EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Free discussion Circuit board repairs

Reading the posts on interview questions alot were technical. How much circuit board repairs do you do in your jobs (NHS and the dark side).

What's that ... candidates for technical positions being asked technical questions at interviews? We can't be having that, surely!

What about their "Yuman Rights" if they don't know the answer(s)?

Far better (that is, politically correct, and fair ... to them, that is) to hire them on the basis of their Lie Sheet (er, I mean CV) and then spend the next five years trying to find a way of getting rid of them!

Meanwhile, back to the question ... I presume you mean fault finding and repairs at circuit level (replacement of faulty components, and such). Unfortunately (and setting aside the question of whether it is economically justifiable), a lot of modern equipment is difficult to repair (SMD, and all the rest). However, if (like me) you tend to limit your activities to what we might call the retro equipment scene, there is still much fun to be had, in the time honoured fashion, in actually fixing the kit. And when it comes to circuit boards per se ... I have even been known to wash them. Yes, that's right, with hot soapy water (although I should point out that it's best to do this after disconnecting from the mains)!

There is still quite a bit of equipment that can be worked on at circuit board level, but it is getting less and less. As Geoff has mentioned I would rather hire someone with technical experience rather than just a PCB swapper, swapping boards until they find the right one, A lot of these "swappers" usually work for contracting companies due to obvious reasons.

Actually, swapping boards is often the quickest way of pinning down the fault! The question is then what happens after the faulty board has been identified. That is, does it get repaired in-house?

Answer ... no it usually doesn't! Why? Lack of time, and too many other pressing demands, most likely.

But (as I have already said), some of us are no longer constrained by such matters as serving the customers, but are untethered enough to be able to concentrate on actually fixing (old, usually) kit!

Not very much these days. It maybe uneconomical to spend many hours trying to diagnose the failed component(s). Most of the time our focus are on the turnaround time rather.

One way of approaching such repairs is to have a guy devoted to them. By that I mean a tech, typically a grizzled old veteran (not that I know anyone like that, of course) pottering about at the back of the workshop, and gainfully employed (part-time perhaps) at circuit-level fault finding and repairs. That can prove to be a cost-effective way of dealing with things.

Meanwhile, the "young bucks" can continue to tear around the hospital, responding to more urgent matters (like impressing the nurses).

Hi guys.........

That a nice one Geoff...........(impressing the nurses). Yeh back to the topic what Geoff said is true now day, now day young buck does sit and troubleshoot like old veteran.But at same time the turn round time is very important in Hospital environment.

When I first started I did some but very little now. I'm not sure I have the skills or confidence to do anything too complicated as I have done so little. If you started work now I'm not sure when you would be able to learn such skills.

any how now day most of the part are like difficult to change,due to SMD level part are small and not easy to solder by using normal solder and need to have blower type soldering iron. The PCB board also have so many level of layer, so need to be careful when handling this pcb boards.

I've not attempted to solder (or desolder) SMD components myself, as I reckon it's best left to those with greater dexterity and keener eyesight (one of the few jobs for the "young bucks", then). But I know people who can do it. One guy even builds his own boards with SMD stuff on there. There are also videos on You-Tube that offer some nice demonstrations. Just search on "solder" or "smd".