Voltmeter on the fritz (1 Viewer)

[lowtops]

I have a Craftsmen digital voltmeter. I was testing the spark plug wires/coil on an old motorcycle I have and I think I screwed it up.
I connected the positive lead to the spark plug wire and grounded to the engine case. Hit the starter and the display went haywire and then blank. I checked and replaced the fuse, put in a new battery and still nothing.
I discussed this with my neighbor and he told me you cannot test "pulsing" power sources with a digital voltmeter, you have to use an analog.

Is this correct?
Is my voltmeter toast?

 

[CruisenSurfin]

Well, you probably overloaded the internal circuits of the voltmeter. Most voltmeters can't handle that high of a voltage that is being produced at the spark plug.

Jesse

 

[FJ40_owner]

x2

The high voltage may have fried the display or some such circuits.

Next time buy a Fluke. I overload them all the time and they keep working.

 

[Dirtsquirt]

Bummer

That is like 20k volts + no multimeter will stand up to that unless it has a high tension lead attachment. When i say no multimeter I mean common meter. like a Fluke 77 fluke 23 etc.
If you are lucky the fuse inside will blow on the fluke. I have seen it blown by peeps checking voltag with em set on ohms.

 

[fj40forlife]

I think its the fluke 87. Really fast reading. Thats what I use

 

[dfmorse]

Ah yes; 20k volts. Really wakes u up. Will also fry internal diodes and chips of voltmeters that are not eqpt with high voltage test leads.

U now have a gadget that can be used for target practice...

 

[lowtops]

Thanks guys, guess I'm in the market for a voltmeter.