HOW TO USE A MULTIMETER to make a LiPo adapter safely
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- Опубликовано: 12 апр 2017
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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 make an XT60 to bullet adapter, and I'll show you the safety checks that I perform to make sure the LiPo doesn't go boom when I plug it in the first time.
The multimeter that I use is: amzn.to/2o8LdTO
The clamp meter that I use is: amzn.to/2orO5wF
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I watch it even if I'm totally aware of how a multimeter works xD
Odus Thesar ageed, because it's J.B. and you will still learn something every time or at least get a refresher course. 🙃
I already know quite a lot about multimeters and oscilloscopes. I watched the whole video anyway. I guess I do like listening to you talk :)
And I did learn a little bit. I learned that connectors sometimes come from the factory backwards. Would never have thought to check that.
Awesome video brother. Thank you!
Thanks for all the good content!
Thank you for the lesson " Multimeter 101 " great as usual !!
All very good advice I have had a few close calls in my time!!!!!
Another beginner multimeter tip: How to check if battery is wired the wrong way at the factory? Set multimeter to DC voltage measuring mode, touch red probe to red/positive battery terminal (xt60 etc), black to black (careful not to touch the probes together while they're touching the battery terminals).
Multimeter will show you the battery voltage but if it also shows you a negative sign in front of the voltage reading that means the battery is wired incorrectly.
same tech.
hey Josh thanks for your videos very helpful for newbies like me to the quad scene. I ended buying parts for a smoke stopper but I'm making one w a circuit break rather than a light bulb.
That's okay, but I still like the bulb better. With the bulb, when you draw current, voltage drops on the far side, but as long as the current is small, everything keeps working. With a breaker, the minute you exceed the rating, it pops and the circuit is dead.
Hello JB, may I ask if this clamp meter can be use to check the polarity?
Hi, what is your favorite quad?
I build a smoke stopper to.
Bought atrailor rearlight unit EU type.
With R5W optional R5W 2 of them in series. Build in
And P21W Got 2 inputs and 2 out put to have serial and parrallel result.
Smoke stopper for 2 to 5S
Idea to build it out is using a
voltage display. also extend lead with a power switch.
A lipo alarm atached.
I watched just to hear you freakin talk lol!!!!!! Have a great day my friend!!
good video Joshua Bardwell.funny thing happened i lost and found my quadcopter i dropped it hard on pavement and the battery is a bit squashed deformed but still checks ok.i discharged it a bit on my cloned imax b6 charger and checked that it still ok.do you think i should use it or scrap it?
Scrap it. If it is squished and deformed, it is a big fire hazard. Do not charge it. Discharge it completely in a fire-safe location and dispose of it.
i figured as i was crossing my fingers that the man who picked it up and brought it inside a bakery overnight was lucky it did not go up in flames.people should be more careful.so much destruction from batteries everyday.a little 4s70c 850mah could have caused so much damage.common sense is not so common.i shall cut and save the wires and plugs.i hope that someone will understand the danger.thanks.
I color my xt60 plug red on the positive side i color on both male/female.I color my hubsan charge lead red on " up side" so i hazzlefre can plug it in the right way and so on.Measure too of.But i like it that way.
Hi just a line the continuity Buzz setting on most metres is approx 40-50 omes which is fine for +to+ AND -to- but not for +to- that neads to be the biggest resistances range on the meter as their is such a large current potential that eny reading between +and- could be catastrophic
Always enjoy listening to you and learning something about millimeters. Can a millimeter be used to measure volts and current of a plugin wall charger? I have tried and the numbers never match the output listed on charger.
Yes, it can do that. I have a video coming soon about that topic.
Joshua Bardwell Great, I can't wait!!!
what's the massive battery for, field charging?
+Kroma basically.
Hello Joshua, 1st of all, THANK YOU very much for al your work and dedication to the hbby and us. :-)
I whatched all your videos about multimiter, continuity andsmoke stoper.
I build a quad 3 days ago and when I plug the battert, the light of the smike stopper blinks with th two last bips of the motors.
Im using F4 Flame race Spec STM32F405, 4 in 1 ESC.
1 - With the miltimiter theres is no continuity.
2 - I show my problem on a electronic store.They cant explain why the light blink. They say it doesnt make any sence.
3 - I desolder everything and test with the smoke stopper all the connection while Im resoldering. I believe the problem is on the signal cables from de ESC. Whith the 1st two cables (it doesnt metter witch, I try all of them) the light of the sttop smoker doesnt blink, with 3 signal cables it blinks a bit and with the all four, it blinks with the last two bips of the motors.
I was using this ESC on other build and it was flying ok, no crashes.
If I my explanation isnt enought, I can send you a video with the problem.
I know you like a chellenge.... What do you say about this one?
Can you help? Please...
Thank you again for al your work.
Best regards
The light is blinking because the motors are pulling current. When current flows, the light blinks. It doesn't matter whether current is flowing because there is a short or whether it is flowing because the motors are spinning.
What you're seeing is normal.
Make sure the bulb you are using is about 25 watts. This will cause it to light up when more than about 2-3 amps flows. If you are using a much smaller bulb, it will light up under normal conditions.
Thank you very very much. Im using a 12v, 20W bulb.
So, if I understand, the quad is fine and I can plug in the pc... Is that right?
YOU're the BEST!!
Thank you again.
Regards from Portugal
Back again!
I tested.
1st I tested home no props. Motors were in the right order and direction.
I took outside, I plug the battery, everything ok, 2sec after arm with NO stick input the quad throttle up, yaw left max and flew away from the park to the street.
I took 3 sec to disarm. I broque the frame, 2 motors, FC, Vtx and the board of the runcam split.
:-'((((
Do you have any idea why that happened and how can I prevent happening again?
The adventure continues....
Thank you for all your help and dedication to us :-))
If you short something like a 5S or 6S 5000, the bits that touch tend to get vapourised instantly. Ask me how I know.
The worst-case scenario is the metal welds itself together and then you cannot un-plug the short.
how do you know? Sounds exciting.
That happened to me at work two weeks ago... welded it's self to a metal bucket and burned a massive hole through it.
Nice. Terrifying, yet so cool at the same time.
I've only accidentally touched bullet connectors together when putting 2x 6S packs in series. You get a white flash accompanied by a loud "crack", followed by me shouting and swearing.
"If that 5amp/hour 5S battery goes up...."
...you'll have more to worry about than missing eyebrows!
can't sleep til i hear your voice. haha
+DuBBs S hahaha. The videos post at 9 am in my time zone.
Belt and suspenders!
i dont have a beeper in my mm. can i inspect shorts by using resistance?
+MattyD_Gaming yes.
do you know how? on all my quads i always measure some resistance between the + and -, but never short anything when plugging in :p
+MattyD_Gaming resistance is what you want. Thst means no current will flow. If you had 0 ohms or very low ohms that would be bad.
Can you link the lamp and holder you use for smoke stopper?
The lamp is a basic 25-watt tail light. This one will do: amzn.to/2oDGehN
I don't use a holder. I just direct-soldered it.
Thanks Joshua, appreciated
I build it in socket of 3.
A 12V R5W restrict amp even more then P21W
A 24 R5W maybe 6S lipo could be used.
With that could use almost any lipo
Joshua Bardwell i
Hey Josh, I put one probe up my butt and the other on my tongue and it said I was drawing 60 amps. I checked the BB log and it seems my P value on roll was too high. What do you suggest?
Don't worry bro' I swapped the probes around and everything is working fine ;)
What clamp amp meter do you have?
amzn.to/2orO5wF
Joshua Bardwell Thanks. I've been looking for one of those.
Any idea why my motors want to catch on fire after 10 seconds of flying but don't even get warm if I run them from the betaflight motors tab?
Could be because your D term is too high, so when you fly, the PID loop is active but when you run the motors tab in Betaflight, it is just spending signal to motor, and the PID loop isn't active. Try lowering your D term.
D is 0 and i tried 5 and 10 as well. Flashed to the latest firmware and even down to 3.1.0. No luck :(
Because your D gains are too high. The PID loop is not active from the Motors tab so there is no D term to make them hot.
1. Figure out why your copter has excess vibration.
2. Reduce your D gains.
Some combination of the two.
Reflashed again to another random version and they quit doing that... damn firmware killing me lol
Ahh, are you still running Betaflight? You've got me scared now :O
Belt and suspenders? ha ha ha
who lets the smokes out