Quick Question About Multi-Meters

[BooneyLiving]

I turned on my digital multi-meter yesterday and it's reading 2 volts too high. I tested it by checking the voltage on fully charged 12v deep cycle batteries and it's reading around 14.6 volts.

They aren't connected to a charger so I'm not picking up charging voltage. I see the same thing on all of the batteries that I'm testing.

Any idea what might cause something like this?

[LetsReplicate]

I turned on my digital multi-meter yesterday and it's reading 2 volts too high. I tested it by checking the voltage on fully charged 12v deep cycle batteries and it's reading around 14.6 volts.

They aren't connected to a charger so I'm not picking up charging voltage. I see the same thing on all of the batteries that I'm testing.

Any idea what might cause something like this?

Hi,

There is a high likelihood that the fuse has burned out in the meter. That is the most common issue when it comes to reading incorrect voltages. Try testing current with a 1k resistor or larger in series, if it reads as 0A, the fuse is definitely blown.

There are 2 other situations that could cause a similar problem in rare cases. The first is accidentally modifying the internal calibration pots (if the meter has them); and the second is an internal component burning out/shorting. To check either of those you will have to open the meter up.

[citfta]

Low battery

Another cause of that problem can be a low battery in the meter. Some meters have a low battery indicator and others do not. I have had flaky readings caused by a low battery even when the low battery indicator hadn't come on yet.

Carroll