Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

[Big Flannel]

My multimeter appears to be jacked up as when I try to check the impedance using a speaker cable I'm getting crazy, jumpy readings.

2 16ohm speakers, with 2 leads from each running to the inputs. (2 inputs so 1 lead from each speaker to each input).

What the hell am I running here and what's a surefire way to check?

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

^ I'm not following?????

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

You should be running each speaker separately, so 16 ohms.

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

^ I'm not following?????

That makes two of us. I'm not thinking clearly.

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

You should be running each speaker separately, so 16 ohms.

That's what I was thinking but when I checked it with the multimeter it was jumping from 8 to 42 down to 34.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

You should be testing it at the jack, not the cable. That could be why it's fluctuating so much.

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

You should be testing it at the jack, not the cable. That could be why it's fluctuating so much.

Good point.

Stand by, sir.

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

You should be testing it at the jack, not the cable. That could be why it's fluctuating so much.

That makes no difference, i check them @ the cable all the time...it's easier.

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

Its still wildly fluctuating.

Perhaps the battery is dying.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

Well then it's probably the meter. I can't imagine why even a ****ed up speaker would fluctuate in impedance like that.

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

Well then it's probably the meter. I can't imagine why even a ****ed up speaker would fluctuate in impedance like that.

Yeah, man. Its definitely effing with me.

I'm trying to rock but I also don't want to cause potential damage to my amp.

 

[BrianS.]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

Do you have a known good resistor laying around? If you do, measure it. If your meter reads it fine, than the problem is not the meter. You can also touch your meter leads together. You should get a nice zero ohm measurement, or whatever the resistance of the leads are, which should be very, very low (.1 or something)

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

Do you have a known good resistor laying around? If you do, measure it. If your meter reads it fine, than the problem is not the meter. You can also touch your meter leads together. You should get a nice zero ohm measurement, or whatever the resistance of the leads are, which should be very, very low (.1 or something)

If it reads fine with the above methods, then there is something amiss with the wiring of the cab, right?

 

[BrianS.]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

^Maybe. Could be you're not making a good connection with your meter; funky wire; funky speaker; funky jack; dirty jack; bad cable, who knows. Try the simplest stuff first. Do you know for sure if the speaker cable you are using is good? If the meter & cable check out good, then clean the jack. If that doesn't do the trick, you'll have to inspect the connections. If those check out, disconnect the wires coming off the speaker and measure the resistance of the speaker directly on it's connectors.

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

^Maybe. Could be you're not making a good connection with your meter; funky wire; funky speaker; funky jack; dirty jack; bad cable, who knows. Try the simplest stuff first. Do you know for sure if the speaker cable you are using is good? If the meter & cable check out good, then clean the jack. If that doesn't do the trick, you'll have to inspect the connections. If those check out, disconnect the wires coming off the speaker and measure the resistance of the speaker directly on it's connectors.

The cable is brand new and worked perfectly through another cab.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

Wild meter readings when set to ohms
Is there power on line?
Replace battery

A weak battery causes bad readings

Check voltage on line
Any voltage will skew readings

(That's what the battery is doing. Sending a voltage down line measuring the drop as resistance)

*(Sent from my durned phone!)*

 

[koshikas]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

i hope u are also aware that the rated impedance of speaker differs from its DCR value.

ex: G12 Vintage 30s with impedance 8ohms are 7.3ohms in DCR, 16ohm version is 12.9 DCR

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

i hope u are also aware that the rated impedance of speaker differs from its DCR value.

ex: G12 Vintage 30s with impedance 8ohms are 7.3ohms in DCR, 16ohm version is 12.9 DCR

Fully aware, but thanks.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

You should probably just give up and sell me that green thing.

 

[Big Flannel]

Re: Gimme a hand with impedance real quick.

You should probably just give up and sell me that green thing.

Nope. Its way too awesome to consider that at this point. I admire your persistence.