How to Use an Automotive Test Light - Quick and Easy
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- čas přidán 8. 07. 2024
- ** Timeline below if you would like to jump to a specific section **
A test light is a simple, quick tool to test for electrical issues in your car. They may look intimidating, but I promise you it's easy to use! In this video I show what a test light is, how a test light works, and what to look for before you purchase.
Timeline
0:00 - Intro
0:13 - Basic Construction of a Classic Test Light
0:30 - How to Use Classic Test Light
1:24 - Application (Testing Fuses)
1:51 - Modern Test Light vs. Classic Test Light
2:43 - How to Use Modern Test Light
3:00 - Things to Know Before You Buy / Different Types
5:48 - Thanks!
Tools Used
- Test Light - Auta a dopravní prostředky
I almost thought I was watching one of Chris Fix’s talking hand videos. Excellent job. That was explained as if you remembered what it was like when you didn’t know how to use a tester and what questions a newbie would have.
That is exactly what I was thinking!
I don't know what Joe looks like but if I saw his hand on the street, I'd easily recognize him.
😂🤣
You funny
Yes ok
@@dakotanicholson8421 no ok
LMFAOOOOO
We need more people like you on YT. this was very helpful brotha!
Helped me out big time, trying to get my trailer lights to work. Thank you
Thanks for the video, now I understand how test lights work :)
Beautifully explained! Thank you! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Thanks for advice !!! Workong on my fog lights and it helped ! Thank you
I got a test light with a built in voltmeter. Saved me so much time.
Thank you so much! Great video on the led type test lights. You provided exactly the information I needed.
🌊 Thanks again.
I have acquired one or two of these via tool kits over the years but never knew how to use them. thank you very much for helping me understand this tool a bit better 👍🏽
Sweet hand work!
Thank you, very informative.
Thank you very much for your video, Mr. JoeCanDolt.
You should do an “understanding electricity” video. The best way I ever heard of to depict how electricity works and how devices employed to control and refine electricity, was to think of electricity as water flowing through a pipe. You can use ball valves to act as switches and clear tubing to depict wires and colored water to depict electricity.
i favor this idea
Thank you. I needed this to help me with my headlights ❤❤❤
Many Thanks Joe
Thank you! This was very helpful!
nice lady
Thanks so much, very easily explained , so now I know how to use my new tester.
Great stuff! Thanks!
Excellent thanks
Excellent Video.
I just used it to hunt down a parasitic draw.
>Disconnected the negative lead from the battery.
>Had my kid brother hold the probe on the battery clamp with the clip on the post.
>Pulled and reset fuses until he yelled that it went dim.
Found it. The damn radio. It's an aftermarket part that one of the previous owners installed.
All the problems I've been having with my truck for the last two years were the result of someone "upgrading" things. Yes, it's a very nice tape deck, but it ain't worth s**t if I can't start it in the morning.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you for the info and vid , great and vast info I never knew.
Great teaching style
thanks Joe
Thanks man, I will I can't believe I'm saying this but I've been working on cars and trucks for 30 years n I just never really messed with the wiring if I did I just winged it. I mean I did a cv axle on a BMW yesterday but I never knew how to use one of these. So thanks.
Great info just want I needed to know. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
You are awesome, thanks. Subscribed
Thanks for the info!
NIce video. Thanks you.
Good video. Just subbed to help you grow bro. Keep up the great work
very good video
hey chris fix here!
Thank you
Thanks for the detailed explanation. Thought I was watching a ChrisFix video for a second 😆
nice job thanks
Thanks 😊
Salute to new technology
The video explains very well. The voltage test pen is still necessary. I bought a renhotecic brand test pen not long ago. The test is very convenient, accurate and safe. Family must.
Thanks
Yo!..Havent seen you since the Adams Family bro. . nonethless Good video man.
Thanks for the video. Even I understood it.... Great help !!!
Your last name fix? cuz I could have swore for a minute that I clicked on Chris fix video the way the video started. Lol thanks for your video
Thanks👋this👆video was 🤘awesome. It helped me 👉😐 out. Hope you have an 👌night. ✌️
good
To receive the best ground on a vehicle , clamp a small locking pliers ( ViseGrips ) onto a good ground then clamp the test light’s clip to it .
Or just clip the test lights clamp to the ground?
Thanku sir
❤ good
Cool hand puppet
It is good that connect the tester to the either side of battery terminal?
Thanks to Joe’s hand. 👍
Thanks! I enjoyed the video and appreciate the explanations of the different lights and features. Great information I do wish that you had included links to the different lights and particularly, the one you used. I really like the handle profile and other features.
i just bought that new ... hadn't even opened it ...watched your vid first and was surprised to see the red and green led's
Yeah I like that feature, super useful.
@Anti commie virus In canada, at
Canadian tire
A man with many handy gesture- isms.
Actually it's quite "shocking"..
If I have 2 wires with the same color how to know which one is positive and which one is negative and where to connect the ground if I connected the ground and it was negative would it be too negative together anything would happen?
Need to find out what’s going on w my RX 350. Radio switches channels on its own & rear hatch doesn’t always open back hatch from button on dash
What happens if you check fuses with the clamp on the position terminal instead of the negative?
What's up Joe!
Is the one that has a red clip the same as yours the same? Just diffrent color of clip? Thanks
Might be a dumb question but do you put the battery in the continuity that came in the pack???
Hi, feeling pretty incompetent here. I pass the test light works/doesn't work at the battery under the hood. But, if I go to the 7-pin trailer connector on the back, nothing works & I am powering on. I do have a trailer connector w/ integrated test lights. I plug in & power up it sure works. Help please!
I see now thanks
Excellent video. What happens if I connect the wire to battery ground and connect the test light to a ground wire? Or DC battery connect with DC wire?
Nothing.
Can you use these to test for Continuity, Or 2 ends of a wire that are not connected to power
My issue is that i disconnected the RCM module connector and removed all the terminals and there are multiple wires that have the exact same wire color code ID and I don't know where they lead to I have diagrams but I don't know how to test which one leads to which
PowerProbe is far superior and worth the purchase. But for test light, just make your own with 12v LED and voltage reading in series and diode.
Thank you for sharing. Excellent presentation of use and types. But, with a six foot lead, how is the Innova 3410 to reach from the battery to inside the car to test any fuses?
Thanks! For fuses all you need to do is connect to ground from inside the car. The other end will probe the fuses.
@@joecandoit5341 Thanks for replying. I see.
I just checked my whole fuse panel inside the car. Just hooked the clamp to the passenger seat mounting post (grounded metal), and used the probe just like in the video to check the fuses in the fuse panel. Worked great.
All you have to do is use the same size wire, the longer the better, strip back about one and half inches of plastic covering. And wrap one end around the clamp of the tester and the other end around the negative cable post on car battery.
Harbor freight has a nice set
Will a multimeter on a resistance setting do the same thing? Isn't this just showing a completed circuit?
How would I go about testing fuel injectors
I just bought a Craftsman test light that has both POS and NEG clips. I've only used one like yours. Do I use the black(neg) when I'm looking for power and the red when looking for ground? Or use both? Not sure and no directions.
Usually when it has two alligator clips for red and black, it means that you have to hook up to a source like a battery and connect red to red and black to black. Now when you probe a wire if it has a connection to ground it will light up or if it has a connection to power it will light up. It's supposed to be a convenience feature I think. The source should also be connected with a common ground so the best place to do your hookup is your car battery while it is connected to your car. Maybe can you post a link? Or a model number?
Will the led lights dim with a voltage drop?
I just bought a automotive tester(came with no manual) off Amazon.Mine has a red positive clamp as yours has a black negative clamp, any idea why they are different?
Question: the LED probe has the two colors to indicate polarity, so can you place the 'grounding clip' on either a (+) or (-) ? Is it like the classic probes where you need to switch to the positive battery terminal to probe for negatives?
yes, he shows it in the video.
2:45
Ok I bought this thing to test my motorcycle wire if I have the plug to the positive and the wire I test is negative what's gonna happen would it matter if the wire is positive or negative ...would it show a different color. Or something.
What happens if you connect pen to one device and the negative to battery 2 which dont run the device?
I just bought a Dorman probe with two connectors, one red and one black.
Can I connect both at the same time to corresponding colors on battery; or do I just use one connector at a time?
hey same here did you figure it out? seems like two clips are uncommon, not getting much help on a web search
When it comes to fuses, it should only tell you if a fuse is bad if the car is running. When it is off, some fuses dont always have power going to them.
Correct! Thanks for pointing this out. I do mention this in my how to check a fuse video. The circuit needs to be turned on in order to check, otherwise, pull it out and use an ohmmeter.
I have a test light with both positive and negative connectors. Do I have to connect both connectors to the battery or just one connector is sufficient?
You need to connect both for that style of test light.
How can you test fuel pump to see if you’re getting any power to it
Where should I buy new fuses?
Yeah I got a question
If you mess up and short-circuit your LED light how do you fix it
Because I'm too cheap to buy a new one yes
Where can buy with LED Bulb?
Let me know
Thanks
I am very ignorant and therefore scared of all electrical things. I saw a video where a guy was testing his starter plug by putting a regular wire in the clamp and putting the other end into the wire. He said to make sure the clamp doesn’t touch any metal or it will cause further electrical problems. Can you explain this better? Remember…completely ignorant here.
I was wondering why I had a green and a red light.
Wonder how much snap on costs?
I have a test light that has both a red clip AND and black clip two wires from the test light. What gives ?
I can do this with the car on aswell? Ive watched like 30 videos on this but im jusst a bit worried. im new to electrics
Me too I just wanna know what happens if I put the plug on the negative and then I test negative looking for a positive will it mess up anything.. if I connect the pointer to the wrong wire.?
Is car on or off when doing the testing?
Not a fan of switching the alligator clip, just get the Harbor Freight Light, the one with 2 alligator clips. Tells you if what you are testing is ground (green light) or hot (red light). Similar to 2:46 but notice how he has to switch the clip.
www.harborfreight.com/computer-safe-automotive-logic-probe-63597.html
If my "test light" has a voltage printed on it and I got it at a Harbor Freight not an auto parts place then how do I know which voltage to use, or am I using the wrong kind of test light?
Should say 12 volt.
My problem is I’m looking at how to use a circuit tester that has TWO clamps (one red and the other black). I understand how to use it with a battery but what if I can’t reach the battery, can I just use the black clamp and attach it to a piece of metal as a ground without having to connect the red clamp?
Yeah it'll work, if your testing for positive polarity. My question is how do you test for negative polarity without reaching the battery
You must be a relative of crisfix cause the similarity in presentation is incredible ... anyway great vid
I think he was chrisfix. Lol What a copycat if not.
What if spark when touching fuses?and blow a fuse?
What do you mean?
I'm a Subaru owner too, and am wondering, why fuse 27 is not there. When you look at the car's manual it describes fuse 27 as a main window power relay, however when I check the fuse box, the fuse number 27 is gone. Any thoughts on that?
None that I can think of.....
Just replace the fuse. You can buy them at any auto business, like Auto Zone or Walmart car service area.
Same process for the interior? My windows aren’t working and trying to figure out what’s wrong.
Yes should be. Just ground the test light on the chassis somewhere inside that has bare metal. Check by the pedals.
Does anyone know if the inside fuses should light up test light when done this way ? They don't and pretty much checked them all . The fuses under the steering wheel inside cabin and yes , I've tested it to make sure it works including checking the fuses under the hood in the engine compartment and they light up .
Yes they should if I am understanding your question correctly. I have an old video checking fuses but it long. Just skip through and I think you'll find your answer
@@joecandoit5341 ok just seems very strange because then all of the things that are protected by all these fuses shouldn't work at all ? But they do work so seems very strange
@@frankmontez6853 did you try testing it with that device powered. In other words, to test the radio fuse, make sure the radio is on.
@@joecandoit5341 Now I did and it's good not blown . The reason I'm checking fuses is because whenever I've taken car in to be scanned they get no reading whatsoever . Original problem is that car starts but sometimes has no power to rev up the engine stays low rpm . I've managed to overcome this problem by turning it off then waiting a minute then restarting it and that does the trick back to normal .
Frank Montez what kind of vehicle ?
and witch way is better to found a ''short'' in cable .. or someway .. i have one in my HD ,,
cheers ..
A multimeter is a better tool for finding a short.
@@joecandoit5341 you have video about .
tks
@@mcozpda3392 I do not but this guy is very good: czcams.com/video/bF3OyQ3HwfU/video.html
Like to have both pictures of me as a mechanic to work on newer modern cars and older modern cars