How to check if there is a break in a wire using a multimeter

[@Zenmartian]

What if the wires ends are 40 feet apart ?

[@trevhib]

Extend each end using known good wire until you're able to bring to two ends to within touching distance of the meter. If you get a reading you know there is a complete circuit, if you don't you know there is a break in the wire. If you don't have free ends available to extend from you can add your extending wires using scotch locks.

[@SaumBodhi]

Ok then... Now, is there a way to find/estimate WHERE the break is?

[@cherokeethunder6000]

Eyes 》 Probably too late but this video helped me... kzbin.info/www/bejne/en_MY2usnbh5d6M

[@Avtomat_Killashnikov]

I think they sell a wire tracer tool that you hover above wire and it will pin point where the break is. I currently need one for my car because I know I have a break somewhere in my fat wiring loom and I dont want to take the whole thing apart.

[@maxenra]

@@cherokeethunder6000 I just clicked your link, thanks for posting it! Very helpful

[@projet2907]

@@maxenra Where is the link?

[@maxenra]

@@projet2907 Apologies, but I don't remember posting that comment and it seems the person I @'d removed their comment.

[@user-fs5lc2dl7t]

Tony...concise and to the point...exactly what I needed to learn. Thank you so much.

[@PressuredSpeechBand]

If you don't have a 1000' extension cord... With the power off you can separate both ends of the circuit. Put the wire you want to check and another one like a neutral under the same wire-nut. Then with the same 2 wires separated on the other end check for continuity. No continuity then one of those wires is bad. Could also use a megohmmeter on a single conductor. Also compare the voltages on each end of the circuit.

[@Eddybarrett84]

This is more of continuity test... what about when you CAN NOT TOUCH/REACH BOTH ENDS OF WIRE.

[@dvsandgo1]

Eddybarrett84 i was thinking same thing think about checking a 100ft wire lmfao

[@AtlanticTransportation]

Eddybarrett84 Touching the leads is. A bad reading Sir no bueno 👎

[@sadboycali]

@donkey ass reviews and do's i have an idea on how to fix that......I'm trying to check a wire from under the hood of my truck to under the dash. What I have planned is get a battery and hook it up under the dash end of the wire and ground the battery to the body of the truck. On the other end on the wire on the multimeter under the hood put the negative on the battery or body then use the positive to touch the other end of the cable and you should get a voltage? I'm not sure if this will work. I assume you can do the same by finding a way to ground each ends on the house.

[@danielwarren6845]

Use your head. It’s very simple. Measure voltage at one end. Measure voltage at other end. Same voltage = good wire. In fact this is a better test and is how it should be done. Continuity means fuck all.

[@justing42]

@@danielwarren6845 continuity =continuous....NOT OPEN = NOT broken

[@anpinfotainment7963]

Thank you, this is helpful. What's the easiest way to do this if the wire is already wired through the house and the opposite ends of the wire are a good 20m apart?

[@faewilder9133]

yes i need to figure this out too!

[@projet2907]

@@faewilder9133 Have you figured it out?

[@trevhib]

Extend each end using known good wire until you're able to bring to two ends to within touching distance of the meter. If you get a reading you know there is a complete circuit, if you don't you know there is a break in the wire. If you don't have free ends available to extend from you can add your extending wires using scotch locks.

[@alanimon1]

Its nice if the 2 ends of the wires ur testing is a foot apart but that would not be the case in the real world

[@timsmith7351]

It's more like 3 foot actually

[@privateinformation9384]

What you would have to do is cut a long piece of matching gauge wire, attach it (using a wire nut) to one end of the wire you want to test, take another long piece of wire and attach it to the other end of the wire you want to test, then use your multimeter to test the wire.

[@tyarriaga2135]

Right like let me get a 12 foot long connector for my multimeter so I can go from outlet to outlet

[@elizabethfletcher1487]

That is why god made extension cords...

[@dandan7973]

Lmfao sooo true

[@vivideffect8404]

What if the 2 ends are of the wire are 100ft away. From each other

[@DemonEmbarasser]

Literally this

[@francesco3207]

This video spared me hours in re-wiring speakers. I bought 2 new speakers for my patio behind the kitchen wall. But after removing old ones I noticed 10 years ago I noticed i used black wire. All black. No separate red or white. But with this technique I could identify one wire, mark it as white, and same with the other pair, and set up my speakers using existing wiring and not have to re-wire.

[@dillee9988]

My Fluke Multimeter gives different readings if i touch the wire, and if I touch the wire with my body, your body has continuity, o you can not hold the ends of the mutimeter wires with your fingers. It will give you a false reading.

[@athanielcollins2182]

How do you do this when one end of The wire is in one room of the house in the other end of the wire is across the entire house in the garage in the main panel.

[@bexnut]

Would this work with multistranded cable where some but not all of the cores are broken?

[@gillettecd]

That was my question. What if only say 2 strands are left in the wire?

[@hughtierneytierney3585]

Wonderful. Informative and to the point. Many thanks.

[@ee222]

ok, that was good if you have the whole wire sitting there in front of you, but what about the more common situation where the wire is already installed and your MM leads aren't long enough to reach both ends?

[@trevhib]

Extend each end using known good wire until you're able to bring to two ends to within touching distance of the meter. If you get a reading you know there is a complete circuit, if you don't you know there is a break in the wire. If you don't have free ends available to extend from you can add your extending wires using scotch locks.

[@ee222]

@@trevhib NO WAY!! you did NOT just "say" that?! your idea is SOOOO simple i should've been able to figure that one out. hey, thanks for helping me to realize that my IQ is a lot lower than i realized! 😁 seriously tho', thanks for the great idea!

[@trevhib]

@@ee222 You're most welcome bro. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the ones most difficult to spot.

[@pancakehiatt]

yes but how do I find out where the break is in the wire?

[@leadgenerationexperts3517]

BUY A NEW CABLE

[@nathanmciver6496]

Resistance! It won't be me!

[@danielwarren6845]

Continuity tests are useless. A loaded volt drop test is literally the exact same process just with the meter set to voltage readings and will tell you a hell of a lot more about the condition of the wire.

[@j.a.s.o.n.g.r.a.h.a.m]

Is it useless if your goal is to check for a break in a wire?

[@coryrolling6938]

Lets say the wire is starting to get corrided inside how would you know forsure just doing a resistance test? wouldn't you have to do a voltage test and see if it has a voltage drop? i think i have a bad ground or power supply going to the computer on my car but not sure best way to test the wires

[@naimmiftari959]

Helo faleminderit per ket film desha te ju pys kam problem me veturen time lupo dizell ndonjiher nuk ndizet kam problem ne ndizje

[@travislewandowski3963]

Couldn't you set your multimeter for continuity then use your test leads, one on each end of the wire, and listen for the beep?

[@Stef-an]

Thanks a lot for the video, but my wires turned out fine. Something else might be the problem :D

[@emilloffler1216]

An instrument cable of mine that was not working shows 00.8 measuring either end of the shielding wire using my multimeter set on ohms which could be fine. The positive (main) wire shows 2.5 ohms which seems rather weird and confusing. Normally a broken wire should show 0.L on my multimeter. could it be that my positive wire is broken, please?

[@joebloe1401]

Great job explaining this simple procedure!!

[@libertyfox7486]

Underground wire 2,000k Ohm 200 to 300, Now I got to find the break in huge yard

[@samnewman5129]

So would you test earth st both end and live at both end and nuetral the same ? I am trying to find why my lap flashing as bulb is good

[@veronikaquick6738]

Perfect straightforward explanation. Thank You.

[@animel8ve]

Thank you so much

[@ben8090]

Great video. Thanks. I need to check my jumps leads

[@vincentgabriel-nd6zc]

Simple and straight forward, information I needed to set up my speaker cables and check for continuity.

[@danielmalloy6093]

Tony, I have a multimeter with the pointed ends. Should I get the mm wires with alligator clips for short circuit checks?

[@GirlScoutC00kiez420]

Found a broken neutral wire in a cable, it worked barely but when I tried to hook something downstream it wouldn't power on all the way. Checked continuity using buzzbox on each wire until I isolated neutral. Yanked and fished a new wire and it worked fine, stumped a few people who used multi meters and the plug on receptacle testers. I was a noob but troubleshooting is where you show your knowledge.

[@GirlScoutC00kiez420]

Was only 12-2 wire.

[@ravenshadowz2343]

How do you test a break in an HDMI cable or power cable?

[@crafty-u5q]

Thanks!

[@TheCharliethomas]

Thanks, simple solution, excellent video

[@SunriseDestinations]

A user would want to test wiring inside a wall or ceiling...

[@haazimkhalid8087]

when I check the reading on my positive and negative on the multimeter it shows 0.8 ? not as low as yours...and when I use a good wire to check ,again it shows 0.8 ...is this okay ?

[@Engineer_Heathen]

0.8 is good

[@MarcoJetti]

Unfortunately I was looking for a video that could explain if it’s possible to see where the break is (when wires are hidden by multilayer protection)

[@marioagius217]

Same here, finding out if there is no continuity is easy, it’s finding where the break is is what I was wanting to learn too. Tony’s video was straight to the point and very easy to follow and thanks for that Tony….would be great if he can show how to find the break : )

[@Chris-wo6gc]

How am i gonna check the wires on my car if the wires is like 6 meters long bro...... Im so confused man

[@gillettecd]

Jumper wire

[@maniacalmonster2293]

and if my piece of wire reads 6.6 ????

[@robwhite6386]

Thank you Tony, very well and very simply explained.

[@hubertusruth1506]

Does this mean the cable is end to end grounded?

[@vtg100]

Yeh... WHERE in the wire is the break? How to find that, especially guitar cables etc..would be great. Thanks for the other part.

[@mileswatkins6472]

What is considered a high ohms reading ?

[@Jason_Canada]

Never taught this in skoolb

[@mzee5533]

With loadpro your life is easy

[@tomforrest7814]

life saver always stumped by continuity thanks for making this easy to follow video makes my college work much easier now lol

[@karibeauchamp4358]

Thank you so much!! This was the most easy to understand video I found on this process. Nice and to the point, safe, and clear. I think I can test properly now. THANK YOU AGAIN!!

[@vegasphil]

Perfect thanks

[@Goody2shzToo]

Thank you!

[@appalachiafishingclub]

Great demonstration!

[@mantasjaskevicius1385]

Thanks

[@nickayivor8432]

👍

[@javierferrer4634]

Very good!

[@tzourb9410]

Thank you

[@benpar8120]

BRILLIANT. Thanks for taking the time to make this 👍🏼

[@dragonballz2889]

But it doesn't tell me pin point accuracy as to where exactly is the break in the wire.....

[@alanirvine1094]

You have just made someone in Belfast very happy,,that's what I call a proper teacher ,,you realise that novices need a proper demonstration ,,thank you Subscribed and liked !!

[@patrickvanes4452]

Wrong measurement. First holding the probes with Both hands, wrong. Human body has resistance, and 2 resistances parallel is that the replacement resistance is lower than the smallest resistance, the cable in this case.. Second, if the wire is connected with only 1 strain, you will measure continuity... Measure with cable under power. Eg a 12v lamp ON so a current flows. Measure voltage over cable, and te voltage difference should be lower than 0.3 volts if higher there is a problem( 0.3v for powercables 0.1b for signalwires) The lamp Will not light up is the is a full break. The resistance of the wire wil be higher with only 1 strain connected so a bigger voltage difference U=IxR R gets higher, I stays same so U has to rise We call it a V4 measurement.

[@mysticwine]

Whats U, I, R?

[@tomo870]

Shit meter that lad.

[@1971dave]

Fuk in hell, did you record this on one of those toasters

[@maryjoanmontalvo9153]

Thanks!

[@irwinjudson4911]

There are three sockets at the bottom of the multimeter. You made no mention of how to choose which two sockets to plug in the red and black probes!

[@Dr.Peppermintz]

Super late comment, but maybe someone will see this and It'll help. The black probe goes into COM, for Common. It's often for the ground. The red probe goes between your "10A (DC) MAX" (typically top most socket), and the "(V(ohms)mA))" option. The difference, in my novice understanding, is that it depends on what kind of voltages you're working with. "10A (DC) MAX" is used for things above 10Amps, with no longer than a certain period of time. The secondary, is the most typical one that people will use as it handles most people's needs. Take my word with a grain of salt; I merely am still learning. I'm sure there's videos out there explaining much better than I will. Thanks.

[@philphilphil]

What if the wire is very long and physically at opposite ends?

[@deadlydelight5733]

Exactly I don't even know where my end is just the start

[@mileswatkins2162]

What if you can't trace where the other wire ends

[@gillettecd]

Find the wire diagram. Otherwise, look for the color of the wire. If the end you found is it and it has continuity, then you found it. Continuity doesn't mean the wire is good, tho. It just means at least one strand connects it. For example, if a wire is stretched and breaks 50% of the stands, continuity alone won't tell you there is a problem in that wire.

[@DemonEmbarasser]

My multimeter leads don't reach the ends of my wire what do I do

[@gillettecd]

Jumper wire.