Let me first start out by saying electrical stuff really $%*&# me off and I am in the midst of wiring my car now and want to check some electrical connections.

About 2 years ago a guy I know had this hand held electrical testing meter that when he wanted to check where a wire lead went to he would hook up his tool at one end and with his "probe" at the other end it would detect if it was the same lead by making a loud beeping sound.

What function is that on a hand held electrical tester???

I have a little red Harbor Freight cheapie hand held electrical tester and I dont think it has that function.

Any tips would be great as I am heading to a Radio Shack right now in hopes of finding what tool I need.
Posted By: Challenger 1

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 03:29 PM

Called a multi meter and you want to use the ohm funtion, it tests continutity. Very handy.
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 03:50 PM

I have the tool you are talking about and to me it is useless when working on a car. I have used it for home use though and that is what it was designed for.

If you can be patient and you can figure anything out, do one circuit at a time. Looking at everything can be overwhelming.

Here is a link to your wiring. Blow it up so you can see everything. When you are reading a circuit get out some color markers and trace out the wiring, makes it a lot easier to read. Also when you are ready to look at another circuit print up another one and start again.

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=24
Posted By: Challenger 1

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 03:58 PM

Quote:

I have the tool you are talking about and to me it is useless when working on a car. I have used it for home use though and that is what it was designed for.

If you can be patient and you can figure anything out, do one circuit at a time. Looking at everything can be overwhelming.

Here is a link to your wiring. Blow it up so you can see everything. When you are reading a circuit get out some color markers and trace out the wiring, makes it a lot easier to read. Also when you are ready to look at another circuit print up another one and start again.

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=24



I guess it's not a DVM or a old style multi meter? DVMs to me are very handy around autos.
Posted By: hooziewhatsit

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:13 PM

Quote:

Called a multi meter and you want to use the ohm funtion, it tests continutity. Very handy.



To expand on this, put the meter on ohms (the omega symbol), and touch the two leads together. It should read near Zero ohms. Then, when you touch the ends of two wires together, if they're connected, you'll read near zero ohms. If they aren't connected, you won't read anything.

On my Fluke DMM, I turn the knob to ohms, then I press another button to turn the speaker on. Then when it reads under some threshold (5 ohm maybe?) it beeps at me. Very handy.

Also, I would find a set of automatic wire strippers. Makes stripping wires much easier and faster.

-Dave
Posted By: OzHemi

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:16 PM

Quote:

On my Fluke DMM, I turn the knob to ohms, then I press another button to turn the speaker on. Then when it reads under some threshold (5 ohm maybe?) it beeps at me. Very handy



My Fluke does the same thing...real handy when tracing circuits

Spending money to buy a good multi meter is one of those kind of things that pays for itself over the years I'd say.
Posted By: 6PakBee

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:17 PM

Hooked something on one end of the wire? Traced it with another device on the other end of the wire? I think what you are looking for is a signal injector (signal tracer, circuit finder, they're called a number of things). Something like this? Pretty pricey for just one car.

http://www.licensedelectrician.com/Store/ID/Tone_Generator.htm
Posted By: Blakcharger440

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:17 PM

Will it have the OHM function on a dial or something?


What does the DVM stand for?
Posted By: 6PakBee

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:19 PM

Quote:

What does the DVM stand for?



Digital Volt Meter
Posted By: Jim_Lusk

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:19 PM

He was probably using a toner and inductive amplifier. They may not be completely useful where everything uses a common ground.
Posted By: Blakcharger440

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:25 PM

How will I know which multimeter will have the "ohm" function that I am looking for?
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:25 PM

Quote:

Hooked something on one end of the wire? Traced it with another device on the other end of the wire? I think what you are looking for is a signal injector (signal tracer, circuit finder, they're called a number of things). Something like this? Pretty pricey for just one car.

http://www.licensedelectrician.com/Store/ID/Tone_Generator.htm





This is the tool I was taking about and similar to what I have and do not use on autos. Maybe I just don't know how to use it. Actually not a bad price considering what I originally bought it for.
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:28 PM

I'm sure your ohm meter has the basic funtions. What does it look like?

?

?
Posted By: therocks

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:43 PM

I have a 700 buck SnapOn meter with all kinds of stuff that interfaces with it.Most times I use my test light.I also have a test light that has a beep when it completes a circuit.Oh and dont hook an ohm meter to a live circuit.If its a cheapie it will be toast.Rocky
Posted By: Blakcharger440

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:43 PM

Quote:

I'm sure your ohm meter has the basic funtions. What does it look like?

?

?



Hey it looks exactly like the top one! I dont see a OHM function on it though


I dont want to spend $700 on a multimeter either.
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:53 PM

6-9 O'clock positions the symbol omega means resistance.
Posted By: IMGTX

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:54 PM

Quote:


he would hook up his tool at one end and with his "probe" at the other end it would detect if it was the same lead by making a loud beeping sound.




That would be a tone generator as I call it. I use the mess out of them for installing phone and network wiring. You hook a signal generator to one end and the "Wand" can pick up the signal passing along the wire and it will beep. Very handy when you are working with 10 to 100 cables all the same color and not marked by the idiot who installed them. It allows you to identify individual wires when the beeper goes off. It could work in a car but car wiring is color coded so I use the colors to determine the wires on a car. The key is the wire must be isolated. Hooking the tone generator to the battery cable would cause most of the wiring in the car to beep at you and prove frustrating.

I use a continuity tester all the time in cars. As said above SOME Vom meters have that function. It is very handy. Hook one end to a circuit and check the other end for continuity / no breaks in the wire. It also helps check switches, bulbs, etc.

Tone Generators are good and not too pricey. You can get one in the Phone/network cabling section at Home Depot for about $30.

Continuity function on a VOM Meter is the shizmit. Definitely a useful tool. Price varies with the meter.

I would suggest you get a good test light and make a set of test leads with alligator clips on each end about 20 feet long so you can test/bypass wiring in a car. You would be surprised how much easier it is when you have long leads to test and probe with than those 2 ft frustrating leads all tools give you. For example when checking the bulkhead connector clip an alligator from your long lead to one side of the bulkhead and run the wire to the other side where you hook up a continuity tester to it and the other side of the bulkhead connector.

Also get a GOOD Diagram. Most of the diagrams on the internet show circuits but don't always label colors, stripes and wire guages.
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 04:54 PM

Quote:

I have a 700 buck SnapOn meter with all kinds of stuff that interfaces with it.Most times I use my test light.I also have a test light that has a beep when it completes a circuit.Oh and dont hook an ohm meter to a live circuit.If its a cheapie it will be toast.Rocky



Even if it is not a cheapy it will pop something.
Posted By: Challenger 1

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 05:07 PM

Last couple DVMs I bought came from Radio Shack, I think they were 29 bucks. I bought from them because they were right there(radio shack) when I needed one. I've had 2 of them from RS and I am happy with them.
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 05:10 PM

unless you know exactly what scale to work with start with the larger scale and work your way down.
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 05:19 PM

And NEVER use the amp function on these for anything other than Very small draws, on yours I don't see the amount listed but I don't see how it can take anything over 10 amps
Posted By: Blakcharger440

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 06:26 PM

Well, I dont know if I am using this cheapy multimeter correctly but it does not seem to be of any help.

When I connect at one end of a wire and then touch the probe at what I think is the other end of that same wire it gives me a reading....but it also gives me a reading even if I touch other wires at that same connection or even if I touch the body of the car with that same probe..

I am probably not using it correctly. Geeez! Electrical stuff really get me all worked up.
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 06:29 PM

Most likely the wrong setting. I wish I knew of a website for the basics of how to use a multimeter.


here is a start

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=basics+of+how+to+use+a+multimeter&ei=utf-8&fr=ie8

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&...&fr2=sp-top

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0ge...b-top&sao=0
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 06:50 PM

Also remember there are a couple of plug-ins for the test leads. Make sure you have the correct lead in the correct hole.


This thing is neat, to see if you know what do when using the meter.


http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/natsci/slc/slconline/IDIG/DigiMeter.htm
Posted By: IMGTX

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 07:00 PM


Don't let it get to you, you can do this, you just need a little practice.

Quote:


When I connect at one end of a wire and then touch the probe at what I think is the other end of that same wire it gives me a reading....but it also gives me a reading even if I touch other wires at that same connection or even if I touch the body of the car with that same probe..




The problem with electricity is that it is invisible and flows anywhere it can.

For example if you are testing a brake light wire and you have a bulb in the socket on the other side of the car that bulb allows electricity to travel from the wire you are on through the bulb to ground on the body. You will get readings of continuity on the brake light wires, the body and anything that completes a circuit with the body ground which can be anything.

It really helps if you have a wiring diagram. Look the diagram over and see where the electricity should flow and where it may flow to.

Also if you give specifics on which circuit you are trying to fix often we can give you more specific directions.

Checking for continuity is helpful many times but you will also want to check for voltage. IT is easier to do anyway. For example to test the brake lights:
1. Check for battery voltage (test lights are great for this).
2. Check for voltage along the harness until it reaches the brake switch. Fusible link, bulkhead connector, fuse block, switch.
3. Depress the brake pedal and check the other side of the switch for voltage.
4. Work your way down the harness checking each connector until you reach the bulb.

If you run into a spot where you should have electricity and don't you know you have a problem between A & B.

This is why you need a good diagram and know how to read it.

What year and model of car are you working on?
Posted By: 1_WILD_RT

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/01/09 08:33 PM

Quote:


The problem with electricity is that it is invisible and flows anywhere it can.




Electricity isn't really invisable... It is semi-transparent grey... When ever it can escape from those darn wires....

Cause as everyone knows electricity basically consists of magic smoke.. & as long as you kept the smoke inside the wires everything is gonna be ok...


BTW The Diode test function of a DMM typically beeps..

A DMM is a Digtal Multi Meter which is what everyone is actually talking about.. A DVM is a Digtal Volt Meter & wouldn't have an Ohm fuction...Only a Voltmeter...

An on your DMM look for Ω to symbolize Ohms... Or go here for more info...
http://mechatronics.mech.northwestern.edu/design_ref/tools/multimeter.html
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/02/09 04:28 AM

For example If I was working on a 70 Charger and wiring a MSD ignition I would trace out all the wires nec to do the job. In this case after I color the wires, I can see that the wires I need are the Dark Blue with the white tracer and the Brown wire.

From one of the post here (today) I read that I need the Brown wire and the Blue wire with the white tracer connected together if I remove the resister. I then connect this to the small wire on the MSD unit

If I did not want to remove the resistor I could just hook the small red wire up to the Blue wire that leads to the coil.

If I did not want to wire it at the resistor I can find the same wires in the middle connector at the firewall.

If I wanted to put it inside I would follow the same two wires at the bulkhead to the inside of the and tap the wires there.

click the link to see a bigger pic click again to see even bigger.


Sounds really hard but if you do it a step at a time it is not hard at all.
Posted By: GreenBlurr

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/02/09 04:47 AM

So no one though to make the point that if the poster does not know what a multimeter is, does , or how one works; they shouldn't be toutching any car's wiring?

Not to mention that they mentioned it as frustrating the heck out of them?

Think about it guys.

You sir, for you and your car's own good, should have someone experienced and knowledgable about such things working on the wiring.

There's the answer to your question.
Posted By: HealthServices

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/02/09 06:44 AM

Boy Mike you just have a way with words...


We all have to start somewhere.

Asking for help is the first step.

Knowing when to say 'when' is another,

but you have to start somewhere first.
Posted By: 71rm23

Re: What tool am I looking for to help me with wiring? - 07/02/09 07:01 AM

Quote:

Also remember there are a couple of plug-ins for the test leads. Make sure you have the correct lead in the correct hole.


This thing is neat, to see if you know what do when using the meter.


http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/natsci/slc/slconline/IDIG/DigiMeter.htm



NEAT web sit healthservices. Very helpful
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