I feel kinda stupid... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 01, 2013, 04:48:11 pm
content: So I'll confess here.I got a lecroy oscilloscope at surplus a bit ago. This was before I was getting into electronics again seriously, and it had no vertical sweep. I thought maybe I could fix it, so I opened it up and looked inside. While (I thought carefully) trying to pull the front off, I cracked the picture tube. So I took it apart because that's what I do... or did.So recently I got the idea that maybe some of the parts I could sell on ebay. I had already thought it was the CRT driver board, so I scrapped that, and sold most of the rest of the parts. One of them being a rather beefy power supply (this was not the same model Dave tore down, but it was similar). I cleaned it up with a duster and thought "hey, this is pretty cool, maybe I can get a little of what I paid back".Sent it to the guy, he sent back "I had to fix it, some of the caps were blown, and the electrolyte ate away at the sense trace". So I opened up a hi res picture I took from ebay, and sure enough, electrolyte everywhere.I have no idea how, even in my rather green (even though I've been at it for years) state, I missed that. Thankfully he was just grateful to have the power supply and was able to fix it, but I have no friggin' clue how I missed that. Maybe if I'd noticed, I could have fixed the supply and the vertical would have started working. Maybe if I'd even looked in the first place.I take a whole bunch of stuff from this experience, but the biggest one is.. man, I hate feeling stupid. I have many, many years at development and linux administration, and can run rings around even some experts, but here I feel like I'm this child who's just learning how to walk. Sigh.Note to self - always inspect caps, and a bulging cap is not the only evidence of failure. *grimace*

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 01, 2013, 05:01:02 pm
content: I always feel stupid for a different reasons , my wife and two daughters, leave me standing outside the changing rooms, holding their handbags, looking like a right idiot, then for the pleasure, I have to pay for what they bought.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 01, 2013, 05:18:28 pm
content: Heh. Funny thing is, that probably wouldn't make me feel all that stupid. I'd just shrug and every other husband/father there would just nod in sympathy. (Not that I would know, I'm blessedly single at the moment).I need to figure out what I'm doing with all this stuff. And I suppose learning how to spot defective caps and actually bothering to look is step 1.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 01, 2013, 05:41:28 pm
content: Good days & bad days we all get them steep learning curve for me

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2013, 06:47:53 pm
content: I have often carried out repairs and after finding and fixing the fault I realise that there was a far more efficient way of identifying the failed component. That is just life though. Hindsight is great, and at least I learn something each time this happens

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 01, 2013, 07:26:39 pm
content: Quote from: Aurora on June 01, 2013, 06:47:53 pmI personally think that is the best way to learn, because if you come across that fault again & probably will, you'll remember it, and do it differently , I don't believe any text book would teach you that.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 01, 2013, 07:33:34 pm
content: 'tis true. I had to wipe a few hard drives before learning to be really, really careful with the 'rm' command. I don't usually make those newbie mistakes anymore. So thanks for that. You can bet next time I'll be checking caps thoroughly before I do *anything* else.I like to say, when it comes to Linux, that I don't make the newbie mistakes anymore. I save up all the mistakes a newbie would make and use them all at once for a truly monumental mistake only someone with 20 years experience could make.