Voltage

Voltage is the electrical pressure in the circuit and is the most commonly used electrical test setting on the multimeter. Most digital multimeters have a number of different voltage scales. To determine what scale to use, always use the lowest scale on the multimeter that can be used to test the circuit. For example, if the multimeter has a 200 millivolt scale, a 20 volt scale and a 200 volt scale, and you are testing for battery voltage (approximately 12-14 volts), set the multimeter to the 20 volt scale. If you should select a scale that is too low, the meter indicates this by displaying a 1 or an OL on the display. This will not harm the multimeter, and you can always select a higher scale until a good reading is obtained. The same goes for selecting too high of a scale. If you select the 200 volt scale and you are testing for battery voltage (12.8 volts), most multimeters will display 12 volts. By selecting the next smallest scale, 20 volts, the multimeter's display will change to 12.8 volts.