Thanx. That really clears a few things up. My new multimeter is pretty confusing at first glance and i was never shown how to use one properly in school :@

I just wondered where 8 came from. Im not sure about the total amount exactly yet but all that has to be arranged before designing the circuit anyway.

Yes, allowing a little extra is always a good idea. Im going to work it out asif all the solenoids are on at the same time. Realisticly i dont think that could ever happen but if a PIC chip goes wrong somewhere and turns them all on i dont want it to start smoking.

Just one more small question about the settings. When moving from 200ohms to 2K the decimal point moves. Is this just so the smaller numbers can be measured with greater precision?.

I have to remember that its measured in Kohms too. 1 = 1K and not 1ohm