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so i went and soldered up a pcb board with components and was wondering how do i check the connections for the components with a multimeter to confirm there like legit n place?
i decided to probe a devi built board and sometimes i get something and sometimes i dont im prob totally doing it wrong but yeah

noob question

The only way I can think of to verify that a solder joint is good is to use the "continuity" test function on a DMM. Most DMMs will have this capability. It's simply an audible beep if there is electrical continuity between two points. So you'd put one test lead on the solder joint in question, and then the other test lead on copper trace that it is connected to physically. If you get a beep, the joint is good. If not, reflow it.

If that doesn't make sense, I can do a photo example tonight.

culturejam wrote:The only way I can think of to verify that a solder joint is good is to use the "continuity" test function on a DMM. Most DMMs will have this capability. It's simply an audible beep if there is electrical continuity between two points. So you'd put one test lead on the solder joint in question, and then the other test lead on copper trace that it is connected to physically. If you get a beep, the joint is good. If not, reflow it.

If that doesn't make sense, I can do a photo example tonight.

or just use your DMM set to the lowest resistance setting. test two connected points like in the other example - if there is a small amount of resistance showing (usually <200 ohms) then the points are connected. if there is no resistance, there may be a bad solder.

smallsnd/bigsnd wrote:or just use your DMM set to the lowest resistance setting. test two connected points like in the other example - if there is a small amount of resistance showing (usually <200 ohms) then the points are connected. if there is no resistance, there may be a bad solder.

Ah yes! Great idea.

Hey, how would I do that on this PoS DMM? (I know, buy a decent one ... I will one of these days)
In fact, what's a decent DMM for this kind of stuff that doesn't cost $300?

On both of my DMMs, the diode test function is also the audible continuity test.

On the one you have, it's the diode symbol (just left of "hFE" on the dial).

Or, you could set it to the lowest resistance range (200 ohms) and test as SSBS described above.

culturejam wrote:The only way I can think of to verify that a solder joint is good is to use the "continuity" test function on a DMM. Most DMMs will have this capability. It's simply an audible beep if there is electrical continuity between two points. So you'd put one test lead on the solder joint in question, and then the other test lead on copper trace that it is connected to physically. If you get a beep, the joint is good. If not, reflow it.

If that doesn't make sense, I can do a photo example tonight.

thank you kind sirs it looks like its worked and im getting some beeps now
but in saying so a photo example would be great just incase

what about greeny pcbs non copper traced boards?

tuffteef wrote:what about greeny pcbs non copper traced boards?

I usually probe between individual components I know are supposed to be connected.

McSpunckle wrote:

tuffteef wrote:what about greeny pcbs non copper traced boards?

I usually probe between individual components I know are supposed to be connected.

If there is solder masking covering the traces, measure from the joint of one component to the adjacent joint of the next component that is connected to it.

culturejam wrote:

McSpunckle wrote:

tuffteef wrote:what about greeny pcbs non copper traced boards?

I usually probe between individual components I know are supposed to be connected.

If there is solder masking covering the traces, measure from the joint of one component to the adjacent joint of the next component that is connected to it.

oh god im gonna be here forever checking my klon build

devnulljp wrote:Hey, how would I do that on this PoS DMM? (I know, buy a decent one ... I will one of these days)
In fact, what's a decent DMM for this kind of stuff that doesn't cost $300?

That one is actually fairly decent. The one I bought a while back is really nice and I got it for $75 from R.Shack. You can even hook it up to your computer to view everything in diff formats. I ended up returning it though (because I found the same one on ebay for $45) & just haven't reordered. http://cgi.ebay.com/N-RADIO-SHACK-PC-IN ... 41520b34ca