Continuity question

[SDP]

This is a wiring harness after the switch panel at the console on a 1993 Champion.
If I pull the harness apart, should I expect continuity from pin to pin?

[flabum1017]

If the switch for that particular circuit is on, yes.

[SDP]

Thanks for the reply.
I thought continuity was independent of current flow. I was expecting continuity from pin to pin regardless of an energized switch.

[rock]

That is not really checking much of anything. If you want to check continuity you need to go from one end of a wire to the other and not a break in between. What you are demonstrating is like cutting a wire in half and creating the continuity with your gauge.

Rock

[flabum1017]

If the circuit is complete (switch on) then there will be continuity. But if the circuit is broken (switch off) there will be no continuity.

[flabum1017]

That is not really checking much of anything. If you want to check continuity you need to go from one end of a wire to the other and not a break in between. What you are demonstrating is like cutting a wire in half and creating the continuity with your gauge.

Rock

I was answering his question as asked......
That said, what he is doing is quickly checking if there actually is a problem in the circuit. Once he knows there's a problem ,then he can go chase it.

[rock]

I guess I was thinking about continuity as an ohm test.

Is that boat by any chance blue and silver? One of my old Champions is up there somewhere and that is the type connectors it had. They come from Radio Shack which would not be my first choice but everything in the boat worked so I never changed anything except the motor, seat, and a coat of clear.

Rock

[Krazymaan]

To me, what your doing right there just requires a test light bulb. poke it in each end, hit the key or whatever switch and if the bulb goes on, the circuit is working. If not working, check for a bad ground.
Continuity only tests if a run of wire has a break in it. No break, you get a buzz and thats a good thing. If you get continuity with what your doing, you probably have an issue.

[idvette]

Are you checking to see if you have the right wire or are you checking circuit integrity? A continuity test won't really help if you're having circuit issues. The circuit needs to be loaded to be tested properly. A meter puts out very low voltage, low enough that it won't properly identify high resistance. You could have 1 strand left in that 20 (or so) strand wire and pass a continuity test, yet it fails when load tested. Put a light bulb in the circuit, turn it on (I'm assuning there's no other loads on the circuit) and measure the voltage across the bulb. It should be close to 0. If you measure voltage there's an issue somewhere, usually poor connectors or corrosion.

[gfinch]

Search, Volt Drop Testing a circuit. Heres one. A wire can have 20 strands broken and only one strand conducting, thus an ohm test would test great but.... I found/fixed many strange problems using this testing method.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aioZN33xsA