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Visited a parts supplier in Philly last week and saw something wild
I stopped by a used appliance place on Frankford Ave to grab a dryer motor and the guy back there had this whole setup for testing control boards before they even hit the shelf. He had like 30 boards wired up to a single power strip with all these jumpers and a multimeter rigged to a piece of plywood. Said he stopped losing money on returns by about 40% since he started doing it. Made me realize I should be testing more stuff in the truck instead of just swapping parts and praying. Any of you guys do pre checks on boards before you install them or just go off looks?
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angelamurphy4mo ago
Did that guy mention how long it takes him to run through a board on that setup? I'm curious if he's got like a standard checklist he follows or if its more just checking for shorts and burned stuff. Because I feel like that's the part that stops most of us, right? Knowing exactly what to look for and not just guessing. Half the time I'm just looking for bulging caps and hoping for the best lol.
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adam4144mo ago
Oh wait, did he ever actually give a time estimate? I remember watching that vid and he kinda glossed over the time part. But honestly, for me it took a lot longer than I expected when I started trying his method. Like at first I was spending 45 minutes just staring at a board because I kept second-guessing myself. The trick I found was to just start with the power rail first, check for shorts there, then move to obvious burned areas, then check any ICs for hot spots with my finger. @angelamurphy that bulging cap thing is actually a solid start though, I still do that first because its usually the easiest fix. Once you do it a few times you get faster, now I can clear a board in maybe 15-20 minutes if its just a simple short or bad cap. But the real game changer was learning to trust my multimeter readings more than my eyes, you know?
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max_schmidt774mo ago
Wait, 45 minutes staring at a board? Man that was me too. I thought I was the only one. I'd just sit there with my probe hovering, second guessing every beep.
The multimeter thing is so true. I used to rely on my eyes way too much. Now I just trust the continuity beep. Quick power rail check, then I thermal scan with my finger. Found a shorted cap that looked totally fine once. Multimeter didnt lie.
Took me like 3 months to get comfortable with it. Now I can do a board in 10-15 minutes usually. Mostly visual stuff first, then meter work. Simple shorts or caps are easy once you stop overthinking.
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