T REFERENCE MANUAL Donner Code: RMAMFLELC-007 Tui ers 2 V2) | Foundation, | ELECTRICAL TRAINING - ~ wy) Ine, for MARINE ENGINEERS = pons "gu — VOLTMETER Voltage is the measurement of electrical “push” ready to motivate electrons to move through a conductor. In scientific terms, it is the specific energy per unit charge, mathematically defined as joules per coulomb. Itis analogous to pressure in a fluid system: the force that moves fluid through a pipe, and is measured in the unit of Volt {V). A voltmeter seen in panels is illustrated at Figure 35 Figure 35 Example of a Voltmeter Seen in Panels Your multimeter should come with some basic instructions. Read them well! If your multimeter is digital, it will require a small battery to operate. If it is analog, it does not need a battery to measure voltage. Some digital multimeters are auto ranging. An auto ranging meter has only a few selector switch (dial) positions. Manualranging meters have several different selector positions for each basic quantity: several for voltage, several for current, and several for resistance. Auto ranging is usually found on only the more expensive digital meters, and is ta manual ranging as an automatic transmission is to a manual transmission in a car. An auto ranging meter “shifts gears” automatically to find the best measurement range to display the particular quantity being measured. Refer to Figure 36. Figure 36 Voltmeters in a Multitester Connecting the voltmeter from your multimeter would be very easy. Set it at the right range (if not auto ranging) and type of voltage to be measured (AC or DC) before measuring, DC voltmeters would follow the proper polarity connection as shown in Figure 37 while AC voltmeters would not.