- 1). Test each coil separately for opens (breaks) and shorts within the coil. Zero out your ohmmeter by holding the leads together with the left hand while turning the zero-adjust knob until the meter reads exactly zero. Then put one meter lead to each wire of the coil. If the meter reads infinity, there is an open in that coil. If the meter reads zero, there is a short in that coil. An open in a coil means that the coil is useless, and a short in the coil means it will explode when used. These tests must be performed on each coil.
- 2). Test each wire separately for a ground. Hold one meter lead to a wire and touch the other lead to each metal part of the transformer. Be sure that none of the wires is touching any metal part of the transformer. This must be done for each wire. If there is a ground, the transformer can damage other components when used.
- 3). Test each wire for shorts to other coils. Hold or clip both wires of a coil together and hold or clip one lead of the meter to both of those wires. Now touch the other lead of the meter to every other wire. Keep doing this for every other coil. Note that once a coil has been tested in this way, you can leave the wires clipped together because it does not need to be tested against any other coil. If there is a short between coils, it can cause a fire or damage any device it is in when powered up.
- 4). Test to see if there are any shorts within a coil by putting the transformer in a circuit and measuring the voltages across each coil. They should be in the ratio that is stamped on the transformer or printed in the technical literature. If the ratios are not correct, the transformer will not work correctly and may be dangerous to use.
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