I just bought the multimeter "Multimeter Digital MAS830L" because I wanted to learn about electronics. INSTRUCTION MANUAL HERE.
Well, I've read the manual and it said clearly :
Alternative Voltage Measurement
Connect the red probe to VΩmA (200mA, 250V max FUSED)
Connect the black probe to COM (200mA, 250V max FUSED)
Setting on 600/200 V~
And then I just placed the red and the black probe in a European Power Point which has only two holes so it's pretty hard to miss something. And I'm pretty sure the polarity doesn't has to do with anything here because when you connect a device you can connect it both ways with the same result.
The first time (every device as much as I remember was off ?) and it measured Voltage correctly. Second Time, the plug sparkled but nothing serious happened. But the tv was on in that room.
So when I did it the third time still with the TV on but on the other room, I've had a sparkle from my multimeter and the Plug together. The electrical switch from the room I was in turned off because of the fusions but I don't specifically understand why it happened.
I mean if I can not measure the Alternative Voltage with a multimeter from a Power Point, why does a multimeter has these kind of settings on it if it can not handle it ? Did I do something wrong ? I followed the manual's guidance.
I disassembled the multimeter , I saw the fusion and it was alright. I've seen the wire safe and sound in the glass (WHY ?) I changed it just in case with a 10A fusion because that's what I had at the time (but I wouldn't plug it anywhere dangerous), but still the multimeter was giving false values for almost every setting if not all of them. I saw the board from the back and I saw a big black stain on the big wire circle where you adjust the settings with the plastic mode switcher. So that means that it will never work well I guess ? Because the copper on the board was damaged ?
If I did something wrong, aren't these things misleading for a newcomer ? Because I did what I was thinking was logical to do while following the manual's guidance. It didn't mention anything about Power Point plugs as much as I remember.
Thanks in advance.