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Vent: Spent 4 hours chasing a phantom short on a vintage radio
It was a simple crackle in a 1960s Zenith, but the real issue was a tiny, almost invisible solder bridge hiding under a coil form. Anyone have a good trick for spotting those without a microscope?
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evan_grant705mo ago
Hey, four hours is nothing on a tricky old set like that! Those hidden bridges are the worst, and a magnifying glass only gets you so far. Honestly, that's a pretty decent find time.
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michael8032mo ago
Actually, I have to disagree a little bit on the magnifying glass thing. A regular magnifying glass doesn't quite cut it for these old boards because the lenses distort things too much around the edges. You really want a jeweler's loupe with a built-in light, those 10x or 15x ones. I bought one for like 15 bucks online and it made finding those tiny solder bridges way easier, almost felt like cheating. The low angle flashlight trick is solid too, saw that online and it works great for cold joints.
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juliaa655mo ago
Read a tip once about using a bright flashlight at a low angle to cast shadows, makes tiny flaws pop out. Evan_grant70 is right though, that's a solid find time for something that sneaky lol.
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