8. Talk to someone who knows the machine -
If you are dealing with a machine
that you are not familiar with, a few minutes spent on the phone to someone who is
familiar is usually worth a lot of time spent poring over circuit diagrams. Your
customer won’t mind you appealing to higher authority -
9. If it works when you switch it on don’t assume they are idiots
Engineers know that
machines are perverse, and will usually operate perfectly in the presence of someone
who has come to fix them. This is when you need to pit your cunning against the machine.
Also if something happens just once and then is alright again -
10. Write notes -
In the throes of fixing things we soon get confused
about what state things were in when we arrived and what we have done since. Keep
a note of these things and file them after the job -
12. It always shall be mechanical *
It is surprising how many times I have been called
to fix a control fault only to find out it is a mechanical fault. Part of the skill
of fixing is being able to demonstrate to the customer what that mechanical fault
is. The least understandable bit -
© RW Buswell 2016
11. We only shall switch it on and see if it blow up *
This is one of Patrik’s most
memorable sayings, and it contains quite a lot of practical wisdom. I’m not saying
one should be reckless if something may get more damaged, but often it saves a lot
of time to force the fault out in the open in the form of a little coil of smoke!
Fixing things is usually a compromise between time and understanding. If you had
unlimited time you could gain great understanding, but you only need enough knowledge
to repair the fault and get the machine running again.
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