In 4 days I have snapped 2 E Strings haha. Been doing a Setup on my Bass and struggling to tune my E string because I don’t know where E is on the Tuner. As in, if I am at a D or B, how do I know wether to tighten or loosen the string? A, D and G give me no problems so far, but the E is quickly becoming my Nemesis🤣
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String tension is the best indication. If you’re tuning up and it feels too taut, you might be on the way to snapping another string.
If unsure, always tune down a bit the strings before tuning.
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As @Krescht mentioned, the E an octave above the E you want , (E1 if I remember correctly ) gives a very high string tension so go down
Pluck the string, feel if the string feels sloppy and starts buzzing on your fretboard, then you are low and you can tune up
Dont worry , the first time I restrung my bass I broke the D string while tuning. Trying to tune the G string while turning the tuning peg on the D string does not help 
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I did this the other day at the start of my practice session. I’m turning the tuner and the G string is not changing. I look over, and my hand is on the D string tuner. Luckily I didn’t break a string.
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Are you using a plugin tuner or a headstock tuner? If it’s a headstock tuner, they are not that great with a bass, especially on the E string.
As others have said, the string should feel firm, but not tight. As an example, if I’m at the 12th fret, I can easily push the E string across to the A string with my thumb.
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Cheap little clip on Tuner. Better than nothing haha. Upgrading to something I can count on is later down the line. All in on my setup so far has only been a little over 300 bucks y’all.
I am married with children so, priorities haha.
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You must be really cranking on that thing, the E string isn’t exactly thin 
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It might be a good idea to wear protection goggles just in case 
, if you are unsure you’re doing it right.
There are different options of tuners, some are expensive, others not so much. The advices the others gave above very good, like checking the string tension. When in doubt, go in the opposite direction and loosen the string. If it feels as loose as spaghetti when it reaches E, then go the other way and tighten it.
With time your ears will be able to tell you when you are almost in tune.
You could go to a store and ask to test different tuners. I would trust more the ones that you plug the bass into. Also some headphone amps have inbuilt tuners (like my Boss Katana Go) and don’t cost much (but that’s subjective).
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I snapped my E string as a beginner, I was tuning an octave too high, and the string windings gave
If you want to go up, tighten, drop down to D, loosen. But you can go right past the octave you should be in to the next octave, and the string won’t take that. Like I said, I’ve done that.
Tighten the string until it’s taught, and tune to the first E on the tuner.
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i mean depending on how bad it is (and some are pretty good, i like my cheap-o polytune clip) you might be just as good/better off with a free tuner app on your phone. at least it costs nothing to find out.
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On every “cheap little clip on” tuner I’ve used, the “E” often reads as “B”. I don’t know why, and maybe it’s just the ones I got. But if you see it trying to tune “B” - unless the string is REALLY loose - try to tune to “B” and it might just switch to “E” at the last second.
Now I use a TC Electronics unitune clip-on, and it’s great. I’ve not had any problems with it.
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to piggy back on what @JustTim said - the cheapo tuners can have a hard time hearing those low low strings.
I always try to use the 12th fret harmonic when tuning with clip on tuners.
The higher octave tends to track much better.
To play a harmonic, barely touch the E string right above the 12th fret. Barely making contact with the finger, not pressing down on the string at all - just making contact with a teeny bit of pressure.
Then pluck the string.
You can then release the left hand for tuning (just like you played an open string) but now the string is resonating at 2:1, meaning you’re sending the tuner the next octave up of that E string which will, hopefully, help it track and help you save some strings.
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I’m quite confident in my ability to change strings and I wear safety glasses when I do it. I’ve been shown too many eye injuries from industrial safety trainings where things like a shard from cutting a wire getting in an eye turns into almost losing the eye to not take the extra ten seconds and put them on. They just sit in my bin with the new strings and the string winder/cutters etc.
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That’s a very good point.
I use the 12th fret harmonic and the open D for a quick drop D tuning and then to go back up I use the 7th A and 5th E harmonics. It literally takes seconds.
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If you use a DAW, I would advise to use MeldaProduction’s MTuner. It’s free, and it shows if you have E1 or E2. Also, it’s the best tuner in existence, in my opinion!
Is it though? Because you’ve broke two strings already.
A Snark clip on tuner is $15. An individual 100 weight D’Addario bass string is $8.50. So a decent tuner would have cost you less than the strings you broke.
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Download Ultimate Bass Tuner from Google Play (free), it tells the frequency the string is vibrating at, so you know which way to go.
B - 30Hz, E - 41Hz, A - 55Hz, D - 73Hz, G 98Hz, C - 130Hz
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So I have had similar trouble tuning the B on a 5 string and getting the tuner to ‘hear’ the note. What I do is tune on the 5th or 10th fret and match the next string or +one over. So if you have the A or D string tuned, tune the E string on the 5th or 10th fret to match and that will get you close. You should be within a halfstep and use the tuner/ear to dial it in.
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Finally got my replacement Strings today. DAddario XL regular light gauge. Going to look at a YouTube video and restring and retune my E string. Wish me luck🤣
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