You have discovered a bad component on a PCB and now you need to replace it. Where do you go to get electronic replacement parts? A quick Google or Bing search will likely find you many of the major resellers of electronic parts but we thought we would list some of them here. This list […]
Solder Balls!
Here is a manufacturing process issue that turned out provide an interesting insight into how hot, liquid solder can react if it gets out of control. Initial testing with analog signature analysis shows a resistive difference on only one pin of a transistor (top image; top row of signatures, far right signature; green is good, […]
Anatomy of a Transistor Failure
We recently purchased a new video microscope and were looking for something interesting to inspect. Digging through our box of bad electronic parts produced a bad power transistor. Utilizing a set of sharp cutters, we performed surgery on this poor TO3 package device. Before showing the images from the inside of the actual device, here are the […]
Finding Bad Electrolytic Capacitors
As many of you may already know, electrolytic capacitors are one of the more common failures on electronic circuit boards. They have a hard life filtering all of the AC noise out of the DC voltage lines on the PCB. Over time they degrade and eventually the equivalent series resistance or ESR becomes too high […]
PCB Troubleshooting – Start with the Connectors!
If you have been troubleshooting circuit boards for a length of time then it may come as no surprise that many printed circuit boards (PCB) are damaged by surges, spikes and torrents of nasty over-current eruptions coming from the outside. Of course, the connectors on the PCB are the interface to that dangerous outside world […]
Circuit Board Troubleshooting Flowchart
Question: Does the world need another blog cluttering up the internet cyberspace! Answer: Absolutely! Especially if your interest is troubleshooting electronic circuit boards and all of the subjects that revolve around it. Question: What will you find on this site? Answer: Tips, tricks, white papers, technical bulletins, web site links and more all dealing with […]