parasitic draw testing

The knob looks good but I can't see what it says under the cable on the left and not familiar with this type of cable jack configuration to plug into, but if you find a random AA battery and start testing various options, you'll figure it out. And some multitesters have a pot inside that allows you to fine tune its sensitivity.

 

Yes, in that configuration you will read 0.00 (Volts) because there is no potential difference between the negative pole and body ground. Even if there were, it probably would not read anything until you move the red lead to the V/Ω/Hz plug on the meter.

To read the current (Amps) you need to leave the leads plugged in as you have them below but you need to turn the dial to where the red arrow is pointing in the image below which is the 20 A DC position to start with. If the car is not misbehaving, and you see < 0.200 on the display you might need to switch to the 200 mA (or even 20 mA if you see < 0.020) position to get the granularity you need. Moving the dial to these positions will shift the decimal point to the right. 0.157 A becomes 157.0 mA or 0.016 A becomes 16.0 mA (in the 200 mA position) or 16.00 mA (in the 20 mA position) etc.



All the positions in the block that I outlined in red are for Amps DC, in sequence from left to right 2 mA, 20 mA, 200 mA, and 20 A. These are the MAXimum these positions will read. If in doubt start high and see what reading you get then if you see it is lower than the next max you can switch that. The block outlined in yellow is for AC Amps – only 2 options there 20 A and 20 mA.

You will see that the lead plugs are labeled to correlate to where your dial is pointing. The red lead can be inserted in any of the plugs that are not black. The first (is it yellow?) plug is unfused and is for the 20 A position. The next white plug is fused and can be used when measuring up to 200 mA (note the caution symbol!). The next plug is the common ground (or negative). The black lead is plugged in here for all A/V/Ω/Hz measurements. The last plug is where you plug in the red lead when you're measuring V/Ω/Hz. Again, note the caution MAXs for V.

That's a quick run-through, but probably left out some stuff, but others can fill in the gaps.

 

You need to clamp it securely and leave it in place. If you move the probe on and off the post you just break the circuit so no current is flowing.

1.00, 0.30, and 0.70 are 1 A, 300 mA, and 700 mA respectively.

You need to leave it connected, then observe for a period of time, maybe up to 30 minutes without disturbing anything. You might see various readings until the car is fully quiet.

 

No, it just matters that it is held firmly and not moved. You will need to use some kind of clamp or you'll get cramps in your fingers or you'll break the circuit which might upset things.

 

As long as you need to which would be 20-30 min at a minimum until the car is fully quiesced. You might notice it is highish for the first 10 mins then it drops and might be lower for 10-20 mins then drops again. Ideally, that last drop should be to 16-40 mA but mostly down the 16 mA end.

 

I'm not sure what the intermediary number(s) would be, but ultimately you would hope to see it down to the ~16-30 mA mark.

 

No. What would that accomplish?

 

Sounds like you need to up the quality of the videos you're watching.

In the context of monitoring a circuit's current draw, that makes no sense at all.

Are you sure he wasn't talking about the surface charge or something? In any case that has no relevance here.

 

If you go back and read those posts again, you should see that they get the ammeter set up in the circuit and switched on, do all those things, and then come to see what the meter is reading.