How to Test an Electrical Circuit in an Appliance

The electrical system is often to blame when an appliance goes bad or starts to act in an unpredictable fashion. Check the electrical circuits of an appliance before trying to replace or repair it to save yourself both time and money. You need to know the resistance and the voltage of a circuit when testing it, and a multimeter gauges both of these at the same time. Testing an electrical circuit in an appliance therefore just requires proper usage of the multimeter.

Multimeter
Alligator clips

Instructions

- 1
  Set the function setting on the multimeter to "ohms" to measure the resistance of the appliance. It's a selector switch or button on the device.
- 2
  Select "auto-ranging" on the scale setting on the multimeter. This helps prevent the multimeter from overloading.
- 3
  Attach alligator clips to the two test probes of the multimeter and then plug the other end of the clips onto both prongs of the appliance's power cord.
- 4
  Turn on the multimeter. The multimeter completes a circuit between it, the testing probes and the appliance circuit. Check your appliance manual to see what a good reading should be for that specific appliance. A reading of zero indicates a bad circuit. If the reading is other than zero, turn the multimeter off, switch the setting to "voltage" and turn it back on to see the volts of the circuit.

How to Test a Four-Terminal Thermostat

How to Install GU10 Lightbulb Bases

Electrical Repairs