Re: Onto a new learning curve…CD ignition

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quote FrankR:

Unless somebody can explain to me why it isn’t.

No, that’s all correct.

quote :

BTW, a cheap analog multimeter would present a large escape path for those stored electrons. In other words, you have to have a suitable multimeter as generally used for electronics work.

The key concept is "Input impedance" (of the multimeter), and generally speaking, you want the highest possible impedance. Cheap analog meters tend to have lower input impedances – in the few thousands (5K – 20K) of ohms, though the higher-end analog products like the Simpson 260 have far better specs. Digital meters, on the other hand, tend to have much higher impedance – in the range of one million ohms (1M) on the low end, and 10M – 11M on the upper. Even the cheap digital meters have a far higher impedance than any** analog design.

In short, the higher the impedance, the less burden the meter places on the measured circuit. As impedance falls and burden increases, readings become more skewed.

(** We’re excluding VTVMs and FETvoms, etc.)