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Backlight Switch for a Better Multimeter [Hackaday]
Frustrated by his Aldi multimeter’s backlight turning off after just 15 seconds, [Steg Steg] took matters into his own hands. His solution? He added a manual toggle switch to control the backlight, allowing it to stay on as long as needed. He began by disassembling the multimeter—removing the outer bumper and a few screws—to access the backlight, labeled “BL.” He identified the voltage regulator outputting 2.8V, desoldered the red wire, and extended it to install the switch.
On his first try, he successfully drilled a spot for the SPST switch. To fit the switch into the multimeter’s rubber bumper, he used a circular punch, although his second hole wasn’t as clean as the first. Despite this minor setback, the modification worked perfectly, giving him complete control over his multimeter’s backlight without the original 15-second timeout.
This project follows a tradition of inventive multimeter hacks. Other enthusiasts have made similar upgrades. An older hack involves adding an external display to a multimeter. More recently, we wrote about upgrading your probes. Notably, adding Bluetooth for data communication showed how diverse and creative these modifications can be.