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When I try to measure the power consumption of various Wiimote accessories, the multimeter only says 0.0mA, so I wonder if I'm doing it wrong.

Here's how I measure:

How I measure

A more detailed explanation:

Like I said, I wanted to measure the power consumption of various Wiimote accessories, like Raphael of raphnet.net does here. He states he uses a modified Wiimote extension cable.

So, I modified an extension cable myself: cut it in half, with one side hooked up to the Wiimote, and the other to the accessory I want to measure, a Classic Controller for example.

The wires inside are connected to a breadboard. There I connect every wire together again except for the 3.3V ones, which I put a multimeter in between.

The colored lines in the illustration represents the wires. Red + yellow = 3.3V, black = GND, green = SDA, blue = SCL.

The multimeter (an inexpensive Uni-T 20B) manual says: "Break the current path to be tested. Connect the red test lead to the more positive side of the break and the black test lead to the more negative side of the break."

Isn't this what I've done? I've set the multimeter to DC current measure (in the range of 20mA).

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    \$\begingroup\$ When you do this measurement and read 0mA, does the acessory function? If not the fuse of the multimeter could be blown. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jakob Halskov
    Feb 28, 2020 at 10:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ Does the wiimote work after you connect the multimeter? Is the fuse in the multimeter blown? They usually blow when you accidentally connect the meter probes to a battery, when plugged in to the 200 mA current socket... Edit: Snap! \$\endgroup\$
    – tomnexus
    Feb 28, 2020 at 10:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ You are trying to measure current consumption not power consumption. \$\endgroup\$
    – Andy aka
    Feb 28, 2020 at 10:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ Checked the fuse and it was blown! Now I've got to find a working fuse before I can test again. But in your opinion, it should work once I've replaced the fuse? My way of measuring is correct? \$\endgroup\$
    – user2268171
    Feb 28, 2020 at 12:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ It was the fuse! Everything works now. Thanks for the quick answer! I wish I could accept your comment as the answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – user2268171
    Feb 28, 2020 at 17:30

1 Answer 1

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The answer was that the fuse was blown as suggested by Jakob Halskov and tomnexus. After replacing the fuse I can confirm that the measurement is working and really helpful!

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