The following 100 DIY home repairs provide step-by-step instructions and advice for tackling various home repairs, including sealing drafty windows and doors. These repairs can save time and money by addressing minor plumbing, electrical, and HVAC issues on your own. Professional laborers share which repairs you can save money on by tackling them yourself and reveal which ones to leave to the professionals.
Homeowners understand that repair tasks are a part of the home-owning journey, and it is essential to learn how simple it is to handle minor plumbing, electrical, and HVAC issues on your own. Fixing or replacing a door is well within the capabilities of most homeowners, especially if you have a partner to help out.
To expand your DIY repertoire and save money, consider hiring someone to do the repairs, such as a licensed electrician for electrical work. There are also 20+ easy fixes you can make, such as fixing a leaky faucet, cleaning gutters, and installing ceiling fans.
Some common DIY home repairs include fixing squeaky doors and windows, patching drywall, unclogging toilets, and painting interior walls. There are also 10 home repairs you can DIY—and 10 where you need to hire a pro—such as re-grouting tile, patching a hole in drywall, installing floating shelves, and applying caulk.
In summary, these DIY home repairs offer step-by-step instructions and advice for tackling various home repairs, saving time and money.
📹 HOUSE REPAIR LIFE HACKS YOU SHOULD KNOW!
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How do I fix everything in my life?
To improve your life, write your story daily, identify what keeps you stuck, focus on the present, improve time management, set realistic goals, challenge negative thoughts, get 8 to 9 hours of sleep, and participate in physical activity. John Duffy, PhD, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Available Parent: Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens”, suggests considering what you want to accomplish today and the vibe you want to carry. Duffy suggests choosing the better story plot for you and going for it.
How to learn how to fix things around the house?
To become a handyman, enroll in classes or workshops at hardware stores to learn various home repairs and create projects. These classes can teach you how to lay tile, patch and paint plaster, and handle other home repairs. Some even hold workshops to teach clients how to use their products.
To determine the costs of home improvement repairs, use a credible resource that outlines the costs in your area. Different home improvement fixes will have different costs depending on whether you hire a professional or do it yourself. If you choose to go professional, the overall costs will also vary with the electric rates in your area.
To get the right tools for your job, invest in the necessary tools. Simple house repairs do not require complicated instruments, so visit your local hardware store and explain your situation to get the appropriate tools.
In summary, enrolling in classes or workshops can help you become more useful and efficient in your home improvement projects. Investing in the right tools is crucial for success in home improvement and can lead to a more satisfying and efficient life.
What are the most common home repairs?
Common home repairs include electrical, plumbing, HVAC, water damage, and termite damage. To be prepared for these issues and their costs, it’s essential to plan and budget for these repairs. Low-cost preventive measures like cleaning gutters and annual heating and cooling system servicing can help keep costs down. However, unexpected surprises like a busted pipe or roof leak can result in significant expenses. Therefore, it’s crucial for homeowners to be prepared and aware of the average costs of these repairs.
How to improve repair skills?
It is recommended that the initial focus be on relatively minor projects, such as the repair of a torn book with tape. The importance of repairing rather than replacing existing items should be emphasised, as even young children can learn from such experiences.
How to prioritize home repairs?
Home improvement projects can be overwhelming for homeowners with limited time and money. To prioritize your needs and increase the value of your home, follow these tips:
Declutter your home by organizing and disposing of unnecessary items. This will help you understand the home better and determine what improvements are necessary. Selling some items can also help you save money for your home improvement fund.
Assess your home’s condition by personally inspecting every component and determining if repairs are needed or if there are only cosmetic issues. This will help you determine if repairs are necessary or if there are only cosmetic issues that need to be addressed.
By following these tips, you can prioritize your needs and increase the value of your home while ensuring safety and a well-maintained home.
What is the most expensive thing to fix in a house?
The 10 most expensive home repairs include siding, storm damage, foundation repairs, heating and cooling equipment, sewer line repair, roof repairs, driveway repair, and termite damage. These repairs can be costly and can impact the value of your home. To prevent these repairs and protect your savings account, it is essential to take preventive measures. Budgeting for these repairs is a good strategy, but it may not always be feasible. Preventing these repairs from occurring in the first place can save you as much money as possible.
Who fixes things around the house?
Mr. Handyman®️ is a trusted provider of home repair services since 1996, offering expert assistance in maintaining your home’s aesthetic and value. With an average of 10 years of experience, their team is dedicated to ensuring your home is in good order. Despite the temptation to save money by trying DIY home repairs, it’s best to rely on professional help to keep your home in its proper order. Book an appointment with Mr. Handyman to learn more about their services.
What’s the most expensive thing to fix in a house?
Foundation repair is a costly and often overlooked aspect of home maintenance. It can range from $200 for minor cracks to $7, 000 for more serious issues. Homeownership offers financial stability through stable housing payments, tax incentives, and the opportunity to build equity. However, unexpected and costly repairs can leave even the happiest homeowners feeling like they’ve drawn the short end of the stick. Major repairs like water heater replacement or electrical repairs can cost between $1, 000-$2, 000, while some repairs, like fire restoration, can reach as high as $35, 000.
These unexpected costs can significantly impact a household’s monthly budget or long-term savings, leaving them uncomfortable. To avoid these surprises, it’s essential to take preventative measures and set aside an adequate home maintenance budget. By understanding the top 10 most expensive home repairs, homeowners can better prepare for unexpected expenses and protect their savings and sanity.
What do you call a person that can fix everything?
The individual demonstrates a high degree of versatility in their professional capabilities, with the ability to perform a range of tasks including repair, renovation, and general maintenance. They can also be considered a jack-of-all-trades, capable of handling a diverse array of responsibilities.
How do I become good at fixing things?
To address straightforward tasks, it is essential to cultivate proficiency in the interpretation of instructional manuals, the identification of requisite tools and materials, the location of suitable establishments, the solicitation of assistance, the review of online tutorials, the consultation of colleagues, the observation of others engaged in similar tasks, the perusal of self-help periodicals, and the attendance of trade exhibitions.
📹 Pure Electronics Repair. Learn Methodical Fault Finding Techniques / Methods To Fix Almost Anything
LER #221 In this video I show you how to diagnose and repair just about anything, At the day it is all just electronics, yeah? Learn …
Paint does NOT stick to crayon!! If a child draws on a wall with a crayon, almost no number of coats of Kilz will keep it from bleeding through so plugging a hole with crayon will guarantee it gets noticed by the landlord who will use up your deposit to try fix this unfixible problem. Better is to get a small tub of hole fixer for a couple bucks or just leave the hole empty for the landlord to fix easily. Cheaper for you in the long run.
NAIL HOLE FILLER -Toothpaste Not everyone has bar soap neither… As i am a bachelor and use liquid soap and a loufa, but EVERYONE definitely has toothpaste and can be used to fill holes… Just be sure to use WHITE past and not colorful with sparkles. White Play-Doh works too! And home made clay if you know the correct measurements of flour+waterGreat article! More please 😁
I use the cooking spray on my hinges, they taste great. I also tried the kool aid in the toilet. That tasted great too. I still had a leak on the floor next to the toilet every time I peed though, but it was yellow like the kool aid, so I must have found the leak. Finally, a couple nights ago, I left the bar with some girl who had applied nail polish and ended up getting a loose screw. These tips are life savers.
Vegetable oil, which is used in the aerosol cooking sprays may work for a quick fix but they will quickly “gum” up and cause the hinge to move more slowly, fairly quickly. Some also contain flour which compounds the problem even more. If you look at the hood or vent screens of the ventilation system over a stove you can see this sticky, almost impossible to remove a layer of gummy oil. In the vent system, it becomes a fire hazard if allowed to build up. Like the narrator said you do indeed need to use WD40 soon after the quick fix as WD40 will break down the accumulated vegetable oil and remedy the problem in the hinge.
1. Don’t ever do this it will become a huge mess and probably attract bugs 2. Pull lid off toilet look at the flapper and put your hand in and pull up slightly to see if it has suction. If it does no leak otherwise buy a new flapper for less than 5 dollars. 3. Use a nut on other side or jam a tooth pick in with the screw. If you put glue on it you won’t be able to get it out easily to replace a handle or what you screwed in. 4. If you use a crayon you won’t get a flat finish and it will look very poor. Also will fall out pretty quickly. 5. Learn to use your finger with after wetting it with a sponge, or buy the silicone tool. When you pull the tape up you will pull the chaulk up also. 6. Use website locks? or a towel? or be a man and just hold onto it tightly. 7. Good luck with that. Maybe buy an extractor or try the next size up phillips or flat head. 8. Refer to #4 9. Somewhat usefull but if your door rattles tighten the screws around it. 10. This will work if you never decide to sweep or vaccuum in that room again. 11. This works but so does just waiting. 12. Will work to some extent but what kind of person is that anal over a dent here or there? And if you call someone to fix dents in your wood work please call me. I would love to give an estimate to that person because I know I can take you to the bank. 13. Wow WD 40 does this along with like 500 other things. 14. Or buy grout cleaner which will last you a lot longer and cost about 5-8 bucks. 15. If are worried about a hole that small in your screen just replace it.
Or you could repair the larger screen holes…with a small patch of screen material and bend to ends to tie it in or use a needle and thread. Also If you use toilet bowl cleaner on grout be sure not to let it sit on the tiles – it is extremely corrosive. You need to rinse very well and then use a grout sealer on the grout once you it dries. A few drops of food color in the tank works as well and less expensive. Also, article seemed to show putting the colorant into the bowl which is useless.
for candle wax on carpet, use an absorbing type of paper, like the ones from the grocery store. cut into sheets and place over the area of carpet. next use an iron on mid-high temp, place it on the paper only and heat up the wax beneath, now slide the paper from under the iron. don’t touch the iron to the carpet though.
Ever tried to paint a wall that some butthead used crayon to fill holes in? Can you say BEADING paint? And as well, since I’m especially bitchy tonight, the “brush” used on the “spring back to normal” was a squeegee. Sorry, you usually don’t mess up the articles, tonight was just an anomaly I’m sure. I still gave you a “like”
There are a lot of irresponsible suggestions in this article. You should never apply heat or steam to finished wood as it can damage the finish. You should never apply anything waxy (like crayons or soap!!) to a wall surface that might get painted, and you certainly shouldnt apply cooking spray to door hinges unless you want a dirt collecting gunky mess on your hands that you will have to clean in the future. Bad bad bad. You should take this article down.
Anything acidic like bleach will break down grout. Use only cleaners made for grout! And a lot of products that are tile cleaners aren’t neutral PH either so they are fine on the tile but horrible for the grout. Bedt: Soak with a water/neutral PH soap 50/50 mix and scrub with a brush, then remove and rinse with clean water once or twice and your done.
Don’t use Crayons to fill nail holes!! Go to the hardware store, buy a $2 container of spackle and do it right. The next person that has to paint that wall will have to remove/repair all of the wallboard that you contaminated with crayon because paint will never stick to it again. For fuck’s sake, don’t use soap either for the same reason.
WD-40 is a water displacing surfactant formula, not a lubricant. Cooking spray, while it has lubricating qualities, is for…cooking. It is unstable and breaks down, not to mention drawing bugs. Oil is a lubricant. This is why you put oil in your car’s engine to lubricate it, not WD-40 and not cooking oil. It’s also why you should be using it to lubricate garage doors and hinges.
This is a great electronics repair refresher. Just last week I was able to repair a $5k KitchenAid refrigerator’s main board with a broken fuse caused by a shorted rectifier. I had no access to circuit diagram nor does the manufacturer provides it. The board is $650 brand new with a 3 month wait and $500 of factory repair labor, and I was able to fix it with $3 in parts and knowledge in electronics repair.
Having spent the majority of my life in electronics ( Radio Rentals, Colourvision, Chandos to name a few) and having attained two degrees I still revert to basics when fault finding. This is a skill that never leaves you, don’t forget that just because you find one fault doesn’t mean there are not others! Keep up the good work, we need more younger people in the industry to combat the throw away society we have built.
Sounds like you worked for a similar firm as I did: Deritend. A board like this should take less than 10 minutes to diagnose. My tips from 35 years in electronics fault finding like this: 1> Follow the current, follow the voltage. High energy is a vulnerability. 2> Follow the heat, look for burns & heat toasting. 3> Ignore the intelligence (micro). If it is damaged you can’t get it anyway because it contains firmware. 4> Resistors fail by increasing value, almost never by reducing, all the way to open. In circuit they can ONLY reduce in value. If it reads less than the marked value it is likely OK. 5> Electrolytic capacitors always fall in value, they cannot rise. They don’t like heat. The ones near heat sinks will fail. usually they bulge if bad. If all else fails, swap them all out anyway. 6> Measure each component, concentrating on the low hanging fruit. Mark it with a dot from a marker pen if good, move on. The last check of a suspect component should be desoldered to confirm it is bad. 7> Mechanical devices like switches & relays are unreliable. 8> Connectors are reliable but their solder mount pins are not because of mechanical stresses. 9> Heavy things which are soldered are vulnerable for mechanical reasons. 10> Nearly every fault will have a visual clue. 11> Closely, inspect solder side with magnifier around through hole pins. 12> If you have two boards you can VI trace compare.
For anyone interested… Handy Andy took the PCB back to the client yesterday afternoon, with strict instructions to check for a short circuit heater element before trying it. This morning before I got up out of bed, I was just thinking about that negative 5V regulator (79M05) and what it may have been doing. I often think about stuff like that, I guess I’m electronically minded through and through LOL. So anyway, here is my take on it, though I no longer have the PCB to check this. I think the 79M05 is connected like this: The PIC18 needs a positive 5V supply and yet the Vcc (power in) of the PIC18 micro-controller will be connected to 12V from the transformer and bridge rectifier. The 79M05 minus 5V regulator then holds the ‘ground’ pin of the PIC18 at exactly 5V less (more negative) than the +12V supply. This means the PIC18 has a +5V supply but it is referenced from +12V. Now why? Well there are two relays on the PCB with 12V coils and the PIC needs to switch them on or off. There are two little transistors and diodes near the relays (I checked the diodes). I think the transistors are probably P website MOSFETS and switch power to the relay coils, so the P website MOSFET connects from +12V, to the relay coil positive end, and the other end of the coil connects to ground. This means the MOSFET can supply the 12V the relay needs to turn on. To switch the MOSFET off, the PIC18 has to put 12V on the Gate and to switch it on is has to put less than 12V on the gate. Because the circuit designer connected the +5V Vcc pin of the PIC18 to +12V it can easily send +12V or less to the P-MOSFET gate and therefore switch the 12V relays with the minimum of components.
I really appreciate you the way you explain this stuff. Showing how to troubleshoot a problem on a board you know very little about is one of, if not the biggest, missing links for many people trying to learn these skills. perusal you walk us through how to figure out what might be expected from the components on an unknown board ‘in the real world’ is what seems to be missing from many similar websites that I’ve seen. Looking at your list of articles, there’s many more useful and educational articles to keep us busy for some time! Subscribed. Thank you.
26:00 Italian here! Let me translate some words for you: Macina -> Grinder Pompa -> Pump (pretty self explanatory) Motore -> Motor Sonda Flusso -> Flow Probe By the way, great article! Very easy to follow even for a beginner like me, I actually guessed some things right as you were going along the board
Thank you, I am a commercial coffee machine engineer in the Uk, The electronic fault finding nd repairs of boards. is currently not something I would consider. but after seeing your article plus ordering a triac tester. I hope to develop, not just for coffee machines. Im looking forward to learning more from your articles. Thank you.
The way you explain all of what you’re doing during the repair is just awesome. Another thing that made me happy about this article was seeing you took a few minutes to explain – or refresh – what is a TRIAC and how it works. It helped me a lot on understanding how it operates on the board and how it is related to the failure (short), since I’ve studied TRIACs some time ago. You’ve got a new subscriber.
I am a 19yo electromechanic from Argentina, I want to study Electronic engineering and your articles are of great help to me, I’m grateful that you are willing to share you knowledge and experience freely. Fault searching was always a roadblock for me, I understand, mostly, the circuits, but when I get in front of a circuit I have no idea where to start
Your “quick rant” is bang on Rich. It’s also about reducing electronics waste too. Now the coffee shop is back up and running with the machine and coffee drinkers can get their espresso fix too. Like you say too it’s easily worth $100 to them. And it would take less than an hour and hardly anything on the components and consumables. I just replaced a rectifier diode (in a bridge rectifier) on someone es welding machine wire motor. Part was less than £2 and he was over the moon as it is his favourite and best machine. Loving your articles Rich thanks. I have you playing in the background whilst I’m tinkering in the workshop.
I enjoyed seeing your troubleshooting approach. I am amazed that there as so many circuit boards that are tossed in the trash, and replaced with an entirely new one, when there is only a small part needed. I am new to electronics, but I find it interesting. I looked into a course online, but it was geared toward people who work inhouse for companies. It required a lot of expensive testing equipment. I really just want to diagnose problems quickly and fix them. Thank you for making this article!
You just took the card and drew a schematic for it. This is very impressive. This is much easier to do with consumer electronics. I totally agree with that. The power circuits are much more easier to track because they are simpler. Most of them are low power electronics and they don’t need lots of components or control circuits like one would find in a computer part. I love your articles because you don’t go like “This shows this symptom so this component is faulty.” You start by doing a visual inspection and then check the connections. After this, you draw the circuit and think about what might go wrong and why it might go wrong. You don’t just teach how to repair something. You try to teach it with the basics. Even though this makes the articles long, every second is worth it. You used to upload PSU articles and I hope I will see some more of them in the future. Great job.
Excellent content, I have a PCB of a battery charger but a chip as blown and no number are visable. How can I find the component’s number if you don’t have a diagram or PCB layout. Can find it, I think this is made in China under a different name. Can you assist in this matter. I am mechanical in trade but have a bit of self traing in componet/repairing my own stuff, have blown a copple of transistor with incorrect B C, & E. I enjoy this website and as you rightly mentioned that no one wants to repair stuff any more, just buy a new one. In that thought it motivates me more to fix it. Keep it up, I and few hundered viewers can’t wait for the nex vidieo.
yeah, it’s true that learning how the basics, “pure electronic” side of things is a good, and even important step, not only can it be very useful, by learning how certain components are supposed to behave, eventually help you learn what certain part of a circuit is supposed to do witch can really help for testing and diagnosing it!!! haven’t done tons of repairs myself so far, a few easy one here and there, so far i’ve mostly learned by using schematics and making my own stuff, like making diy shields to use with an arduino, or mod something. a lot of the components i use are all recycled from old stuff that either me or other peoples was gonna throw in the trash… in the beginning i’ve spent so many hours just tearing stuff apart to unsolder everything on the pcbs inside… XD but as my collection grew i’d often make research to find schematics i was able reproduce with what i had, for most off the chips i’ve pulled i would throw on a breadboard and study the datasheet, to then make and experiment with the most basic circuits needed to make them work! i still use a lot of those parts when experimenting to make something i want to build, but once i know it works and are ready to build the final permanent version, i do at least buy the most critical parts to make sure it last!!
I clamp the board in a jig above the table and I have a very bright light that I use to shine on the parts. this casts a shadow of each part so that I do not have to keep flipping the board over. The four pins of a relay will be in the shadow of the relay. Take a photo of the board with my phone and then flip the board over and shine a light from the parts side to make it easy to trace the circuits from part to part. I blew up my transistor checker because I did not realize there was a capacitor on the board. Live and learn.
You Sir, just bought yourself another subscriber. I’m a qualified electrical Eng that used to work in office automation repair here in New Zealand, been a long time since though so your website is now integral to my brushing up on PCB faultfinding! for that I sincerely thank you 🙂 brilliant delivery and diagnostic skills that make a seasoned man green with envy!
capacitor (large one) is a design error and desperatly in need of an alternative parts relais schematique doing more or less the same. it can never release it energy in the digital cirquitery. wich is low voltage. and pulse. not (waved) it is clearly the odd one out. on the first glance. design error. or part error. good one sir.
Great article! I have been in electronics for 16 years now. It definitely comes down to the fundamentals. There may be different principles when dealing with different types of electronics (AC, DC, RF, etc.), but all electronic components are made of the same basic parts. Even if you know nothing about what you are looking at, you can learn a lot by looking up datasheets and just banging out various components with a DMM. Even better if you have a good, working example to compare measurements with!
When I was a youngster at Siemens we had the best fault finding and testing equipment but these days I just use my multimeter like you do. The web makes it easier to find data sheets of components and you end up fixing anything. My kids say dad can fix anything and I do, if you know electronics like we do it is a journey into the past, things are just smaller now but still the same stuff. Inverter Welders, Gate and Garage Automation, Electric Fence Energizers💥⚡😂😂 car electronics, sensors bloody anything. But some companies dont like you fixing their products, they want customers to buy new products instead. Went to Nemtek to ask them to set me up as a local repair centre but they dont repair only board swapping. I must pay to come for training but their guys dont even know how to use an Oscilloscope. Ridiculous how many companies have appointed repair centres that is glorified board swapping only.
Great article, I am a self employed coffee machine service engineer UK, have been repairing commercial coffee machines for 35 years (make a good living) I suspect it was the heating element that blew which takes out the triac (very common) I replace many triacs BTB16 (16 amp) I also always check the opto coupler/isolator as well. I studied industrial electronics for four years in the 80s/90s so this helps with repairing some of the problems on the boards.
I really liked the “RANT” part!! Maybe you can make a article on how to get into this sort of business as a enthusiast with some limited electronics knowlage? The part with “just get broken stuff and repair it” is obvious, but it doesnt really teach you about electronics. For laptops, phones, GPUs 😉 there are websites on youtube, and they all kinds work them same… it seems to me you can easy repair laptops without almost any electronics knowlage… but when it comes to jobs like this1 you just did.. thats a different story. How does one learn electronics for repair, without going thru the EE Education system?
I really enjoyed this article this is the first time that I saw your website and I clicked on it and I enjoyed it. I’m an older guy I’m 57 years old I can’t believe that but it’s true I worked in robotics repair but mostly management for a great deal of my adult life but I never really got into board repair or even was interested in components or board level troubleshooting it just cost too much because I worked in the biotech sector pharmaceutical drug Discovery things like that and they needed machines repaired yesterday so it was pick and place mostly. Sometimes boards were repaired back it whatever manufacturing facility the robotics platform came from but that was up to each facility. I have recently gotten into Arduino designs because there was a couple of projects that I’ve wanted to do and I discovered I kind of have a knack for it I’ve been learning for a couple of weeks and I’ve already made some pretty complex board level designs and products that I could actually sell if I wanted to surprise the hell out of me that’s for sure. My first project was simple controlling LED strips using an infrared motion detector predicated on a light dependent diode value but so basically if it was dark enough in the room the rest of the software would be considered and powered these led strips based on a value returned indicating the relative lightness or darkness and brightness or dimness of the strip so pretty simple but I hate to figure out how to control 5 volts from a 12 volt supply so I had to learn about how to properly integrate voltage regulator with the proper capacitors Etc I’m also an amateur chemist so I built heating mantles based on this triac circuit to control variable amperage for the coils and it worked quite well.
I was left uneasy about what seemed to be an ignored metal layer near the 1/4 inch tabs. My reaction would be that it is quite conductive film frozen from the vaporized metal during something arcing. So, what was the arc? Wast one or another connector loose? Based on that, I would be suspicious about the wiring outside of the board in this area.
One of my electronic technology professors from 80s once told me, “Jim the difference between you, the electronics technician and a replace and repair tech (R and R tech) is what he called them in the field is that you repair at component level. The R and R is a card changer.” He went on to say something like, Card changers are fast and they save the company money, but you can change a card and repair it during up time to have on hand. Who will save the company the most money? Now days with micro and nano technology the fanufacturing industries insist on eliminating electronic technicians. The want card changers and creating more waste. Thats sadly enough the way our society has become. No time to slow down and enjoy what we have. It’s Out with the old, in with the new, and most of the time, before the new even gets old.
Excellent content (as usual) Richard! I appreciate the common sense approach to troubleshooting this. Great reminder at the end (on your summary) that you’ve repaired the board but now one needs to determine what caused the issue. If a person absently minded reinstalled the board and put power to it…out comes the magic smoke again.😡. Great work mate. I again learned from this article. Darrell – 🇨🇦
Weird fault I had with a triac once was some sort of internal leakage path to the gate that was keeping it switched on but only when it was initially switched on so it basically latched on. Whenever fault finding this sort of stuff my first go to is components likely to be highly stressed like triacs or power mosfets etc. The arcing on the mains terminals means it’s not going to be anything on the low voltage side of the transformer.
9:00 On the input side, how do you know how many ohms the transistor will produce? On the output side, how can you determine that is no short based on the reading of 38 Kohms? Third, I understand that a capacitor stores and regulates voltage, but how are they used in circuit design? From what I gathered that big cap is being used to power that entire region of the circuit. So in this board’s design, rather than powering that region directly, we are powering a big cap which thus passes the current along? Correct me if I am wrong please.
Very interesting article. Reminded me of the good old days when i repaired industrial and Marine Navigation and communication electronic equipment. 3570 is a date code, meaning it was manufactured in the 35th week of 1970 Looks like an old board. It would help a great deal if you could get hold of the circuit diagram.
“Macina” could be short for Macchina, but it could also mean “Grind” or “Grinder” or something like that. I don’t know what this board is for because I missed the information or I would have more context, sorry for that haha EDIT: RIght it’s a coffee maker, so it’s probably indicating the coffee grinder
Thanks for this – very insightful. I’ve done my fair share of casual repairs for myself and at Repair Cafés but don’t really have a method as such, it usually takes me ages to figure stuff out – doing it ‘blind’ like this is challenging as there’s no way to test it – this one seemed simple however, I imagine others may have multiple failures. If gives me a bit more confidence that my random methodology does have some merit albeit time and mind consuming 😂
Thanks, could you might show us how you can compare specs of these replacement parts and see if it would be good enough what values can be higher or should be within limits. Will be interested. Yeah and I agree dead GPU repairs hahaha I purchased idk 5 or so dead GPUS. Got only one working one others all dead core or mem and one card is completely f** up needs new vrms but probably mem/core damaged. Industrial equipment, repaired a through hole Bosch vacuum cleaner industrial one. Variac went bad. Simple through hole component layout single layer board. Much much more easier to work on get parts for and make money from.
Just stumbled across the website, I started working in an electronics repair company repairing PCB’s very much like these (domestic appliance) at 16. I’m now 30, diverted into automotive electronics and machine maintenance. Very nice to see some of my old trade on YouTube especially now knowing what I’ve learned over the years!
I’ve had a device I have been trying to find a way to fix for a while now. Its a VS-125 wireless camera hunter. Its quite expensive and from what I can tell is that it is possibly military grade. When I purchased it, it turned on but only showed static on the screen, After taking the back cover off I notices someone did a poor job trying to repair it. It looked to have a couple tiny resisters missing so I reached out to someone online with less experience that it appeared and did what was advised but it did not work. Is there anyway I could email you before and after pictures of the board and maybey get your opinion non it? I have tried looking up anything I could on the specs and found nothing. I would greatly appreciate it if you could possibly take a peek at it. Thank you for your time
I am going to a job interview this Friday and apparently they give you a test. I’m a regular electrician. I’ll start by saying that. I’m not an electronics technician. So the test that they are going to give me is they will bring me in a room, show me a circuit board let me look at it, then I will be asked to leave the room and while I am out of the room they will either break or malfunction the board in “some” way. Then once that is done they will bring me back in the room provide me with test tools which I assume will be a meter, to see if I can diagnose the motherboard, or figure out what is wrong with it. What is everyone’s best advice in this scenario? Not as familiar with circuit boards, I’ve always just replaced them, I’ve never had to diagnose one, is the best thing to do to use a multimeter and check for continuity on all the capacitors etc? What do you guys think?
excellent article! i especially like the chat about its easier to make money doing this type of repair than trying to repair gpu’s. i have found that gas ignition and control pcb repair is quite lucrative in australia. there arent many aussie manufacturers so you can bet you can make it worth while for both you and the customer to repair it rather than. replace it. nice work
It’s always good to watch an experienced technician/engineer work. The short rant at the end is very sound advice, i started learning about electronics out of pure curiosity and ended up coming up with a great side hustle just repairing small stuff, especially heaters, old game consoles and lcd monitors/tvs with basic knowledge of electronics.
Heya 40:42 self employed that is music to my ears, getting out of the rat race would be great. I’m thingking of starting to be self employed from my house to start with ( I have a empty bedroom which I’m gone “re-model” into my repair room) so first gone bild it up before I say goodbay to the job I have now ( which is not bad wel it’s still a boss) so I will olso get the prectical site of that work ( never done that small components soldering) Will vlog it and upload it to my YT website. learned a lot again thanks
My Brother in law is a Master Electrician. They had an amp at the shop that would not work. All three electricians gave up on it as could not figure out the problem. I figured it out in about 10 min. The main transformer had a thermal fuse that was blown. I unwound the coil by hand, replace the thermal fuse and then rewound the coil by hand. Fix it.
Just happened to find this article and I have to tell you how you’ve inspired me. I’m an industrial electrician in my late 40’s and have always had fun poking around circuit boards since I was a little guy. I never considered doing this for money. I’m not terribly knowledgeable about circuit board troubleshooting but I’ve had all the training, I just need to apply it and remember. We have a recycle bin for electronics where I work and I make daily trips to it to find cool stuff to investigate. I also build retro-arcade cabinets from old CRT televisions I get from there. This article just made me think that maybe there’s a reason for all my electronics hording if I just apply myself further. Maybe this will be my little money maker when I get too old to turn wrenches. Thanks!
Fantastic article. I have a question for you Learn Electronics Repair. Is it possible to take an unknown, unmarked, board and reverse engineer it to repair it? For example using a scope, and a logic analyser, is it possible to repair/update code in the EEPROM in the case of a software issue? I’m sure it would require a lot of experience and skill, but I just wanted to know if this is done IRL.
So A puzzle for someone- item that always fails after 6-12 months,but we keep buying them because the knock-offs are even worse- Apple lightning to digital av adapter- a simple dongle that enables user to connect iPhone via hdmi to TV and mirror almost everything-fantastic for cord cutting penny pinchers- BUT!!!!!! Check the reviews, worked great and then failed-it’s ridiculous! Are the tiny wires failing is it melting inside? I’ve purchased 5 over 8 years- they are $40-50, but when working Fantastic! Streaming movies etc from the phone to the big screen! All you need is unlimited data and a strong cellphone connection! Until….. it fails- everybody has the same damn story eventually! WHY OH WISE ONE WHYYYYYYYY??????
Great article. Question, I’m replacing my ebike motor pcb board. The replacement has 7 holes/copper rings for wiring. Bu my original has 6 – 5V, GND, SP, H1, H2, and H3. The replacement has an additional ring for wiring labeled “K”. What does K stand for in this case? Keyswitch, ohms, resistance? Can’t find any information or diagrams online. And if I solder/connect the “regular” wires, will I have a problem if I leave “K” unsoldered? No info online + could use the help. /bklyn 👑
I like Mitsubishi and I have a Rav4 prime clé with tech pack Electric.range is 70 in sumer no.matter what speed but on the winter is a bit above 40km Amazing after electric range is gone, in just hybrid gives under 5lts /100km and Eco mode is as powerful as a normal mode in other brands I drive normally and up to 120 km/h in highway super efficient Reason why I don’t charge every day so half of the time I just use it as hybrid and that’s it I love the suspension AWD system is So So Never like the old traditional AWD from toyota in snow and I would like to have more room It is very nice
Hi there, I have basic electronics knowledge, and I spent my afternoon and evening trying to figure out the broken part of a device and I have some general questions (no, it’s not a GPU 😀 it’s an “Omron M400” blood pressure monitor made in Japan). The device is 6V DC input but it was connected to a Laptop charger that supplies probably about 19V. My question #1 would be, what do you think blows first if you supply too much voltage to a device? It probably wouldn’t be a resistor or anything, would the CPU get fried most likely, or? The connector doesn’t seem to have a fuse, as it does supply power to the circuit board with all the button inputs yet, as well as the main board, but nothing turns on anymore (i. e. main display or LED indicators). I was told everything had turned on with the wrong supply, but the display and LED were displaying erradically and then it was disconnected from the power. My other question would be, I saw you hunting for a short circuit by measuring resistance. My Multimeter doesn’t have a beep to check for a connection, so I used measuring for resistance. No signal, no connection. Signal, yes connection, but at some resistance at least. I’m guessing a short circuit where one shouldn’t be, shows by having low to no resistance, is that correct? In either case, thank you very much for your articles, I’ve always been highly fascinated by electronics repairs. I haven’t seen any visual faults on any of the boards, and I’m not ready to give up on it yet.
Hi there, I got a PC3000 handheld palm pc from the 80’s. It was working perfect till the other day, when I turned it on and nothing. There’s new batteries in it and the only thing I’ve done to think that caused a problem is – I put a new C032 battery for clock and mem which was working ok . but I just noticed that it should have been a cr2016 battery. Could this have tripped a fuse or something. I’ve only recently got into electronics and been fixing several ps2,xbox,hanheld 3ds, so I got a basic understanding, but came looking to get some good general skills and found some in your article – Thanks! Also I got the pc3000 instructions but would like a Schematic sheet for it,I did some searching, but do you know where I could get one? – I will put these ideas from article to trying to fix it myself but any other help suggestions welcome !! Sub’d + like’d
Love reverse engineering articles. Very helpful to make sense of what is going on in a circuit. I think that “THERMO” terminal may have gone out to a normally closed bi-metal thermal switch and from there came back to the “LINE IN” to power the circuit. Then when the device was up to temp or overheated it would open and kill the line in power.
Hi. Do you cover the process of carrying out a full service, calibration and pitch replacement for a technics 1210mk2 turn table? I know this would be simple for your to do but I would like to to get into this field of basic electronics and service my own turntable. Just don’t know where to start. Thanks for any advice 🙏
I am getting low voltage to transistor base pin that is running a relay for a compressor…I am getting .5v instead of .6v or .7v…..I measured 2.61v coming into the board from the main display control board where the microcontroller is… Since the relay is being turned on and off at appropriate times I suspect the brains behind the microcontroller are good….but the output voltage is inadequate…I believe I should be seeing 3.3v….is there any way that the microcontroller itself is not the problem and a component is such as rectifier/transformer etc
I got 4 to 7 different amd to gtx 570 to 580 and 1060 to 1080, If I pay for shipping and back do you need any cards for upcoming articles who do I contact, don’t really care how long it take, bought equipment but so many other things in life and haven’t been able to get around to repairing them all. Then I have 2 other cards could use for the parts. Like fixing stuff and great at fixing about anything by just perusal anyone else do it but soldering like my dad use 2 ages ago never been a strong suit or just beyond horrible if not 99 percent perfect. Then also whatever donations to the website be good with also. No big deal either way, found the website months ago and was in discord but still just sitting on a shelf and just haven’t been able to get around to fixing them. Thanks might not be worth it any which way but thanks I will learn how to one of these days glad I found your website very way better than any other ones.
This is a long shot, but finding someone with demonstrated skills who appears trustworthy, is very difficult. I have an instrument cluster on a 2007 motorcycle which needs repair. It has an intermittent short preventing power-up, noticeable in colder temperatures. I don’t trust myself to attempt the repair, and was hoping I could send it to you and pay you for repair? Maybe it would make a good article? We may be far away from each other, but I can ship it. I’m really hoping you can help, I don’t know where else to turn.
Yes these days nearly noone is able to repair such stuff anymore. The only thing People know about electronics is how they swap a PCB against a new one. I once repaired a TV for my relatives which had a defect in the picture display circuit…. After testing it was displaying a picture again they did spend the rest of the evening testing if every website can be received since they didn’t understand the problem and didn’t believe me that if one website showed up after this problem ALL will work…..
ummmm…. sort of need a brief intro to this, delving into… depotting? 🙂 i recently came across a mention of using aspirin of all things, apparently its rather effective on epoxy potting compounds… wish i had known that a few years back… now i have to give it a go i guess. obviously silicone is a no brainer. sharp knife and careful careful…
Hello from Australia! I can’t agree more! Computers, article cards, phones – these are “covered” by many “repairmen” (who mostly only replace a faulty board for the new one), but industrial stuff is what keeps my business ahead! Climate Control units (A/C), industrial and commercial food equipment, automotive boards (mostly Mercedes, Audi, VW, Jeep, etc.) like immobilizers or Cruise Controllers, Remote Controllers and Security Car Controllers, Dash Board circuits, circuits for heavy machinery (harvesters, tractors, trucks, forklifts), power inverters, welders and even some medical and therapeutic equipment – this is my everyday bread (with butter and ham 🙂 ). I even repair relays, as I found it easier and cheaper than try to find the suitable replacement, order it and wait for delivery… And – I still have to refuse some 75% of the job inquiries, just because I can’t cope! Sometimes it seems to me that I have the whole Australia market to myself! I work from home and I have been looking for help – even want to train someone for free – but no takers… Nobody here is interested in repairing electronics…
How is it that anyone can be *educated* and have English for a first language and yet not be able to speak English. If you can read and understand the spoken word you should be able to speak it if you just slow down. It’s not YOUR fault but the poor education you received. They should have taught you better english
Thank you. Good article but your voice hurts the ears :). Yes. The power components goes first. In lcds I already anulate the internal power supply and connect a 12 Volt external power supply because i could not fix the internal one. Also in lcds i already replaced the original cfl illumination by one with leds (lost the brightness control but it worked fine). But you are right. The money is in expensive industrial or commercial repairs that are cheap to the owner to repair than buy new equipment.
Helpful tip if you don’t know: Rub a bit of that “pigeon shit” on the laser etching of the component part number and then wipe it off with your finger. The leftover thermal paste stays in the “grooves” of the part number, making it easy as piss to read! 🙂 Discovered this trick here on youtube and it’s helped me out plenty times with difficult-to-read part numbers. PS that vaccum desolderer looks like a must have. Until now I’ve used my hot air station to “blow” the solder out of those holes but the air pressure needs to be quite high so that doesn’t always work out too well with any SMD components nearby !
hard to follow for a non skilled person. For me (not the smartest), I need to understand when you use a meter what your connecting with each lead and explain the meter reading. Perhaps I’m not the audience here, but if you say something is shorted or not shorted then what helps is if you step through an explanation of why you’re declaring it as such. Again, my ignorance is a problem here, but when you have a pcb with silver tracks, larger copper/gold areas beneath/surrounding and then the green of the plastic board it’s hard to understand how you’re tracing component connections. Thanks for the article in anycase.
Hi, I am a computer software engineer with a strong interest in electronics and I think this article was just excellent, and I appreciated your advice at the end, excellent idea to get work in this field! I am a novice in electronics, can you please explain how you use the Ohm measure to test components, ie, I think in this article you identified something where the Ohms was lowest out of all the readings but I didn’t understand why that is? Thank you!
Hi I wonder if you can help me i have a electric fire with a lcd display the display of various flames etc. it is generated from a sd card the picture pixelates / stops / starts etc the pcb’s consist of a power supply / a main card and a smaller card and the card for i assume the back light. I have tried a couple of places to get it fixed but no joy. the parts are no longer available the display is good in the sense that the flames are from articles of real flames, Modern fires are all flickering lights only (not good). is it possible for me to send you the main pcb and see if you can fix it the fire was my sons who passed away last month from pancreatic cancer and i would love to hold on to the fire, pcb approx size 4″ x 5″. some one lent me their pcb and that is the problem. I live in Aviemore Scotland Thanks Robert Paterson
This is starting to become a lost art. On basically all consumer electronics and a big majority of professional tools/installs, anything wrong with a PCB will result in a bill to replace the said PCB by a new one in the best case or a whole new device in the worst case. It’s an ecology shame because a lot of PCB’s just need s little resolder or a cheap component replacement that would be obvious to a technician like you.
This is absolutely amazing. I’ve been doing hobby soldering since I was a child. I’ve been perusal teardowns and repair articles on YouTube for around 10 years as well, but aside from knowing that there’s a thing called “the one wire circuit” and what a “capacitive dropper” circuit does, I’ve never felt any more equipped to actually diagnose a piece of electronics that’s hit my desk. This was extremely enlightening, and is honestly getting me really excited to try and look back at my many many many “backlog” project boards. I’m definitely not anywhere near being able to truly diagnose things on your level, but this is one of the first times the process has actually made sense to me as a methodology. Thank you!
An issue I can see here is not being able to test this board in situ (after checking for external shorts). A power surge or short could have damaged another part of the circuit you cannot see or test easily. When your fixed board does not work do you lose credibility and say the board is scrap (which it could be). How do you charge for trying? How do you know the board has been handled properly and not thrown into a pile of god know what before you get it. I suspect managing expectations is as important as actually repairing.
To find a short on a board I have a plastic fever tester. I place it on parts and it will tell me if the part is too hot (fever) . Quick and fast tester. Cheap too. I had an Amp-Prob-Tester that an Electrician said got hit by high voltage. All the solder was melted off the board. I soldered all the pins and it worked again.
A mate of mine is a gas fitter & he says it breakd his heart judy throwing boards away because his firm just send him in with replacement boards and he told me how much they cost even for just refurbished PCBs. After I picked myself up off the floor he rummaged in the van & I’ve now got a box full of faulty PCBs. So I’m after learning. Step by step is ideal for me (Asperger’s lends itself to methodicalness) snd I’ve just discovered your website. To say “I’m all ears!” would be a massive understatement. 😀☮️ Edit: Loved it! Absolutely blindin’ mate! That Peak Atlas would pay for itself on day one. I was looking at a cheaper one but the Atlas didn’t invent 2 resistors. That sort of thing could throw you off at the start. Ok, off to watch another. Subbed with a head full of ideas! Nice one! 😜
For VERY quick testing of discrete semiconductors in circuit, I use the project in this link: baec.tripod.com/JULY92/transistor_tester.htm The IC is actually a 556 Dual Timer and not a 555 Single Timer as written, and there are similar circuits that use a 4093 Quad Schmitt NAND: sm0vpo.altervista.org/_visitors/inst/tester20010.htm 99% of the time I use it in diode mode for checking both diodes, transistors and thyristors in circuit using a pair of standard multimeter probe leads. The advantages of this tester is that it checks the forward and reverse bias of semiconductor junctions in one go, rather than having to reverse your probes when using a multimeter in diode test mode. Essentially, this project halves the time it takes to test discrete semiconductors. It also tests LEDs which most multimeter diode testers can’t do and with the aid of a multimeter I’ve used it to test opto couplers too. I can whip through a board with dozens of diodes and transistors on it in less than a minute using this. It’s been one of my main go to testers for over 30 years of electronic fault-finding and has tested thousands of devices. IMHO this tester is an essential piece of kit and should be in everyone’s test equipment arsenal.
I was the senior engineer for the South West of the UK working for Deritent in the mid 1990s. The key is to test each component in turn, Mark it with a dot & move to the next. Back then, the boards were built with ASICS & single components…. not so many programmable like PAL, GAL & micro controllers. My region made a lot of money…& I mean a LOT! As the early moved into the years of more programmable & micros, it became much more difficult. I can’t undestandcwhy you did not look at the yellow fuse F2… I bet it is oc
10 mins in and what I’ve gathered is that you should check for continuity between the power inputs to the transformer, and there are breakers and current onset regulators between the power in and the transformer. Once that is verified, you can move to the output of the transformer, to the bridge rectifier’s outputs that power another section of the board. Pretty cool. I feel like perusal a few of these would give me a sense of what kinds of words get printed on boards.
Youre so helpful. I was trying to fix a foot massager that stopped working and i shorted something and made it more broke lol. Before that i couldn’t see any issues, but i believe there was a short somewhere that caused one of the red and black wires that power the controller to read voltage on both wires.
The label says DeLonghi and has numbers… I’d have googled that first to see if an online schematic was available… The triac on the heatsink is obviously carrying a heavy load… ( thermo = water heating element seems right) I would always suspect power semiconducters first, especially on a heatsink… Interesting board to diagnose… 🤔 😎👍☘️🍺
When I was a line technician in manufacturing we always kept a “gold board” that way you could do straight comparison for quickness. 700 boards built per shift and the failure rate could get near 10% so the solution was to make more boards and leave us with a mountain of de bugging to do. A very short sighted process. Company long gone to SE Asia production.
So sorry to hear that I lost my dad two yrs ago to cancer but the system in the UK is wrong I know what you wanted to say someone can pay into system all the life then if they go in a home or need 24h care they have to pay for or sell there house so there kids get nothing, But those certain people just come into country and get everything paid for rent money to live off, paid nothing into system about time government got it sorted now, sorry but that’s just my opinion,
Morning Richard. I am 78 years of age unqualified other than the university of life. My son is a very successful electrical engineer. My granddaughter aged 4 has a xmas toy that her grandma bought her last year. It was not expensive but she loved it. Basically it is a plush reindeer which has a globe with “snow in” when the paw is pressed the glob lights up and the motor spins and the mouth moves when he sings. It suddenly stopped working and I have removed the dome to check for loose or broken wires, all ok,I have taken the control box out for the same check all wires appear to be firm. I have connected the dome directly to the batteries (3 aa batteries) the dome works fine, so I assume from that, that there mist be a problem with the control panel but have no idea how to check it, I have a multi meter which I am ashamed to say I only use for simple continuity check, other than that I am lost.Could you give me some idea how to identify the fault or is it a case of scrapping this much loved toy. I am not in good place financially at the moment, but I know I am one of millions in the same boat..If you find the time to read this, I am very hopeful that you could point me in the right direction…I can send you a picture of the control box if it helps. thank you
In the time it takes you to work out the circuit, you’d probably find it better spent initially just doing a runaround with the meter on any component which is vulnerable. Small capacitors and small resistors hardly ever blow up. I’d check the PCB for breaks and dry joints then the high current resistors and semiconductors and any dodgy electrolytes.
Hi,am new to your website and I enjoyed perusal you working the fault out,I will now go and watch all your back issues,where are you from originally, I can’t work out if you where from Merseyside. Your accent is a bit mixed but I can hear a little bit of a familiar accent at times.stay healthy and best wishes
Woh, your knowledge is fantastic. Came across this article a second time and had to comment. The fist time I saw it was 24hrs late; I’d just thrown out a tv which was dead and I reckon i might have had a chance to fault find using your method and past knowledge. Second time perusal was just in awe of how you did it.
Nice walkthrough there. Must ask – if you believe external fault reason for blowing unit – why didn’t you power up the board & see if it was ok / voltages you have at various points 🤔 maybe a repair required on the board – But at least you’d have a better idea that this board IS working Just a thought!