I was hoping that somebody could shed some light to this phenomena that's been blowing my mind over the last 2-3 years... When I touch or grab the red and black ends, (pinching them using my thumbs and 1st fingers) the voltage measures off the charts. And I mean that literally, being that the multimeter eventually and quickly will just display "error" after a reading of, the lowest I've seen it starting at 650- 750V, and then quickly spikes up to somewhere between 1,400- 1,800V before hitting the short lived mark of somewhere over 2,000V before finally displaying the "error" message. My first thought was that it was a defective meter. But, when trying the same test to anyone else, (Fiance, Friends, Neighbors,...etc) the meter will register a normal voltage and actually pretty consistently shows around the same between everybody else that touches them. But, when I grab them immediately after them it will still keep showing those high readings I mentioned earlier. So, basically what im saying is that so far, it's only me that causes the "error" message after an extreme quick spike up! Is there anyone else out there that witnessed or encountered this bizarre phenomena? I'm quite concerned about it and I'm pretty sure that my physician thinks I'm either pulling her leg or mistaken somehow when I mentioned it. If anybody could fill me in on this, I'd very much appreciate an answer or explanation. At this point, I'm at a complete loss for words and ive yet to find a similar happening reported anywhere else on the internet....Someone, please tell me what the heck is going on with this?

 

Welcome to AAC!

I would not be surprised if there is a simple explanation.
Show us a photograph of the meter face, set to the measurement range you are using, and a typical “high” reading while you are pinching the probes.

 

Why would you think it is reading any real voltage when the result is “error”? The changing voltages are likely an artifact of its auto-range operation.

My guess is that your skin resistance is either unusually low or high compared to the others you tested.

 

Pinching both probes, one probe in each hand, my multimeter measures:
Less than 0.1VDC or about 0.4VAC. The meter did not show my heartbeats.

My 120V/60Hz electricity is about 1 meter away from me and high voltage power lines are about 3km away.
Maybe your clothing produces static electricity. Nearby fluorescent lights are turned on?

 

Impedance of your body wouldn’t allow such a potential difference. Your skin could be extra dry, with insulating qualities, and an external force at work, such as static. Is a prosthetic involved?

 

Wow, so you can draw an arc between your fingertips? That's awesome!!!!

 

most DMMs have 10MOhm impedance when measuring voltage.
but....not all... and you did not mention what is yours of how you use it.

you did not even mention type of voltage measured (AC/DC), is the DMM auto-ranging etc.
also you provided nothing to prove or disprove that mete works correctly.

some things that may take place:
cheap meter with non-standard specs
broken lead
you are using meter incorrectly and drawing wrong conclusions.
your meter is measuring AC and you are doing tests in different places or you are wearing something that produces interference
your meter is measuring DC and you are wearing synthetic clothing or dragging your feet as you walk across the floor.
you are a troll starting this topic just to cause debate you do not plan on participating in. DMM with 2000V range? they exist but they are not common

 

Surely, at those voltages you would have been shocked without seeing the results?

 

You are not measuring voltage, but more likely resistance. The initial "low" reading is due to charging the parasitic capacitances, but once that is done, the high DC resistance results in the meter exceeding the max resistance of the range it is set on and showing an overlimit indication.