CHAPTER 7 ■ NINE-VOLT BATTERIESTo protect the meter, you must always select a number that’s bigger than the maximum you expect to
test. Since you expect to see a little more or less than 9 volts on a 9 V battery, pick a range a little more than 9.
Although it’s not harmful to dial too large of a number, like 1000, the resolution of the meter isn’t as
descriptive. In other words, the quality of the reading is not going to be as good if you tell the meter it’s
testing a number between 0 and 1000 when you know the meter is actually going to be testing a number
between 0 and 10.
- Do not touch the metal tips of the probes to anything at this point. If the meter
isn’t already turned on, press the power-on button.
The meter should now be displaying zero (see Figure 7-4). The number on the display may bounce
around a little, but it should be near zero.
Figure 7-3. Dialing a DC voltage range above 9
Figure 7-4. Meter displays no voltage
- Touch the metal tip of the black test lead to the battery’s negative terminal
(the larger snap, which is usually marked “-”). - Touch the metal tip of the red test lead to the battery’s positive terminal
(the smaller snap, which is usually marked “+”). See Figure 7-5.