How do i test for Ma's ??? noob question

[wesdaman14]

ok well i found a multimeter its a Elenco . I need to know how do i find how many ma's is going to the diode.

 

[Razako]

ok well i found a multimeter its a Denco Digital. I need to know how do i find how many ma's is going to the diode.

1-Disconnect the diode from the driver.
2-Discharge any caps in the driver circuit.
3-connect the digital multimeter in series with the diode and the driver.
4-turn laser on and look at reading.
5-turn laser off and again discharge any caps in the driver before reconnecting the diode.

Checking the current going into the driver is a lot easier for obvious reasons.

 

[Things]

No point checking the current into the driver, since its the driver regulating it in the 1st place

 

[nikokapo]

maybe he just wants to know how to measure current


when you try to measure voltage what you do is place terminals in parallel with the component


BUT when you wanna measure current, you need to place the terminals in series with a component

 

[Razako]

No point checking the current into the driver, since its the driver regulating it in the 1st place

Well some is always wasted in the driver and you might want to find the current in/out of the driver when calculating battery lifetime.

 

[wesdaman14]

yeah i just want to be able to know how much power is getting to the diode, like how you say Ex: 250ma's how would i find that

 

[styropyro]

An easy way to measure current over and over is to just put a 1 ohm resistor in series with the LD. All you have to do is measure the voltage across the resistor where 1mV = 1 mA, that way you don't have to keep taking your circuit apart if you adjust the pot or swap resistors on your driver.

 

[wesdaman14]

what setting do i put my multimeter on
its an Elenco Multimeters
Model M-1000B

 

[JLSE]

For anything (expected) under 200ma, under DCA set to 200m. Anything greater than 200ma (expected), 1 click down to 10A.

**added**

You have to plug the + lead of the tester into either the 20m or 10A holes. If you test at 200m and what youre testing is above 200ma, you will blow the fuse or burn the meter. Make sure your MM has its test leads plugged in correctly.

 

[chido]

Set the knob to the 2000m setting, connect the diode to the driver (remember to short out the capacitor) get a 1 ohm resistor and place it between the positive wire coming from your driver and the positive pin of the diode. Then take your multimeter and place the + probe between the driver and resistor and the - probe between the resistor and the diode. Set the pot to its maximum resistance and power up your driver, slowly turn your pot down and you should see the reading on the multimeter start to go up. When it's set on the 2000mV setting it should display like this: 0.000 so if you get a reading like this: .250, the diode is being driven at 250mA.

Hope that helps.