I have a multimeter (sperry 350-A) and I need to test my heating element !?

Question

I have no idea which setting to set the multi meter to? It has four different levels (one with a V and a line beside it with 3 dots under it - and A that is the same- then the ohm symbol and this V~ symbol ) and after I set it - there are four holes to plug into one a, the ohm symbol, the COM symbol, and the V symbol. I know that is a lot of crap but I am hoping someone that really knows about this stuff can give me some kind of idea as to what to set it on to test my dryer heating element! Please help!

There is one pink wire running to the top section-level of the heating element - but there is no wire running to the bottom at all- there is a place for a wire but nothing there -- I think that may be the problem all together - just don't know for sure

Answer 1

usew the green lable OHMS portion of the meater. ohms is the name of the man that invented a way to check resistance in a circuit a simple meter is called a poor mans meter using a flashlight or torch and somewhere between the batters hook up 2 ires to interrupt the circuit of the batterys with the light. fiz it so that you can touch the two wires together and make the light come on and BOOM you have a poormans meter. you may now be able to check any heatind elemnt to see if power is going through it and do it safely I might add.
now you meter may ahve an audible setting for ohms. hold the 2 lead ends together and turn the dial setting till you hear a beep. thats where you want to be when checking for continuity. UNPLUG THE APPLIANCE
take loose one end of the heater so that you wont get a back feed or FALSE reading then check the heater to see if you hear a beep on the meter if no beep between terminals going to heater then open circuit replace heater element. but what if it isnt the heat then what? well darling then you have to check each of the safetys on the unit . the safetys do 2 things. control the heat and stop the heat from getting too hot. if any of these disks are open then there is you problem. as with the heater element you must also take one wire loose from each safety when checking them
they look like about the size of a quarter and have 2 wires hooking to them and are near the heat area and have red wires on them. good luck

Answer 2

On your multimeter, the COM plugin is the common connection. That means that one lead goes in there and the other one plugs in to whatever hole corresponds to what you want to check. In your case, you'd need to plug the second lead into the hole where the littel Ohm symbol is located. Now unhook one wire from the element, after you've unplugged the dryer, and touch the tester leads, one each, to the posts from the element. If you get any reading, that means there is continuity through the element for electicity to flow. If there's no change in the screen, or the needle doesn't move, then it's probably dead, (the element), and will need to be replaced.