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Circuit breakers and fuses are safety devices that are usually found in your breaker panel box. You should know where the breaker box is and what each circuit breaker goes to. This will keep you...
Try to inspect electrical cords for damage in your home at least twice a year. There are many things that can damage cords. They can get twisted or bent or sucked into your vacuum cleaner...
Have you ever thought about experimenting with the type of light bulbs out there so you know which ones really do save you electricity and money? Incandescent or Compact Fluorescent (CFL) light...
Your home repair project involves installing a light fixture and an electrical outlet. You flipped the breakers and disconnected the existing fixture, but now you’re uncertain which wire is the...
You think your car battery might be low on juice and you'd like to use your multimeter to see if it is really low. Testing a car battery with a multimeter is easy if you know what settings to use...
If you are working on electronics you will need to know how to use a digital multimeter. The digital multimeter is one of the most useful tools for measuring, testing, and troubleshooting any...
The job of a resistor is to help control the amount of current in an electronic device, and its value is shown in colors. The numbered reading you get when using a multimeter can be converted to...
Major appliances in the home are built to meet the criteria of Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories. They are designed to prevent electrical shock when used as intended. All such appliances...
When diagnosing battery trouble, you must check the alternator to see if it is charging correctly. If the alternator is not working right, the battery slowly drains down. If your battery is...
If you want to know how to test a transformer then you have come to the right place.
A faulty power supply can cause a computer to function irregularly, or in some cases, not at all. Some of the potential problems that can result from a faulty power supply include the computer not...
Measuring the impedance, or resistance, of a speaker can be an important skill to have when wiring car audio systems. The resistance of a speaker potentially has a big effect on the performance of...
Using a multimeter is one of the most basic skills in electronics. Reading a multimeter is not hard but requires some basic electronics knowledge. Both digital and analog (measurements are...
The list of little things to do around the house can be endless! You can save one phone call to a repair service by trying a do-it-yourself project to repair a broken doorbell.
This is another good use for the solar panel used on the huge amounts of garden LED lights around, coupled to a portable radio that runs off 2 or 3 AA cells. Most of us have an old radio lying...
Checking the AC voltage is a simple process if you a multimeter, a device you'll find in most hardware stores. Here's how to use the device.
Use a multimeter to test a car battery fuse. Learn how to check if a car battery is working in this free video.
Circuit breakers are found in your home's electrical box. If the current flowing into the various lights and appliances in your home grows too strong, it can short out the wiring and cause a fire....
For many of us, our cell phones are an integral part of our daily lives. They are often our primary source of communication, and with music and video playing capabilities as well as Internet...
A common troubleshooting procedure to diagnose a problem with an electric circuit is to test continuity. A continuity test will tell you if a circuit is open or closed. An OPEN circuit cannot...
The morning after a great party in which you pumped up the jams all night is always sobering when you realize that you blew the fuse in your amplifier. If you don't know how to replace it with a...
A DC volt meter can help you diagnose a few possible problems with your car.
If you need to repair a home theater central channel speaker, there are some things that you can try to do on your own. For complex repairs, the speaker should definitely go to a repair...
A diode is a valve that makes electrical current flow in one direction. You can test if a diode is working with an multimeter. Here's how it's done.
Electric can openers are handy, versatile and easy to use. But they can break down. A lot of brands offer more features than just opening a can. Some are also knife sharpeners, while others offer...
If you have an appliance with a shaded-pole motor that is not functioning properly, the problem likely has a simple resolution. Your first step needs to be testing the shaded-pole motor to...
There is a way to test your curling iron's thermal cut-offs that can save you time and money. By following the steps below, you can test your curling iron's thermal cut-offs. Follow all safety...
If you know how to test curling iron heat elements, it can save you time and money. It is very quick and easy. Most heating elements are known to be open/enclosed coil or open ribbon. They are...
An amplifier is an electronic device used to magnify an input signal into a higher output. You can use an amplifier to drive two or more speakers. For this to be successful, the output of the...
A capacitor is an energy-storing device used in electronics. It stores energy as charge in plate conductors separated by a non-conductive dielectric. Whether it's charged or uncharged depends on...
Vegetable steamers are handy appliances to have in your kitchen and can save you lots of time preparing healthy dishes for your family. Like other electrical devices, however, their wiring can...
Rice cookers are handy appliances and can save you lots of time and effort in the kitchen. Like other electrical devices, however, their circuitry tends to wear down over the years, sometimes...
Your car's ability to function depends on the life of its battery. If the battery goes bad, the car may not start or it might work with reduced performance. Just because your car won't start...
Cross lines in electrical circuits can waste power and be dangerous. A cross line is simply a connection between two circuits that should otherwise be isolated. There are some safe and simple ways...
Resistors are by far the most common components in most electronic circuits. However, since they are produced very inexpensively and often have round bodies, their resistance value cannot be...
If you use your iPod a lot, you probably have to charge it frequently. While you can purchase a charge cord or hook your iPod up to your computer to charge, another option is to build your own...
With a little know-how regarding light and electricity, you can design and conduct your own solar power experiments. Your experiment can be as simple or as complex as you want, but you need two...
Hot plates are an economical alternative to a full stove top and are a handy option in rooms with limited space such as dorm rooms and class rooms. If the hot plate doesn't seem to be heating...
An electric steamer can be used to steam vegetables or cook rice to perfection. The food is healthy since it is not boiled or cooked in oil. Steamers are almost fool proof, but if problems occur,...
You start your car and notice an odd sound. Maybe even a lack of a sound. Your car is misfiring and one of the top culprits may be your fuel injectors. Instead of wasting money having the mechanic...
If you're interested in doing electrical work, the first thing you need (other than a solid understanding of what you're doing) is a good set of electrical tools. Your tool kit doesn't need to be...
They are everywhere: under the hood and around the vehicle; hiding behind seats, the steering wheel, around the engine compartment and junction block; even inside the trunk. Relays work as control...
Sometimes the keyboard won't work, and you don't want to pay the money to have it fixed. Here's a quick fix that might work for you. All it requires is some foil and tape.
Anything that produces 50 Volts or more can be considered high voltage. High frequency does not significantly change the type of safety procedures that need to be used, nor the risks involved. If...
A conveyor belt is nothing more than a large piece of material that is wrapped around a motor and a lot of moving rollers. Troubleshooting problems with a conveyor belt is a simple process...
The digital multimeter is a useful tool for testing electronic circuits for integrity, voltage output, resistance and other electronic attributes. Knowing the principles of how a digital...
An Electrician or Technician without a Multimeter is like someone walking in public, in the nude, at below freezing temperatures, extremely uncomfortable and out of place. So secure yourself, put...
A capacitor usually consists of two conductors placed close to each other. It stores electrical charge in units that are called a farad. Common capacitor values typically range from picofarads to...
Electronic schematics can look overwhelming, with webs of lines connecting various arcane symbols on a crowded sheet of paper. Fortunately, the individual symbols are pretty easy to decipher, and...
An electronic schematic is a chart that shows the structure of a circuit. Each symbol represents a component such as a capacitor, diode, or integrated circuit. Each line represents a connection...
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