I'm a newbie to electronics with an interest in paper batteries as a hobbyist. Does a multimeter act as a load when testing voltage ? Mine seem to self discharge in minutes. I'm using a good conductive ink and separator on a low voltage charge but getting poor results.

 

Yes a multimeter acts like a load. It is rated in ohms per volt.

 

Yes, a multimeter acts as a load when measuring voltage. The amount of load is highly dependent on the type of "meter." Older analog meters put a relatively large load compared to modern digital meters.

As for the rest of your question, can you post a drawing of what you are doing?

 

Sounds as though you're making a capacitor, not a superconductor?

 

Hello,

As @Alec_t said, it sound like you are making a capacitor.
A superconductor is a special kind of wire that looses resistance when made very cold.
Most times liquid helium is used to make the superconductor.
Liquid helium has a temperature of -269 °C or 4 °K.

I can change the title of the thread if wanted.

Bertus

 

Yes a multimeter acts like a load. It is rated in ohms per volt.

Analog multimeters are rated in ohms-per-volt (where the volts is the full-scale setting).
Digital multimeters usually have a fixed input impedance (typically 10megΩ on the DC scales) which is independent of the scale setting.

 

Analog multimeters are rated in ohms-per-volt (where the volts is the full-scale setting).

Ever hear of a VTVM? Or the later ones using transistors? These were analog but had a fixed, typically 10M resistance.

Bob

 

Ever hear of a VTVM?

Yup. Built an Eico VTVM when I was still In school.

I should have specified a non-electronic analog multimeter.