Here are a few basic tips and trixs for electronic troubleshooting.

Warranty
Opening your equipment always ends your warranty so check the date on your bill or warrantycard before opening anything.

Safety
Be carefull,electricity can kill children,elderly people and people with a weak heart in an instant.

When you are opening or working inside electrical/electronic equipment you should always unplug the powercord. Even with the powercord unplugged some equipment like amplifiers,monitors,power supplies and tv's still have energy stored in the capacitors inside. The type of capacitor wich can hold most current is the so called electrolythic capacitors,they are easily spotted because they are always cylindrical/tubular in shape and have the value in volts (V) and capacity in uF printed on them and the letter C and a number printed on the circuitboard next to the capacitor. The bigger they are the more punch they pack,up to 1 inch in height is not dangerous but 2 inches or bigger are. You can safely discharge capacitor if you put a 1000 Ohm resistor 0.5 Watt on the plus and minus of the capacitor for a minute,you can check for current with a voltmeter.

Finding the fault
If your piece of equipment stopped working totally:
Check the powercord and accessable fuses first the most lightly cause is a fault in the power(supply). Most equipment has a sticker saying "No serviceable parts inside",most are not true. Nearly every piece of equipment with a powercord has a fuse so open up the case and look for a fuse. Fuses come in many shapes and sizes but the most common form is the glass fuse,wich is basicly a small glass tube with a metal cap on each end and the letter F printed next to it on the circuitboard. Most blown fuses are easily spotted because the wire inside has broken,others have to be tested or replaced to check if they work. Check the on/off switch,they can give up after a few years of use.

If equipment stops working after a few minutes:
Check for burned or damaged parts,most circuitboards are green but if a component gets to hot the color of the circuitboard can turn brown or even black where it's heated. Check for loose connections,parts that generate heat can sometimes loosen connections on the circuitboard. Parts wich generate much heat usualy are atached to a piece of aluminium,check the contacts on the underside of the circuitboard they can loosen after heating up and cooling down often.

Good luck

Written by Jim Phrostbite
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