how do you measure pedal current draw with a multimeter?

[dubkitty]

i tried looking online but could only find general directions that don’t seem to apply to effects pedals. if someone could point me to directions i’d be grateful. i’m trying to make sure everything on the boards has sufficient current to work correctly, and rather a few of my boxes have no info available at all regarding mA.

[crochambeau]

You need to pass the power supply THROUGH the multimeter, while the multimeter is set to read current, and with the leads plugged into the appropriate sockets. Depending on which jack is "IN" and which jack is "OUT" on the multimeter, the measured current will register as either a positive current or negative current (that makes no difference for the application, it's the mA number you're after - or amps, if you're running a lot of digital stuff).

This will either require a special cable with barrel inlet, barrel outlet, and two banana type plugs interrupting the positive conductor of the power supply cable while the "ground" cable remains intact; OR a snipped cable with some bare ends and a couple of alligator cables, and the correct balancing act of keeping everything from shorting together or breaking apart.

I'm sure there's a product somewhere that makes this easy, but I've got enough cut wire that it's a breeze measuring stuff when I need to - so I've never looked for a handy dandy purpose built doodad.

[dub]

Truetone do a cable tester that can also read power draw

[dubkitty]

they certainly do, and it's less than $35. WOO HOO! THANKS A BILLION!

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... t-ma-meter