A typical voltmeter

You may find this shocking, but today we chose voltmeters! Okay, enough with the tacky pun’s. In all seriousness, a voltmeter is a handy tool that everybody should have in their tool box. 

The great thing about voltmeters is they are so incredibly versatile. This tool will help you diagnose problems on your car, house, electronics, or anything that has power running through it. 

Instead of tearing your hair out trying to find an electrical short, starting problem, or which fuse blew, grab a voltmeter to save yourself tons of frustration.

Voltmeter Usage:

• Checking the charge in batteries
• Checking the output of your alternator
• Using the Ohms feature to look for open and closed circuits
• The Ohms feature can also be used for testing resistance in sensors
• Finding broken wires with the Ohms setting

Those are just a few uses that you can use the voltmeter for in the automotive setting. You can apply lots of those to your home or any other electronics as well. The voltmeter really is a priceless tool that will save you tons of time and energy when diagnosing. 

What do you need to know when buying a voltmeter? Not too terribly much. Just like any other tool, there is some that are really cheap and really expensive. I personally have a basic Harbor Freight version that can be had for a few dollars and works perfectly. The more expensive versions will have more features as well that you can utilize. 

Using the Ohms setting to test a throttle position sensor