Easy way to tie into wires for voltage measurements :)

[crisspy]

I noticed that in MikeC's Vantec 420A PSU review he mentioned a tricky time tying into the fan leads. Well...

You can use a pin very effectively to poke through/into a wire, and hook your DMM clip leads onto it outside the wire. Needle nose pliers will push a sharp pin through most any isulation quite easily. For larger wires you can feed the pin in at an angle and run in/along with the conductors. For smaller wires i ususally just poke straight through and out the other side. I use this trick for automotive troubleshooting all the time. The teeny hole left in the insulation 'smears' shut with your fingernail afterwards. If you wanted to, you could even shorten a pin and resharpen it to make a shorter, less short circuit prone version. The slight resistance gained by mediocer contacts really doesn't make any difference at the few micro-amps the multimeter needs to read V or continuity.

When you're done, just poke the pins into your multimeter case for storage till next time, you'll want them handy.

[TerryW]

Crisspy & others:

I too have done this trick with pins & other small tips from DVM & 'scope leads. When measuring multple leads, I always stagger them, so they do not short out to one-another. Though I rarely leave the pin holes without some form of electrical tape.

TerryW