HOW TO USE A MULTIMETER: Continuity Function
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- Опубликовано: 29 июн 2024
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If you work with electronics, you have to know how to use a multimeter. And one of the most important functions of a multimeter is checking continuity. Continuity means that current will flow between two points if a voltage is applied. This is important because 1) sometimes you want current to flow, such as when you apply power to a battery connector and need to supply power to an ESC, and 2) sometimes you don't want current to flow, such as when you apply power to a battery connector and there is a short circuit that starts a fire.
In this video, I'll show you how to use the continuity function to see if your battery is safe to plug in, and how to find a ground pad on an un-marked ESC.
The multimeter that I use is: amzn.to/2o8LdTO
MANDATORY DISCLAIMER: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Amzn.to links above are affiliate links, and I will receive compensation if you use them.
Here I am, terrified to plug in my first build for the first time because of the brief chirp I get during a continuity test. It's the capacitor. God bless you Joshua Bardwell.
Josh, You might have an idea already but you deserve special credit for what you contribute to this hobby. There are a lot of great pilots on RUclips (some including really odd distracting content unfortunately) that are inspirational, but you my friend are such a great resource for helping us get into the air and doing it in the right way. Kudos to you and I hope you keep it up. Look me up if you are ever in SLC or maybe I will see you at an event sometime and thank you personally.
Joshua Bardwell, one of the top professors at "RUclips U", I thank you again for a fine lesson! I honestly believe that I'm pretty close to building my own quad from scratch, largely due to your videos.
Thank you for creating this video 6 years ago =)
Great idea for a series! I only ever use my multimeter for continuity, mainly because that's all I really know how to do. I'd love to learn all the handy functions for RC building.
Glad your making a series on this subject. I know very basic info on multimeter. I for one will b watching all of your vids on this. Bring on the knowledge...
I should add,looking forward to learning how to use a multimeter when it comes to my quadcopter. An how to diagnose a problem. Keep up the great work my friend!
Joshua, thank you for this series! I think you'll find that most of us are in the same boat. We are not as smart as the multimeter were working with. When building a quadcopter multimeter is a very valuable tool. If, you know how to use it properly it can save you money and time! And, yes I did learn something today! Thank you! I am looking forward to the rest of this series. Thanks again
hey josh...Im learning alot and I really appreciate what you do. I am straight up beginner with multi rotor and I never got to 3D with single rotor. I can fly them but not like what I see from you and others. anyway...thank you for sharing your knowledge
That new intro is too good
Thanks again on the video, just got myself one and this helped a ton!
+Joshua Bardwell - thanks this is sooooo timely.
I had a problem- I assume a short - and fried my last FC and have been continuity testing my current build, but been getting that little beep on as well as a brief little flash on my smoke stopper when first contacted the probes.
I thought that tiny little beep was probably dissipation of static, some residual stored charge in a cap or something like that but I was still really nervous and constantly afeared I was gonna fry something again.
This video appeared on RUclips right as I was about to power up the FC with a battery (as opposed to USB) for the first time. I was literally about 15 mins away from applying battery power when I went to my You Tube landing page and saw this.
You've posted exactly the right time to re-assure me.
Thanks.
I so love you're content - your perspective soooo closely matches mine, your videos work really well for me.
To anyone else reading this - think about how much You Tube you watch compared to Netflix or Hulu or whatever IP TV you buy.
I found nearly all my viewing was You Tube and Joshua's channel was pretty high in that content. So I have cut an IP TV subscription and I know patronise the You Tube creators, like Joshua.
It's the *right thing* to do. UFC, Amazon Prime, Netflix and all them, don't make the content I watch most often. Joshua, Stew, Painless 360, Flite Test, Rotor Riot (which is a bit contrived) etc make the content I watch most.
Probably already been mentioned, but before I solder a pad (especially a small or fiddly one) I check for continuity with all the adjacent pads and components. Once the joint is complete, I check again and if I have continuity where I didn't used to then I know I've accidentally bridged something. Great for piece of mind if (like me) you're less than 100% confident in your ability.
Keep up the great work Joshua!
I'm a huge huge fan of finding out about devices and I love devices such as oscilloscope and multi leaders of this type and others. Does learning something new is fine and entertaining that's one of the reasons why I like it so much
Thanks for sharing . Just learning a lot of stuff to get flying some day.
Thanks for yr time and this vid..just built the tyro99 and want to check it out b4 plugging in battery..got the multimeter and smokestopper...vid.d like this are priceless to first time builder.s to insure safety of quad..yhanks ...cheer.s...
Ron
Thanks J.B. I recently purchased one and it had no paperwork with it, I had never used one so I was pissed, then I thought, J.B., he has videos about everything fpv😀 Thanks man, it’s exactly what I needed👍. Also just hit the place your order for this particular meter, it seems much better than the $8.00 one I bought 👌
Thanks for this Josh. Cheers!
Cheers Joshua, all good stuff. I find my short culprits tend to be the tiny pads for FPV, buzzers etc. Too easy to get solder from one pad touching the next, especially with these micro-copter boards..
Great vid too share Joshua, checking continuity with a multi meter on a new build is a far superior to plugging in a lipo and seeing if it sparks.
I am glad you did this one.
Life saving, Thanks a lot!!
I learned something today thanks 😃
Hey Bud ,you should have shown how to check for motor screw short... Why n hell would you get dislikes right out the gate...'haters' ... i jus dont get it...you take time to try n help others , then have those that jus wanta beat ya down...Thats why I quite w makin tutorials ... oh well , some of us appreciate your input.
BAT☀FPV I was wondering about that. I thought maybe he gave out bad information and they had to correct him in comments. Trolls 🙄
Thank you. This explains why I am getting momentary beeps during testing.
thank you very much, JB, best wishes for you :))
Thank u for alllllllllllll ur videos . Thanks for caring
i am a new user so thanks for making this video.
Great Tip!! God Bless!! :D
When finding the ground in the esc, could you put one probe on your negative battery terminal and use the other probe to test each unknown pad one at a time?
Yep that would work.
Sometimes I hate that the "something" that I learn today, but I guess it's better than magic smoke on (what I thought was) my newly put back together quad, off to do some de-soldering, thanks for the video!
It's funny with that macro lens I could see the "-" and "+" on the ESC pcb but I bet with naked eye it would be tough. 5:35
you were think about me. thank you.
Thanks Joshua
Hey Josh, I happen to have the same multimeter. Have you been able to compare its voltage reading to a higher end one? I have enjoyed using it, I am just curious on how accurate it is.
JB still helpful, can you update the problem solving for our modern gear, AIO boards and 4in1 esc's. thanks.
Yeah, I'm having that exact issue, bought the Eachine tx06 AIO, says on the directions and all the videos I've watched, for power it can be soldered to board or use provided connector with 1s. Plugged it into two different 1s batteries, both times started smoking. Batteries were new and I tested them, both appx 3.9v. Cam is rated at 3.2-5v.
I've seen a few people merge and solder the 2 ESC grounds together on the PDB. Is this ok and why not just bridge the joints on the ESC?
Thanks for everything Joshua
If I have continuity between signal and ground esc wire, the signal wire couldnt carry a signal...but does it cause any damage to the esc or fc?
I have waterproofed my copter before checking with the multimeter xD checked the continuity between the battery connector + and - and they are fine
One other thing you might have mentioned referring to shorts, is the the carbon fiber of the frame touching something in the system.
It can be a problem for those wanting to make their multi as light as possible and forgetting to isolate the back of their ESCs on the booms OR using extra thin heat shrink.
Plus high gloss CF can be a gremlin that can show its ugly head WAY down the road because the ESC might not short immediately until vibration has worked the contact through the glossy surface.
+Cyberdactyl good point about the CF.
Hi Joshua,
do I see it correct. you are building a setup with the AIO from Banggood? will you do a rewiev of this AIO? Looking forward for that one..Want to build a setup with this AIO FC.. BR
I never realized what would happen if you check continuity on a capacitor.
Hello my name is Joshua Bardwell. Today you going burn something.
Every video I see doing this has separate esc, is there a way to do it with a 4 in 1? I have a drone that burned out the esc when I plugged in so I replaced it but how do I check if the motor wires aren’t crossed? I can’t quite tell with my eyes lol
I have a new HGLRC stack. When I test continuity between +and - I hear a tone the other way it is quiet?
Confused
A short beep is a capacitor charging up. It's no issue as long as the beep is not continuous.
@@JoshuaBardwell
Thanks
I watched your video and I heard when you mentioned the capicitars charging. This was a long continous tone but only on one multi meter and one way?
is the vin and vout on fc supposed to have continuity to ground? I think this differential signaling stuff is my answer, but i might be mistaken and still worried because i may have hooked up a fried camera to new fc. OSD works no camera feed, waiting on replacement (upgrade) camera and fingers crossed that OSD module is ok. but i have continuity from OSD Vin and Vout on f4 to xt60 ground on esc.
bardwell pls help b4 my i plug in my new runcam into bad board, otherwise im out of ideas. ALSO out of MONEY.
would it pay to check for continuity after each bit of electrical / board work to reduce the amount of time it would take to isolate a problem. i.e., check after each esc is installed, not after all of them?Also, I was wondering, when you start a video there is often and advertisement that you can skip past. Do you get a fee for those ads and if yes, do they need to complete?Thanks
FYI - instructions as described in title start at 1:45.
Nothing of substance is said before that.
Hi Again, I can't seem to reply on the other video and I know this question of mine isn't pertinent to this video but "I'm Not using dshot and my mini_throttle is 1080. When I arm the quad at 0 throttle there's no yaw movement, yaw is responsive a tad over minimum throttle. Once again, would greatly appreciate your input".
+Mr. Barrie FPV if you are using stick arming then yaw is disabled when throttle is below min_check.
Hey, maybe someone can help me, on my multimeter i have a continuity symbol that looks like a speaker combined with whatever is above joshes multimeter. When i set it on ohms and that symbol, it beeps when i put the leads together but it also beeps when i check my drones that i know are wired correctly. What am i missing?
One day rotor riot going to be like." Trooper , why don't u join rotor riot. I see u learned everything from all of us. Ur like super dude .. lmao . " one lucky AF
What about continuity tests which show some readout on the meter, but doesn't cause the meter to do a prolonged beep. Initial test of the bare PDB was normal - no continuity between + and -. After soldering ESCs I got a surprise. To be clear I haven't attached the motors yet, just 4 ESCs, so I was surprised when I tested continuity between positive and negative battery leads (at the XT60 connector) and got a quick beep and a reading on the meter but no sustained beep. Stranger still, when I attach the red meter probe to the red positive lead and the black probe to the black lead the readout is 1430 and if I reverse (black to red/red to black) I get a readout of 465... what could that be? Is this indicating a short, and if so why wouldn't the meter maintain the steady beep to indicate continuity (as apposed the the brief chirp you mentioned could be a capacitor discharging). I haven't wired a capacitor myself, but I assume there could be one or more on the PDB and/or ESCs.
A short beep that ends quickly is almost always a capacitor. I don't know what else it might be, anyway.
hey joshua sometimes I tested continuity and beep one time fast and gone later but fast ,and then I doble check and dont beep ,do you now why is that , the quad flight great the vtx the cam all work fine .
hey Joshua I think you just answered my question
thaks
:)
its normal man, dont worry :)
I appreciate your videos on continuity and the smoke stopper especially since I smoked a 4in1 and a couple of motors. After confessing my sins, I have a question about about strange behavior when using a smoke stopper. Recently finished a quad based on the Emax Magnum. Given my past sins, I carefully checked for any continuity at
all assembly stages. No shorts were detected. After the wiring was complete, plugged in the smoke stopper and a battery. The bulb lit dimly for a second then went out. No magic smoke! Odd, so I connected the battery again, same behavior. Got out the multimeter and checked for continuity across the battery input on the 4in1. No beep but a very brief reading on the multimeter which rapidly went away. So the question is, do I have a short in the system? Have you encountered that kind of behavior in the past?
The bulb is lighting because the startup tones from the ESCs draw some current.
I have a smoke stopper with a 2a blade fuse and it pops randomly but it works and powers the quad with no magic smoke.
Why does the fuse blow when I connect the battery sometimes on the same quad which has zero continuity ???
Quad must pull more than 2 amps when starting up. Motor beeps are a possibility.
hey Josh how you doing today
keep up the good work Buddy you do a great job love all your videos
I've got a quick question about the Clearview is it worth it does it hunch through the trees good I watched a video on it but what's your honest opinion and can I run a circular polarized and a double pepperbox on it I just ordered one so I fly around a lot of bushy trees and moves a lot of signal so help I ordered the right product thank you very much again and have a great day
+Dennis Hoffer Clearview is great. Bit don't run mixed antennas on it like diversity. Rin Teo of the same antenna.
thank you sir always appreciate your knowledge so what antennas do you recommend I have a set of the TBS try amps will those work okay
TBS Triumph will work great. They are great antennas.
No one states the setting should be One OHM for general continuity tests this would be on a Analogue Meter disregarding any beep
Can you explain what the numbers mean? My multi meter doesn't have a beeper but sometimes shows high numbers when there is no visible short and im wondering if that is ok
+Matt the numbers are ohms. Low resistance would mean a short. High resistance would mean no short. A number that slowly gets larger without settling down probably means no continuity and the auto ranging function is trying to find the correct range.
How can we check inverter wiring with multimeter
Could I use a naze rev6 to stabilize a flying wing? Does betaflight support this.
+DrFuNK Betaflight has basic support for servos. You should be able to get it working.
I am getting some reading when checking the continuity in my quad, where the ESC is connected to the PCB board, ESC is also connected to the motor, Am I supposed to get some beep sound or reading?
Also when I am checking the continuity between the +ve and -ve battery lead connected to the PCB board is giving me some reading of 648 when connecting +ve wire of multimeter to +ve battery lead and when connecting -ve wire to +ve batter lead getting the reading of 479, is it good ?
There should not normally be continuity beep when testing between +ve and -ve on the quad. The exception is, if you have a large capacitor, you can get a very short beep that stops.
Yes that is what is happening, a short beep, thanks, but am I suppose to get any reading in continuity mode on multimeter, also when motor is not connected to the individual ESC which is getting hot, what could be the reason. I am simply connecting the ESC to the PCB board and then plug-in the battery and then can feel the ESC getting hotter with every seconds, Why SO? It is happening even if I change the ESC on that side. Quad is in X mode, 2nd wing, counter-clockwise. where is the actual problem.?
Josh, can you do a video on how to compile source code from betaflight to put on a flight controller ?
+bing quadby that's not something I would normally do. There is a site that makes nightly builds of Betaflight. If I wanted a pre release version that's what I'd use. I can't find the URL at the moment though.
ok josh :-(
Hi Josh, Please suggest what could be wrong with ESC getting hot when connecting to the PCB and no motor is connected, I couldn't figure out what is wrong and if I am changing the ESC that's too getting hot. It is only happening with 2nd motor on quad which is in X mode.
If the ESC is super hot when no motor is connected, then I think the ESC has a short in it. Desolder the ESC and measure for continuity between battery + and - pads. Then check the PDB for the same.
Joshua Bardwell there is no continuity between the + - battery pads but for all esc + - pads I am getting the beep sound as shown in one of your video. Also I am getting some readings as well in batter pads while checking continuity. Is it ok? This all problem was not there two weeks ago before the quad crashed after going out of range. I changed the motor too and esc as well.
I'm I right that you can use an multimeter to replace for a smoke-stopper? (With the continuity option)
A multimeter can detect a short, but it cannot protect against some scenarios. If you have a damaged ESC, the ESC can test fine right up until you throttle up, then the ESC smokes your motor. A multimeter won't prevent this, but a smoke stopper will. A smoke stopper will keep your props from spinning fast enough to hurt you. Let's say you are working on a quad with the battery plugged in and you accidentally poke something with your screwdriver and short circuit two leads? Smoke stopper will prevent damage.
I just made That test tonight on a fresh build. I have continuity between ground and on esc signal pad. Is that normal ? I just powered the fc with usb for now, and now i'm afraid to connect a 4S. What should i do /Check?
+BouT FPV continuity between signal and ground won't fry anything. Signal pins are designed to be connected to ground without damage. The effect will be that the ESC does not receive any signal, so it's still an issue that needs to be addressed.
thanks joshua , I solved it by resolder it before powering by lipo. But now the TC won't power on ... ( fresh build of impulseRC helix) . Thanks anyway :)
Very good info yet again. Can I just ask why you are swapping out the escs? I just bought my X1 and I have a slight vibration (visible very fast side to side movement) on throttle up, may post a video to you. I heard that the stock escs are the problem, I was thinking of swapping them out for littlebee 30amp blheli S. whaddya think?
+Legacy Of A Legend these are replacement ESC's put out by Holybro to address some issues with the originals. Your oscillation might be the same thing there describing. Check the Holybro site to get the ESC's they suggest.
Joshua Bardwell thank you so much for replying and saving me allot of trouble shooting. I suspected it was that. Keep up the good work mate.
Joshua Bardwell Hiya mate any chance of a link? I can't seem to find it anywhere
www.undergroundfpv.com/collections/shuriken-x1-spares/products/kamikaze-30a-blheli-esc?variant=33939519492
Joshua Bardwell thank you very much sir!!
Video was a good refresher.
I'd like to pass on some information about a manufacturer not responsibly owning up to a known issue.
lately Flysky had come out with the fs-a8s. If anyone has or is intends to purchase you need to check out the thread on RCGroups / FS-A8S Help. There is a known issue a group of us have been communicating with a representative from Flysky.
They admit that there is a known issue but not taking responsibility for it. We have damaged equipment and some of us have lost complete rigs. Before a serious accident occurs or someone gets injured please check the thread out and pass the word on. You will see the progression of the topic and how it escalates into thin air.
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2792377-FS-A8S-help
Joshua,I watch a lot of your videos,so I decided to reach out for some help. my Skektrum 3.3 receiver will not light up. My setup is the matek 405 with the ribbon to the F hub. Soldered black to gn, red to 3.3 and gray to rx 3. Everything else works vtx and the matek leds. Any ideas....thanks
Test voltage on 3.3v is it there? The FC cannot operate without the 3.3v regulator so if the FC powers up the 3.3v must be alive. If there is no voltage, try plugging in a battery.
Tested voltage,nothing,tried receiver with another board and it worked. Was going to try to check everything in Beta Flight, board got too hot to touch....looks likre its cooked. this is not my first build either. I guess stuff happens. Thanks for the help@@JoshuaBardwell
Hi Joshua, I could really use your help on the Shuriken. I accidentally ordered the Frsky version instead of the Flysky version to go with the FS-i6 Tx. I have an extra X6B Rx and wanted to know how to go about wiring it? I can't seem to find the SBUS pad on the mainboard. Also don't know how to wire the bind button on the rx to the mainboard. The Frsky has a single solder pad on each side of the bind button. The X6B has 2 solder pads on each side of the button. Hope you can help.
I don't own one, but I think this is the board pinout you're looking for. des.gearbest.com/uploads/pdm-desc-pic/Electronic/image/2016/11/24/1479946602181706.jpeg
Thanks. I did find that before but the pinouts that show the SBUS are currently being used for the 6pin JST SH plug on the Frsky rx. I was hoping to find a solder point for SBUS somewhere else on the board. I guess I could cut the plug off the frsky rx and use it but didn't want to waste a good rx. I just ordered a 6pin wired plug to use instead which will take weeks to arrive. And I'm still iffy on the bind button wiring.
Yep, thats exactly what you'll have to do. Get yourself something like this, and cut that sucker! You can always repair the cut end later. www.readytoflyquads.com/4-in-1-connection-s-h-cable-set
Yep. I ordered a set of premade ones..funny thing is I find it easier to solder than to fiddle with those tiny crimped connectors! lol
You could try wiring the iBus to the R2 pin just behind that connector, and changing serial RX to UART2 in betaflight.
Why does the Vbat and ground have continuity on my f7 flight controller?
If it's a short beep that goes away, it's the capacitor charging and you can ignore it.
@@JoshuaBardwell Im afraid not, I get the tone on the BATT and Bat+ pad and any ground. Is the FC garbage
Complete noob here. I went to test continuity before powering up my F3 V4 AIO and it's showing a short between + & -. I've not used the 470uF in this test so its a bare board. Do I have a dud board or is this normal? I've removed all connections from the board and It is still the same. I've a new Omnibus F3 pro doing the same. The Littlebee ESC's do the same. Both boards power up and can be seen in cleanflight/betaflight. I'm starting to question my sanity & don't want to go bang with my 1st build. I am however using a very old Metrotest MAO70 manual range Multimeter from the 1990's. (yes its getting replaced). thanks, #confused
+Nigel Wynne I think your multimeter is damaged.
Thanks for responding. I'm thinking that it's from an era when multimeters didn't need to be so accurate. I can only think it must not be recognising so small a resistance. Well it is from the neolithic era.
Hey so I have a troubleshooting problem with fpv system i was wondering if I see snow it's the fpv transmitter and if I see a black screen (and my lense cap is off) the camera is bad right ??
+Alex Dalton yes
Joshua Bardwell u da man josh lol thanks
Joshua Bardwell hey so I asked he question about the fpv trouble shooting so I was currently getting a black screen for my fpv feed so I bought a new fpv camera and I am still getting a black screen I checked and I'm still getting a black screen checked camera pdb spot still getting 16v what else could I be doing wrong ?
+Alex Dalton wire the camera directly to the vTX. Confirm that the vTX is transmitting using spectrum scanner like LaForge.
So just wire the camera directly into the video transmitter and is there a way to get around not having a Spectrum scanner??
Interesting. If I touch the leads on the cut edges of the carbon fiber I get continuity.
+Casey Wagner yes. That's normal.
What's ESC?
I have a problem with my multimeter... It's kinda funny that we have the same multimeter. But when I set it to continuity mode it doesn't beep when I touch the positive and negative leads together, it doesn't make a sound could there be something wrong and I have to replace it?
If it doesn't beep when you touch the probes together in continuity mode, then it's definitely not working right.
Should I call there customer support and see if they will send me a new one? I just got it like 3 days ago
+Cam's FPV just return it to wherever you bought it.
I bought it through Amazon so I should just return it and buy a new one then?
+Cam's FPV yes definitely
"Any multimeter without Fluke written on it is disgusting, please keep this unorthodox abomination deep in the trash bin." - Every member on electronics forums :D
Dang I paid 29.95