MultiMeter question

[Tensop]

hey all, didnt know who to really ask about this one so i thought i'd post it here

im having probs with the alternator in my car atm, replaced the regulator etc.. the thing is, when i put my multimeter on the battery when its either off or running it will read the voltage as 14.4v(all good). But.. it starts to climb up slowly to 16v and so on, as soon as i remove the multimeter, wait 20 seconds and put it back on its back down to 14.4v, and will climb again as long as i have my multimeter on the battery.. any idea what is causing this?

[Netlist]

Are the batteries of the meter OK?

/Hugo

[mpmarino]

off or running it will read the voltage as 14.4v(all good)

You don't see it drop when the car is off? That's not good. You either have a bad meter or maybe you alternator is putting out too much voltage. I'm thinking maybe the battery is trying to keep the voltage from running off and is at 14.4 w/ no charger as a result of being under too high of a charge. you could Start the car and disconnect the battery(carefully!) Measure voltage of the alternator w/out battery hooked up. Should be maybe 13.8-14.4v. The battery alone should be less in a very short time from being under the charge.

...but I'd try another meter.