Troubleshooting and Meter Skills

Problem

When I was running Ops, I was amazed at how many techs struggled to use a multimeter effectively. I can’t tell you how many times I had to jump in at the end of a job to help another tech diagnose wiring issues so we could get finaled out.

Service customers found it frustrating, too, for instance when the tech either couldn’t find the problem or incorrectly identified the problem.

Poor troubleshooting and meter skills consistently resulted in additional work, cost, and headaches.

Previous Solution and Results

Nearly 20 years ago, I built a troubleshooting board for a fire alarm troubleshooting and meter skills class. I still have access to that old board and used it to teach 12 techs in February, 2025.

Here's what the old board looked like.

Only 2 techs found the circuit fault I set up for them at the beginning of the class.

After the initial assessment, we jumped into training, which includes animations, interactive circuit demos, and more hands-on practice with the troubleshooting board. When working at the troubleshooting board, I use a GoPro to project the meter display onto the screen so the whole class can see what I am doing (or whoever is at the board).

The back of the board is set up to allow me to easily create circuit faults. I even had a Starbucks sleeve stapled to the back so I could put a cup of water there and create a ground fault through water.

This is one of my favorite classes because of the immediate results and how excited my students get when everything starts clicking.

By the end of the day, even sprinkler techs who had never used a meter were quickly finding circuit faults. Experienced techs who thought they were pretty good saw their resolution times fall to record lows.

I ended the training with a competition. Everyone succeeded in quickly finding the fault. The average completion time was just 37 seconds. The best three times were 20, 21 and 22 seconds.

New Solution

This is such an impactful class that I spent 3 months building a new version of the troubleshooting board. It has 80 devices across 4 circuits and can be used to teach both security and fire alarm technicians how to troubleshoot. I’m putting the final touches on it this week. Here’s how it looks so far (June 8, 2025).

I invented my own devices to go on the circuit. They represent fire alarm devices like strobes and security devices, like door strikes. They could even represent a dumb BAS device as long as it runs on straight DC power (not 4-20 mA, 0-10 VDC, or 24 VAC).

Each device employs lever-operated wire terminals. We’re not here to learn how to screw and unscrew wire terminals. The lever action makes it fast to remove and reinstall wires so students spend more time with a meter and less time tightening and loosening terminals.

The back of the board is set up so I can introduce shorts, opens, ground faults, and reverse polarity. This is similar to my original board from 2007, but with nearly 7x the devices and in a more compact form.

With this many devices and possible simultaneous fault conditions, I can create over 140 googol (14 x 10¹⁰⁰) fault configurations.

I also designed and built a board that I use for teaching how to read electrical diagrams and how to work with relays. You'll have to come to class to learn the secret hidden behind the labels at each switch.

Audience

This class is perfect for any fire alarm or security technician whose role requires using a multimeter. It’s also relevant to BAS techs, but as mentioned, I don’t cover 4-20 mA, 0-10 VDC, or 24 VAC troubleshooting.

Course Summary

Students will learn electrical foundations and basic meter skills. By the end of Day 1 (Foundations), students should be able to find an open or short circuit faster than most people you’ve ever seen. They should also have some proficiency at troubleshooting ground faults and reverse polarity.

Students who return for Day 2 (Full Course) will learn troubleshooting methods and more advanced faults, like intermittent faults and multiple simultaneous faults. They will also get a lot more in-depth instruction in  how to approach troubleshooting. And they will get to use the Relay Training Board to learn how to read basic one-line DC electrical diagrams to determine relay operation.