you need one of these...

[koda2000]

RE: checking fuses. BUSS makes this cool little fuse tester. it has it's own battery and is adjustable to test any size MINI fuse. it has two little pins that fit into holes on the back of the fuse. if the fuse is good a greed LED on the tester glows. if the fuse is bad, no LED. the nice thing is you don't have to remove a fuse to test it and it has nothing to do with you electrical system. it just tests the fuse. i bought mine at AutoZone. it came with a small assortment of fuses and it cost about $6. I've found you can't always trust the owner's manual as to what runs off which fuse. with this tool you can test all of them in no time.

 

[waskly]

whats wrong with using a test light?

 

[koda2000]

whats wrong with using a test light?

if you're talking about a standard test light, that just tells you if there's power at the fuse, it's not telling you if the fuse is blow unless you have power at the fuse and you test both sides. i've found that not all fuses are necessarily hot just because you've turned the key on. you don't even need to have your trucks battery connected to use the BUSS tester. i have test lights and volt/ohm/continuity testers, i just think the BUSS tester is easier to use and small & cheap enough to one keep in each car.

 

[waskly]

if you're talking about a standard test light, that just tells you if there's power at the fuse, it's not telling you if the fuse is blow unless you have power at the fuse and you test both sides. i've found that not all fuses are necessarily hot just because you've turned the key on. you don't even need to have your trucks battery connected to use the BUSS tester. i have test lights and volt/ohm/continuity testers, i just think the BUSS tester is easier to use and small & cheap enough to one keep in each car.

again, this thing is worthless a test light is a better investment.

first off, you would always check both sides of the fuse. 2nd thing, you would check the system. having a test light is more important and less crap to use, you are not going to get 5 tools to check a cir. you will use what 1-2 tools.

if you really want a worth while tool you get a power probe, just be careful with it, you can alot of damage with it if you dont understand the system.

 

[Blee1099]

D.M.M. You can check continuity in the fuse and also check voltages. I feel every toolkit for a owner should include a multimeter. There are times when you may need to check the resistance in battery cables like on 1st gens, maybe continuity in a wire, or checking voltages with a no start issue.

 

[waskly]

D.M.M. You can check continuity in the fuse and also check voltages. I feel every toolkit for a owner should include a multimeter. There are times when you may need to check the resistance in battery cables like on 1st gens, maybe continuity in a wire, or checking voltages with a no start issue.

continuity just needs 1 stran to be good to show no resistance. horrible miss leading test.

 

[Blee1099]

continuity just needs 1 stran to be good to show no resistance. horrible miss leading test.

True but with the 1st gen cables issues, its usually a good way to test to see how many ohms are on the wiring..

 

[koda2000]

dudes, you're reading way too much into this. i'm talking about looking for a blown fuse, not checking voltage, resistance or wire continuity. as i said, i have a good multi-meter and a test light. i'd like to have a Power Probe, but so far i haven't justified the $150 cost of one (i won't use it enough and i doubt i'd get it out to check a fuse) maybe i'll ask for one for Christmas. as far as saying this thing requires too many steps, there's only one step (unless you include removing the fuse panel cover) that's the point, and i don't have too wait until i get home, or walk to my shop to get a more expensive tool to use it. i'm sorry if you can't see the simplicity in this. for the person who can't tell a fuse is blown, even when they're looking at it, this is a useful gadget to have.

 

[jad2411]

that one? I used to have one and I liked it and I do have a dmm and a test light...

 

[95xltthumper]

dudes, you're reading way too much into this. i'm talking about looking for a blown fuse... ...and i don't have too wait until i get home, or walk to my shop to get a more expensive tool to use it.

I carry flashlight in my truck so i can just look at the fuse and see if its blown, that's why they are transparent. regardless of how cheap this tool may be, it is unnecessary.

 

[SoNic67]

i carry flashlight in my truck so i can just look at the fuse and see if its blown, that's why they are transparent. Regardless of how cheap this tool may be, it is unnecessary.

+1

Plus if a fuse is blown, 99.99% of time the issue is is not "fixable" on road by replacing the fuse with another one. Fuses blow because something ELSE is wrong.

 

[deweyville65]

Koda2000, I agree with you. I have used one of these little testers before and it is very handy. I do not have one at the present, I just use my test light which I carry in my tackle box converted to a tool box. As some of these guys get older, and their sight isn't as good, maybe they will see what you are talking about. Age and experience will win over youth and exuberience.

 

[rookieshooter]

If I only had my Fluke Multimeter to see which one is bad.

 

[snoranger]

again, this thing is worthless.

if you really want a worth while tool you get a power probe, just be careful with it, you can alot of damage with it if you dont understand the system.

Did you ever use the Power Probe circuit tester? This thing saves a lot of time when searching for a short or open circuit.

 

[koda2000]

Koda2000, I agree with you. I have used one of these little testers before and it is very handy. I do not have one at the present, I just use my test light which I carry in my tackle box converted to a tool box. As some of these guys get older, and their sight isn't as good, maybe they will see what you are talking about. Age and experience will win over youth and exuberience.

jad2411 - yes that's it.

jeees, at least two people agreed with me. thanks jad2411 & deweyville65. my post seems to have generated so much controversy i'm sorry i made it. as i enter the "old fart" portion of my life, any gadget that makes my life a little easier is helpful. in the future i'll keep my discoveries to myself. as for the rest of you haters, keep using your 12 gage to kill flys... and just wait til your eyesight start to go.

 

[BradR]

I'm a "young gun" and I have one of the little cheap plastic things Koda is talking about.
I love it.

My fingers are to big to pull out each and every fuse to see if it's blown.

When you're working on someones car that isn't your own, it's so easy and quick to just skip down the line of fuses to find the bad one.

green light.. good
green light.. good
green light.. good
green light.. good
green light.. good
Oh! here's the little ####er.

Working at O'Reilly I have even used my own tool on customers cars.

And you should all know that even when you pull out a fuse it may not look blown at all, but it sure is blown.


+1 for this little tool from me.

 

[deweyville65]

Hey, Koda2000, dont keep everything to yourself. Even if some of these guys and gals dont agree with trying to learn about something new and useful, doesn't mean us older citizens don't appreciate learning. Hell, thats why I get on here, to learn.

 

[Blee1099]

Thats the one thing about the power probe I don't like is that there is a possibility of damaging a PCM or other vital components to a engine computer management system. There has been discussion of them damaging CAN vehicles that can be evident when you try to hook up a code scanner to the OBDII port.

 

[waskly]

Did you ever use the Power Probe circuit tester? This thing saves a lot of time when searching for a short or open circuit.

i love it, one of the best tools ever made used. its also the most sensitive tool to fry pcm's.

a guy who was clueless how car work, got one, every car he touched with it, it needed a pcm after he was done probing it.

 

[waskly]

jad2411 - yes that's it.

jeees, at least two people agreed with me. thanks jad2411 & deweyville65. my post seems to have generated so much controversy i'm sorry i made it. as i enter the "old fart" portion of my life, any gadget that makes my life a little easier is helpful. in the future i'll keep my discoveries to myself. as for the rest of you haters, keep using your 12 gage to kill flys... and just wait til your eyesight start to go.

i didn't mean to make a big issues out of this. i'm sorry, but my old timer ass, knows one thing, it is never the fuse, less its for the cig lighter.

some thing causes a fuse to blow. great you found a tool that shows a fuse is open or not, unfortunately, my old timer ass, unless its the cig lighter knows its never a fuse that cause it to open, hence why a power probe / test light + dvom is still a better system for checking what is wrong.

i could be old, but with age comes laziness, i dont want to use 50 tools to check a circuit.

now if i have caused you any pain i'm sorry, what i will say is, save the 6 - 10 bucks, and get a decent test light / a decent dvom or a power probe and use that to check. since a fuse only protects a circuit, if it does go open you have a bigger problem.