Ohmmeter setting for lame check

[AntonioDelMonte]

hey guys i have a question about testing a lame with a ohmmeter i have a digital one and a lame tester but what setting should the ohmmeter be set to
thanks

[LeonPaulUSA]

Resistance x 1

[Wetmelon]

What about just "Beep"? Or does the Lame have to have less than a certain Ohm value of resistance?

[Purple Fencer]

What about just "Beep"? Or does the Lame have to have less than a certain Ohm value of resistance?

5 ohms max from any point to any point.

[Wetmelon]

Quick! Throw in a 10k Ohm Resistor in parallel! xD

[Emfuser]

hey guys i have a question about testing a lame with a ohmmeter i have a digital one and a lame tester but what setting should the ohmmeter be set to
thanks

It is worth mentioning that an analog multimeter tends to be preferred to a digital multimeter when testing lames because they have instant, continuous response. You want to be able to see a needle move rather than follow a display which only displays a calculated readout as fast as its little processor and display can display them.

[Rock]

At an armorer's course a few years ago, Dan DeChaine pointed out that the majority of ohm meters in stores are not sensitive to single ohms.

I had been using just "continuity" testers until then. Afterward, I looked for a tester sensitive enough for lame's. I looked at many meters - both digital and analog. A 1 ohm sensitivity was hard to find, but when I did find it, it was CHEAP - $8 to $15. I found both analog and digital meters that were sensitive to fractions of single ohms.

Not being an electrician, I would have thought that more expensive meters would be more sensitive. Nope.

Sometimes you get what you paid for, and sometimes you get everything in the world except the specific thing you paid for.



I request that one of you actual armorers (- I know enough about it to generally just muddle through) explain what to look for in selecting a resistance (ohm) meter. Specifically, markings like "X1" and a "k" before the 'ohm' symbol.

Thanks. I know what to look for, but can't explain it well at 3 am.

[SJCFU#2]

I request that one of you actual armorers (- I know enough about it to generally just muddle through) explain what to look for in selecting a resistance (ohm) meter. Specifically, markings like "X1" and a "k" before the 'ohm' symbol.

Generally something that says "x1" is good and anything with a "K" or a zero after the "1" (i.e. "x10", "x100", etc) is bad (unless you are looking out for possible breakdowns of the insulation, which I suspect may be the case for most commercial electricians, since they're usually working with 120V AC and a short can result have tragic results).

[twisterfencing]

RX1, or 1

Gary Spruill

hey guys i have a question about testing a lame with a ohmmeter i have a digital one and a lame tester but what setting should the ohmmeter be set to
thanks

[Wetmelon]

P.s. The k means Kilo... or 1,000 Ohms... 1000 times too high for 1 ohm xD

[brtech]

Rx1, but that is not enough. You want to look at the scale and see where 1/2 the scale is (needle straight up). You would like it to be 5-10 ohms.

[Robert Smith]

I guess mine's just weird, then. It's a cheap electronic multimeter bought from Canadian Tire a decade ago. It has five settings, in powers of ten down from 2,000K to 200. Probe touching probe gives a reading on the 200 setting of 1.6. What I understand from this is that the 200 setting is for testing resistance under 200 ohms, and that it needs calibrating to zero.

But there's no provision for calibration, so I assume it's an offset and subtract 1.6 from whatever it tells me. Testing on conductive thread seems to indicate that that is a valid assumption.

So if there's no indication on the scale that it's a multiplier, maybe it's like mine and shows ranges. Or am I mistaken too?

[SJCFU#2]

But there's no provision for calibration, so I assume it's an offset and subtract 1.6 from whatever it tells me. Testing on conductive thread seems to indicate that that is a valid assumption.

So if there's no indication on the scale that it's a multiplier, maybe it's like mine and shows ranges. Or am I mistaken too?

Most inexpensive digital meters lack any provision for "zeroing", leaving you to to make the adjustment yourself.

[brtech]

Also note that there is a spec on the size of the probe used to contact the lame during the test, which must weigh 500 grams. Some weight sets include the right size probe on the 500 g weight. You can use your test probe leads for a quick test.