How to Troubleshoot Electrical Components
- 1). Make sure that power is getting to the component. It may sound ridiculous, but the first question any helpdesk will ask you is if the appliance is plugged in and switched on.
- 2). Look at the component for signs of what the problem is. Are there signs of burn out? If a component has overheated, there will often be a brown mark close to the effected area. Carefully touch the component because circuits that burn out will sometimes get hot. Check that all of the solder is intact. If there is a break in it, you have probably found your problem.
- 3). Smell the air. If you can smell burning, that is also a sign of a component overheating.
- 4). Use a specialized meter reader and follow the instruction manual to measure electricity at various points along the circuit. This allows you to establish where the circuit breaks down.
- 5). Think about everything that you can see, smell or touch and decide where the problem is. Consider all the signs like burn marks and smells. You need to know where the problem is before you can work out what it is.
- 6). Make a list of everything that could have caused the problem like broken solder or a loose connection. Adopting this logical approach will help you to focus your mind on what you are doing. With every possible option, you need to establish it as the problem or rule it out completely.
- 7). Establish exactly what caused the problem before attempting to fix it and ask yourself why the problem occurred. Is it due to age or corrosion from a damp environment? Maybe the component has been improperly used of there is a basic design flaw. If you understand why a problem happened you can take steps to avoid it happening again.
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