Can a multimeter fry a board if used incorrectly?

[2PacMan]

I'm getting a multimeter here soon and want to start testing voltages, current, etc. on my WORKING mrs pacman and pinball games in hopes of being able to fix and troubleshoot them someday if they break.

Is there any risk of frying the board, blowing capacitors/resisters/LEDs, etc..if i don't know what i'm doing?  Can i stick the multimeter probes anywhere on the whole game without worrying about damaging anything, or do i need to be cautious??  Like can i touch resisters and legs of mircochips together and stuff like that?  I'm reading a tutorial as we speak, but i just want to be safe and not wreck a working game if there's a chance i might.

[BobA]

Improper use of a multimeter can destroy your board.  If the probe tip shorts traces or pins on a chip then damage can occur.  If you have the meter on the wrong function eg current you can damage your board if you go to measure voltage.

Measuring voltage is safe as long as you are on a high enough scale or you have an auto ranging dvm.  Do not attempt to measure HV on a monitor without the HV probe on a dvm.  A single probe tip can get between pins or traces and cause damage if you are not careful even when measuring volts.

BobA

[2PacMan]

So basically i shouldn't just be touching probes all over the place if i don't know what i'm doing?

Can i freely touch power supplies, wires, control panels, transformers, LEDs, etc. with the probes and be OK?  Is it only the CPU board that i need to worry about damaging?

[BobA]

If you don't know what you are touching you should not just probe randomly.  In order to repair of troubleshoot something you need to at least know what you are looking for. 

It you just want to see if your PS is working you should look for voltages as close to the source as possible.  You should know what terminals or pins are at what voltage to see if it is working correctly. If you have a manual range setting and you hit too high a voltage you can damage your meter so don't probe blindly.

BobA

[mahuti]

Anybody know of a good link to tutorials for using multimeters... primers for electrical work, etc. I have used one from time to time, but I'm really clueless about them generally. I've had success using them from time to time on my electro-mechanical pinball, but only to varying degrees.

[Clonedsheep]

http://slot-tech-ftp.serveftp.com:8080/technical_department/  Cool site was posted in another thread last week.

[Tahnok]

If it's not broken, don't fix it. No really, I suggest leaving that working Ms. Pacman alone. There are much better ways to learn (like trying to repair a machine that is already broken).

[mahuti]

that link doesn't work.

[2PacMan]

Good point, i don't think i'll mess with the WORKING Mrs. Pac.

As crazy as this sounds, i'd really like to find a junk game for really cheap that i can just experiment with and see if i can get working, and get familiar with using the multimeter....thanks for the advice.

[quarterback]

that link doesn't work.

It should work (works for me).  Is it possible that port 8080 is being blocked on your end or something?

[mahuti]

Works now. didn't work yesterday. they must have just been down or experiencing issues.

[quarterback]

Works now. didn't work yesterday. they must have just been down or experiencing issues.

You know what's wierd, I remember first being directed to Randy Fromm's site when I first registered here at BYOAC and I couldn't get to the site either.  Other people could, but I couldn't...and then the next day, suddenly, I could.

I don't know if their DNS info doesn't propagate or what, but I'm pretty sure I had the same experience you were having.

Anywho, lots of good info there.