Page 199 - Troubleshooting Analog Circuits

I86 14. Real Circuits and Real Problems

Solder shorts
Unsoldered joints, cold-soldered joints
IC plugged in with the wrong pins
Transistors backwards

Faulty meter or other tester
If you can check for these problems, you have a good chance of catching 50% of
the problems . . . and then the really tough ones will be left over for you to solve. Best
of luck!

Aptitude and Attitude

If you have to treat your troubleshooting work as a chore, as a necessary but boring
task, well, I can’t tell you how to do your work; but I have always found that if you
can treat any such work as a game, then you have a chance to bring more innovative
approaches to the job, and chances of doing it better and having fun. I mean, in my
job, if I get the job done, but I am not having any fun, then something is wrong. Hell,
sitting here typing this at 12:05 AM is fun! If it weren’t, I would stop and go to bed.
But, hey, fun or not, this is the end, so, good-night!