I recently bought a cheap multimeter. I played around measuring stuff on simple circuits and I think I managed to damage it as I don't seem to be able to measure current anymore (always get zero amperes, although voltage, resistance, and the rest work just fine). I googled around and found out that it is not uncommon for beginners to blow their multimeter's fuse when trying to measure current the wrong way; I think I've fallen in this category.
Though I would like to confirm, so I took out the fuse from the multimeter. I'm not sure how a damaged fuse should look like, yet it doesn't look broken, it is nice and clear and a very fine wire is visible. It is around 2cm long and on it is written F200mAL250V which I guess means that it is a fast glass 200mA fuse rated for 250V.
Can I use my multimeter to find out if the fuse is broken? What metering mode should I use for this particular fuse and what should I look for?
Best Answer
Measure the resistance of the fuse. If it's very low (close to 0 ohms), it's still good. If it's very high (open circuit), it's blown.
A 200 mA fuse should have a very fine wire visible inside the glass. If it's completely clear, the wire is gone (blown).