Metric Prefixes when measuring on a multi-meter

[walters]

When I'm measuring current,capacitance,inductance i get metric prefixes or power of tens the decimal points are different

The multi-meter will NOT do the conversion

so it will convert milliamps to microamps
examples:

if the multi-meter reads 0.15ma or to will read 150ua
the mean the same thing but when i read it they look way
different to me how does a electronic tech. know what he is
reading because these Metric Prefixes mess me up alot
because they mean the same thing but look way different when
reading them on the meter?


example#(2)

my multi-meter reads 4500uV or it will read 4.5mv


example#(3)

My multi-meter reads 5000 nanoamps or 5 microamps


example#(4)

My multi-meter reads 47,000pf or .047uf

example#(5)

My multi-meter reads .00022 microfarad or 220pf

example#(6)

My multi-meter reads 1800 kilo ohms or 1.8Meg


How do i practice these multi-meter metric prefixes they get me so confussed but they mean the same thing and electronic techs. that use multi-meters know how to do the conversions of this

 

[audioguru]

The prefixes are part of the number. Just learn them or get an autoranging multimeter.

 

[walters]

Even in autoranging on my multimeter it doesn't convert it will display
a prefix in micro or milli so it confusses me when im measuring
how do i get around this metric prefix problem?

 

[ljcox]

This is drivel, stop wasting our time

 

[evandude]

it really isn't that difficult to "convert" between the ranges, all you're doing is moving the decimal point around... the reason electronics techs can understand it so easily is experience, it's a very simple concept and after a small amount of practice you should have no trouble doing any of those conversions in your head without any effort at all.

 

[walters]

Yes it changes the decimal point around but when moving the decimal point around changes the meaning of the value or what you are measuring

Is there a Metric Prefix Chart that has the same valuses but in different powers of ten like pf,nano,micro,milli,kilo because when measuring current and capacitors the metric prefix valuse like pf,nano,micro,milli can get confussing because the measured value can be in any range

 

[evandude]

it doesn't change the meaning of anything.

1 uF is .000001F or .001mF 1000nF or 1000000pF, all of them represent exactly the same value... (10^-6 Farad) would you really want your meter to display everything without any power prefixes? a value of 1pF would read as .000000000001F... personally I think displaying it as 1pF is a lot easier to read...

considering all the ones you would really need to know for electronics are mega, kilo, milli, micro, nano, and pico, it REALLY isn't that hard to memorize 6 simple values and do the conversion in your head...
https://www.knowledgedoor.com/1/Unit_Conversion/Power_Prefixes.htm

 

[walters]

Thanks for the help

1 uF is .000001F or .001mF 1000nF or 1000000pF, all of them represent exactly the same value

If they represent the same value then what is different about it ? why would the multi meter display F or mf , nf, pf i can't select on the meter to just read only F or mf it choose on its own so i have no control of when it displays a measurement it will either choose random pf,nf,mf,F so .000001F or .001mF 1000nF or 1000000pF means the same but its so confussing to read .000001F because .001mf is better and easy

would you really want your meter to display everything without any power prefixes?

The multi meter it picks the prefixes random it doesn't stick to just one prefix it jumps from F,mf,nf,pf so it confusses me even tho its the same value i have to write the measurement down and then do the conversion
which i hate

Converting pf to F
Converting pf to mf
converting nf to F etc etc

 

[evandude]

The reason a meter picks a certain power is because it doesn't have unlimited digits with which to display it. typical multimeters are 4 or 5 digits, therefore it has to pick the appropriate power so that it can get the most significant digits on the display (instead of a ton of leading zeros)

One thing you have to be aware of as well, is that mF and nF are often not used when listing capacitor values, that's just a convention... people instead tend to keep all capacitor values in F, uF, or pF, which would explain some of the weird values displayed...

however I find it a little hard to believe that your meter would display .000001F instead of 1uF... if that's the case then your meter has WAY more digits than I've ever seen on a DMM before...

 

[walters]

So how should i do this then i measure write it down and then do the convesions on a cal. and paper then?

 

[Klaus]

You mis use the word "metric". Electrical units always had a base 10, never 12 or other figures, so using the word "metric" adds only confusion to your trifle gripe. As a tech you are supposed to know how to read a multi meter and be familiar with its ranges, from your examples it appears you are. So, what's the problem?
Klaus

When I'm measuring current,capacitance,inductance i get metric prefixes or power of tens the decimal points are different

The multi-meter will NOT do the conversion

so it will convert milliamps to microamps
examples:

if the multi-meter reads 0.15ma or to will read 150ua
the mean the same thing but when i read it they look way
different to me how does a electronic tech. know what he is
reading because these Metric Prefixes mess me up alot
because they mean the same thing but look way different when
reading them on the meter?


example#(2)

my multi-meter reads 4500uV or it will read 4.5mv


example#(3)

My multi-meter reads 5000 nanoamps or 5 microamps


example#(4)

My multi-meter reads 47,000pf or .047uf

example#(5)

My multi-meter reads .00022 microfarad or 220pf

example#(6)

My multi-meter reads 1800 kilo ohms or 1.8Meg


How do i practice these multi-meter metric prefixes they get me so confussed but they mean the same thing and electronic techs. that use multi-meters know how to do the conversions of this

 

[walters]

I have a problem with the ranges its really hard for me to figure the ranges out i have to write down the measured value and then use a cal. to convert the ranges to other prefixes so im having a multi meter range problem. On multi-meters the range is random powers which i hate how do i fix this ?

 

[bryan1]

Sheesh Walters If I asked my 11 year old son how to move a decimal point to show a different range value he would look at me straight and ask why Dad don't you know. They teach this to kid's in primary school so if your a so-called tech what packet of corn flakes did you get your trade papers from!!!

 

[evandude]

Sheesh Walters If I asked my 11 year old son how to move a decimal point to show a different range value he would look at me straight and ask why Dad don't you know. They teach this to kid's in primary school so if your a so-called tech what packet of corn flakes did you get your trade papers from!!!

yes, really. there's no need to write anything on paper or use a calculator, all you are doing is moving the decimal point left or right by 3, 6, 9, or 12 places...

 

[walters]

all you are doing is moving the decimal point left or right by 3, 6, 9, or 12 places...

I think thats a good idea so when i measure a voltage,current,capacitance
all i have to do is move the decimal point to the left or righty by 3,6,9 places and add zeros

 

[_3iMaJ]

Just learn scientific notation. Its almost in every primary ed science book.