Measuring MC resistances: DON'T!!

I was aware of the admonition about measuring cartridge resistance and figured it would only apply to old analog ohm meters. Many times I've checked MM/MI circuit continuities with my Fluke 88? DVOM-no problem.
So when I needed to know the resistance of my MC med output Benz Glider in order to calculate resistor values to set the right gain in the Phonoclone I'm building, I did what any inquisitive kid would do-look in the product sheet: impedance, 22ohms. And being such a scientist, I went ahead and stuck my Fluke on it as well to see how close the two numbers would be. Suprise! "OL" on the meter! Toast-history-OMG, you total BOZZO! I always wondered how that "high impedance" meter could gague very low resistances so nicely and the answer is........................Da Da!!! CURRENT!
So I guess the answer is-don't mess with moving coil carts with an ohm meter. If you want to check continuity in a tonearm circuit, probably OK if you use a 1K resistor in series, but forget about measuring the resistance of the coils.
Signed, Pissed in NJ:nono::nono:

Ouch.

Digital and analog Ohmmeters use a voltage and measure the drop across the load to calculate nominal resistance. The digital ohmmeter I use at home is a very low voltage type. I also have an analog Fluke. It presents a much higher voltage on the leads, I'd be scared even to test a tweeter with it for the way it makes a woofer pop out! Could blow an MC easily, but you never know until it happens. Don't blame yourself.

That's good to know..thanks for posting this. Sorry for your loss.

I've measured MC resistances with an older Radio Shack DMM (Micronta) without issue. It uses 4 AA batteries.

I only became aware of this lately when AK member Grainger pointed it out.

Without thinking I would have done the same thing.

Some DMMs appparently start autoranging resistance measurement cycle at lowest resistance 'R'/highest current 'I' flow and ramp up 'R'/down 'I' from there.

Pio1980 said:

Some DMMs appparently start autoranging resistance measurement cycle at lowest resisrance 'R'/highest current 'I' flow and ramp up'R'/down'I' from there.

Click to expand...

That's what mine does... I tested it last night after my debacle.