Technical HOW TO USE A MULTI METER/VOLT METER

First time in my 65 years I've ever seen coulomb in print. Off to find my dictionary. Bob

 

Damn Physicist trying to make stuff complicated. You also see Voltage listed as E in Ohm's Law formulas. E = Electromotive Force. The scientific definition of Voltage. The Coulomb is basically current flow over time. 1 amp of current passes a point in a circuit in 1 second is 1 Coulomb. Need that when the Physicist start to count the number electrons moving around.

 

Its all part of the deal of making it all totally impossible to understand. I'll die without any of my cars ever wired, and I'm totally at peace with that fact of life. Bob

 

Nah man, don't look at it like that. As was stated, they are making it unnecessarily complicated. You will never need to know the number of electrons moving past a given point.
12 volts DC, chassis ground is a fairly simple system. There are a few things to keep in mind. DON'T EVER wear jewelry when working with it (goes red hot instantly) but it can't "shock" you (with the exception of the coil), Current flows from Neg. (chassis) to Pos., Where it gets a little complicated is calculating loads and required wire gauge and that is done for you when you purchase an aftermarket wiring harness (or should be.) If not, shout out, HAMBers will set you straight. Check out some simple DC circuits online. It will take the mystery out of it for you. Schematics can be daunting but I assure you they are not as complicated as they appear. Kinda like plumbing. Pay day is Friday and s**t rolls downhill.

 

As you know,Bob, I wired my car....a first for me... even with the OT efi, and I have had zero electrical issues in about 3 or 4k miles now. So, I have to agree agree with slack....except til I got to the "current flows from Neg to pos". statement.... Huh? Would that depend on whether or not the car was positive or negative ground?
And, Bob, my question points out you can wire a car and still not know diddly.

 

Even so, DC current flows from Neg to Pos. forever and ever Amen. I get what your sayin though. There are also 6 volt systems, generators, relays, etc. As long as you know what your dealing with right out of the gate, there should be little if any issue. And congrats on wiring your own. I would venture to say that there are a very few who should NOT attempt it (and they walk among us)

 

What's all this talk about ?

 

You overlooked the ball of fire part. Bob

 

12 volts won't generate much in the way of a ball of fire. Even 'standard' voltages (under 600 volts) usually just give a quick BANG. For truly impressive balls of fire, you need to get into the kilovolt range...

 

Yeah, it's strange, but the actual electron movement is from negative to positive. But don't let that screw with you, you can still view current as moving from positive to negative and you'll be just fine. We're not really sure about it all anyway. Keep in mind that as the electrons move from atom to atom they leave a hole, or open space in the atom they are leaving. And as another electron moves to fill that opening, it too leaves a hole when it moves, and so on and so on. There are those who believe it is the movement of holes that gives electricity the force of energy it has. Whatever, it's all just theory, don't let it bother you. If thinking about DC electric current moving from positive to negative helps you understand a system, go ahead and go with that, just know that the actual electrons are moving from negative to positive.

 

It may be possible IF you produced an arc in the presence of gas fumes i.e. gasoline, propane, natural gas, acetylene or hydrogen gas produced by the battery itself. I did overlook that little tidbit (common sense has to come in to play somewhere down the line.) I have never produced a fireball and I have done a lot of arcing, some intentional some not. I did see my dad weld a screwdriver to a fuse box door once. Very exciting

 

Yep. That is what I was taught. Which is why in troubleshooting 1st check the fuse then check ALL grounds. DC grounds are the most important part of the circuit.

- to + is mostly accepted nowadays. I say it is about 80%/20%. The US Navy has always and still teaches + to -. The funny thing is that Scientists can not prove either in a physical experiment yet. It is up to you which theory you believe.

 

Wish I hadn't brought up up now. My aim was to simplify and knowing the direction of electron flow really isn't necessary. I have never heard of Pos.to Neg. flow and I went through the Navy's BEE course. Of course that was a long time ago when analog circuits were the order of the day and digital was being phased in . Yep, I'm old.

 

all of this information is very beneficial if one is willing to take the time to read it in a very thorough manner. but, the comment above by Texas57 supports what I did with my first time completely wiring a Hot Rod many years ago. just bought rolls of black (yes, used all black)wire, small universal fuse panel, etc - even figured out how to use toggle switches for the turn signals - car is still on the road today. best comment that I remember about my fine wiring job was from a non-car guy friend that asked me how I would track down a problem with no diagram and all black wires -hmmm, never thought of that -Ha!

 

You can have my share of the Kilo voltage. I've seen what that can do to a man. 277 VAC is as far as I go.

 

Forget it, thanks for all the above help I just treated myself to a sheetrock jack. I can see and understand sheetrock and will have a nicer looking garage with a ceiling this fall. Bob

 

I usually rent one but "to each his own." Rock on brother. Peace

 

You would have to see my garage to understand that renting a rock jack would cause me to go broke. There may be a clear 4x8 spot on the floor to install the first sheet, move crap under it install another and so on. Don't even bother asking about the lights. Bob

 

I just noticed this...........
" The US Navy has always and still teaches + to -. "
Really? Do you find yourself second guessing whether that is Shinola in your avatar or.................?

 

Digging up old posts to talk shit and try to feel like a big man. You got no life?

I went through Vo Tech school in the late 80's. We had an 8 year Ex-Navy submarine sonar guy on the GI bill who still had his Navy Sub books start the class. The teacher was retired AF. So a discussion was had. The introductory chapter in his Navy class books had this whole spiel how the US Navy has been using electricity and batteries starting in the 1870's AND how for over 100 YEARS the Navy taught and operated that electrons flowed from + to - AND how science cannot prove either by experiment.

 

Sheetrock job is moving along just fine, slow, but no problems. Bob

 

" The US Navy has always and still teaches + to -." Tell me again, who's talking trash? And Yeah, I spent hours perusing old posts looking for your mistake so I could belittle you.