Common Mistakes In Electronics

Repair
Many of us had been interested in electronics repair from a very young
age, but to some, the interest could have started in our 40s or even
50s! No matter whats your age, electronics repair is fun and this
hobby can be turned into profits if you know what to do with your
knowledge !t is very e"citing when you discover that electronics repair
is the field that is really meant for you
#ay and night you search the web for more information about
electronics repair and hope to be able to understand and solve
electronics problems $ou are %ust simply e"cited and love electronics
repair &owever, for a beginner to become professional level, one needs
to avoid some mistakes that beginners always make 'elow are the (
most common mistakes a beginner should avoid
1) Not using Isolation transformers
)n isolation transformer is a linear transformer, often with
symmetrical windings, which is used to decouple two circuits )n
isolation transformer lets an )* signal or power be taken from one
device and fed into another device without electrically connecting the
two circuits !solation transformers block transmission of #* signals
from one circuit to another, allowing )* signals to pass !solation
transformers also block interference caused by ground loops
!n electronics troubleshooting, an isolation transformer has a ratio of
+,+ which is used as a safety precaution -to eliminate the shock ha.ard
for hot chassis device such as /M0/1 2hat means 340 4)* in and 340
4)* out $ou may also use the configuration such as two 3404,+34
transformers connected in the below manner,
3404,+34 -2+1 and +34 back to 3404-231
5ithout the isolation transformer, e"posed live metal in a device under
test is at a ha.ardous voltage level relative to grounded ob%ects such as
an oscilloscope ground lead 2hat means that if you connect the
oscilloscope ground to the primary side of the switch mode power
supply -/M0/1, it will cause the building to trip! 5ith the transformer,
as there is no conductive connection between transformer secondary
and earth -ground1, there is no danger of touching a live part of
the circuit while another part of the body is earthed -grounded1
!f you are new in this field, do yourself a favour and get an isolation
transformer 6emember, the power transformer must be rated to
handle the power of any e7uipment connected to it
2) Turning on the equipment and taking
measurements
!f you are very sure of what you are doing then you can proceed with
this kind of test !f you are new and without guidance, you may feel
uncomfortable or have no confidence to turn on the set and perform
the voltage or signal test using either your multimeter or oscilloscope
$ou could blow up the power ic and other components while checking
the supply voltage by shorting the 4** -#* supply pin1 with the
ad%acent pin
! had personally heard a %unior tech -many years ago when ! was
working1 shout, 8! want to 7uit this %ob9, simply because he had
accidentally blown up a monitor power section 2hat incident really
scared him due to the loud bang generated by his own carelessness
while performing a voltage measurement when the power was on :ind
someone that has this kind of e"perience to show you the right way of
doing it, otherwise you may create more problems than you want
3) Onl using one multimeter
!f you want to be a successful electronics troubleshooter, then dont
rely only on one single digital or analogue multimeter 2he more
meters you have, the faster you can detect a fault 2here is no way with
%ust one multimeter you can accurately test all the electronic
components found in a circuit board !t had already been proven that
different components need different types of meters to check
them :or electrolytic capacitors, you need an ;/6 meter to test it, for
a <*# 24=Monitor backlight you need a backlight tester to test it, etc
!f a component is bad and your multimeter says that it is good, then
you will never find out the culprit #ont waste your precious time
anymore and invest in 7uality meters to speed up your repair work
!) "ot #riting do#n our solution
5henever you have solved a problem, you need to write it down >ur
brains %ust cant remember every problem that we have solved /imply
by referring to our notes, with a snap of your fingers, you could solve a
complicated problem within minutes or even seconds! &ere is a tip for
you on how to write down those important notes
!f you have solved a 8no power9 symptom in a /M0/, dont %ust write,
8no power in model )+3?4 and the solution is to replace the power ic
and an electrolytic capacitor9 2his kind of note wont really help you
much when you refer back to it $ou need to write something like,
9:rom the @*?A43 power ic datasheet, pin ( should have about +3 to
+B 4#* but found only few volts 6eplacement of the ic did not cure the
problem and the supply voltage to the ic was still low /o ! began to
check the components related to the supply voltage line and found one
electrolytic capacitor -*3C4(uf 50 4#*1 had high ;/6 6eplacement of
the two components cured the fault9
Now dont stop there *ontinue with your notes by drawing a simple
power ic schematic and show where the bad capacitor was connected as
shown in the above photo
$) %oor soldering
!f you are weak in your soldering skills, then ! suggest that you put in
more time to practice it 2his is to avoid a solder bridge that could
cause more harm to the board ! have seen solder bridges a number of
times when customers told me that the set had been repaired by
someone before ! guess the repairer could have been %ust starting out,
because after removing the solder bridge and replacing a few
components, the set came back to life again
/imply practice on %unk circuit boards and make yourself good at
soldering so that you will not add more problems to the board you are
troubleshooting
&) Improperl installed components
Many times ! have seen circuit boards that have improperly installed
components 2he technician could actually have solve the problem, but
because of their own negligence, the e7uipment was unable to be
repaired $ou will understand what ! mean from the photos below,
$ou must be very careful when removing components, making sure
they are put back in the correct location after they had been checked
and found to be good 2here is a possibility a manufacturer could have
labelled a component wrong, however, this rarely happens /o, in
order to prevent this kind of mistake, before soldering out any
component, make sure you look at the markings on the board first
(1 "ot asking questions
)sking 7uestions is not a sin thus you should not keep them to
yourself 'eginners usually have a lot of things playing in their minds
like 8how to check this9, 8how to test that9, 8why did this component
blow9,9 what is the replacement part9, etc $ou should try to find your
answer first before asking the 7uestion as this will force you to think !f
you still cannot find the answer, there are several resources where you
can get your 7uestions answered $ou could post your 7uestion into
an online forum, call up your electronics buddies or course mates, ask
your lecturer or your mentor, etc Many times, asking 7uestions and
getting answers will save you hours of frustration
Conclusion C !n fact the above article is not only meant for beginners,
it is meant for seasoned repairers too :ind out where your weaknesses
are and learn how to improve them so that your %ourney to becoming a
professional repairer can be cut short The most important thing is
our mindset ) wrong or bad mindset could cause you to be la.y,
have no ob%ective and negative thinking /et your path right by having
the right mindset and you will see success very 7uickly
&appy 6epairing
'estine (ong