Neg Batt Terminal Spark

You guys may or may not have caught the idea that when checking draw (current) I ALWAYS RECOMMEND STARTING with a test lamp. I actually have 3. A stop/ tail light socket/ pigtail, a small incandescent test lamp "from the old days" and an LED tester

I always start out with a "big" wattage bulb---a stop lamp

!!!WHY!!! ???

WHY is this important?

It's because old school multimeter current/ amp scales were not well protected from damage, AND modern meters like Fluke us AND EXPENSIVE FUSE for protection. So every time you waste that big fuse, it is EXPENSIVE


Using first a large wattage lamp and next a smaller test lamp can, with practice, give you "some idea" of the draw you are dealing with. A stop lamp that lights to nearly full brilliance indicates a fairly large draw. You can experiment by putting the lamp in series and then energizing various loads such as dome lights, brake lights, etc to see

Bear in mind that current measurements are in SERIES and if you happen to have something turned on in the car that exceeds your ammeter capacity, it is going to peg/ damage/ flame out an old school none or poorly protected one, or it is going to waste the expensive fuse in your fancy new digi meter

If I had a buck for every Fluke meter fuse I've blown over the years.........I'd have about 10 bucks LOL