- 1
Set up your digital multimeter. Place the black probe plug into the COM port and the red probe plug into the V port (usually red). The probes can either be needle type or have alligator clips. - 2
Turn on your digital multimeter. If your meter has a dial, turn it from the off position to DC voltage position. The DC voltage position has the V with the straight and dashed line over the top. - 3
Place the black probe lead on the negative (-) side of the battery. Then place the red probe lead on the positive (+) side of the battery. On a typical alkaline battery such as a AA, AAA, C, or D battery the + side has the bump and the - side is flat. For a 9 volt battery the positive and negative connections are both on top, the + side is the smaller, more round connection. - 4). Read the voltage on your digital multimeter. This is the DC voltage output comiing from the battery. Some typicaly values for batteries are:
Alkaline
AA = 1.5V
AAA = 1.5V
C = 1.5V
D = 1.5 V
9V = 9V
New alkaline batteries will read slightly higher than these values. Any voltage over 1.5V or 9V is good. Rechargeable batteries are many times rated lower than 1.5 volts for AA, AAA, C , and D rechargeables. They often range from 1.25 to 1.4 volts. Read the jacket on the battery to see what the battery voltage is rated. Your digital multimeter will help you to read the battery voltages to test the batteries so you know what is good. As you can see your digital multimeter is also very helpful in testing and reading rechargeable batteries.
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