I'm still learning about this stuff, so should I swap those out? Should they work since they aren't registering at .2 ohms?

What measurement are you actually getting? "0.491" on a 2kohm scale aka 2000ohms could be 491ohms. Can you try measuring with different scale settings, assuming that these are manually set?.

And who said anything was 0.2 ohms? That is an extremely low resistance, pretty much an impossible resistance to measure accurately with simple meter probes.

Note also that you cannot realistically "swap them out" until you know what they are. Removing one or both to measure out of circuit would be another matter, but if they are damaged the results may be inconclusive.

I'm also a bit sceptical about the chance of a resistor itself shorting down to less than 0.2ohm. It may be possible, but it is normally rare apart from with metal bodied types. More likely the short would be elsewhere.

I await developments with interest.

 

So, my original question was, "what is the resistor"? I'm pretty sure on the colors except for the silver/gray band (not sure what that is). I am mostly trying to verify that they are .2 ohms, if not, then what are they. Secondary, are they damaged and, if so, are they any good?

I tried measuring at 200 Ohms but got no response (1) so I switched it up to 2k (remember, new to this).

I am taking a stab at trying to figure out what component broke for this heating blanket controller.

 

Suddenly, a light dawns! If the resistors are anything like 0.2 ohms, the reading given by an ordinary ohm meter with simple test leads may be hard to distinguish from zero. When you see "no response", do you mean the same as the probes shorted together, or the same as the probes open (not touching anything)?

If you actually are getting a very low or nil reading, then the resistors may still be good (shorted resistors are not so common). An "open" reading suggests they may be blown.

Quite simply, the resistance of the probe contacts and the leads themselves can easily approach 0.2 ohms. There are ways of reading such resistances more accurately, particularly by passing current via two contacts and detecting the resulting voltage with separate contacts, but this may be a bit involved for you.

 

pand0ra...could you please change your wording of "no response" to something else?
The meter might show "OVLD" or "blank except a 1 in the last digit", or a row of 9's, or something else. It would also help to tell us the brand name of the meter and whether it's a $4 meter from Harbor Freight or a $300 meter from Fluke.

 

It's a $15 meter from "Sparkfun Electronics" (yeah, I know it's probably crap). When I say "no response" that means the meter doesn't change from 1. (it registers 1. when not touching either).

 

What happens if you DO touch the leads together: do you get zero, or at least a low number? If not, the meter may not be working.

Are you sure that it is on a resistance range? Also, if the probes plug can plug into more than one place on the meter, are they in the right place for resistance?

One way of checking the meter would be to get some known good resistors, and measure them. If the results are not fairly close to the nominal values of the resistors, allowing for tolerances, then the meter may not be working correctly.

 

When touching the probes together at 200 ohms the values jump around and settle on 1. when I don't move them.

 

Let's get this quite clear: does it read the same thing with the leads apart or touching, or does the "1" appear in a different position on the display? (Can you post photos?)

If there are two positions for the "1", which of them matches up with what you get when you try to measure the resistors?

 

Both are 10 ohm with above one is clearly with 5% tolerance since having golden band, while the lower having brown band for tolerance which may be an indication of very precision value. The wattage may be 1/2 watt if the left shown resistor is 1/4 watt by the relative comparison of their sizes as shown in the image. To be dead sure, remove one end and measure by digital ohm meter.

 

I cannot agree that this is as clear-cut as you suggest. The resistors appear quite discoloured, and any so any readings of their colour codes are at best guesses.

As for resistance measurements, first we need to be sure that the OP has a functioning meter.

 

It was a well calculated guess based upon visible colour bands of the resistors and the fact that 90% commercial built circuits use standard value resistors, which in this case may be 10 ohm. If OP has a bad ohm meter then its a dead lock situation or may be he would borrow some good meter, let him decide.

 

I would imagine that most of the people commenting on this thread will be well aware of preferred values. I don't deny that 10Ω is a very plausible value, given the appearance of the resistors and the fact that a low value could be consistent with overheating at relatively low applied voltages.

The problem is though that the colour bands may have changed because of overheating. The multiplier band in particular might originally have been black, but also perhaps brown, red, orange...?

Then again, the OP appears to get a null reading from the resistors, but it's not clear if this is short or open, or even if she can tell the difference from the meter display. Perhaps at this point it would be sensible to measure a resistor removed from the circuit, if a working resistance meter is available.

 

Both are 10 ohm with above one is clearly with 5% tolerance since having golden band, while the lower having brown band for tolerance which may be an indication of very precision value. The wattage may be 1/2 watt if the left shown resistor is 1/4 watt by the relative comparison of their sizes as shown in the image. To be dead sure, remove one end and measure by digital ohm meter.

I tend to agree, the middle color is off, but the first two are clear. I see <brown> <black> <?>

Note to the OP, instead of trying to write shorthand numbers, why not write the complete number you see on the DVM. I suggested you were off to begin with, which turned out to be correct, and the way you write those numbers still leaves me wondering what you are actually seeing.

One of the first classes I took in college was how to read instruments. It was pretty critical.

If the meter is showing 0.001, then write it all down. The vast majority of meters show at least 3½ digits, all of them, when reading. 3½ digits is 1999. A low ohmage value might be something like 0.123, along with the scale (which you have named off) adds up to something . With most meters, if you are on the the 2KΩ scale and read 0.123 you are reading 123Ω. It matters.