Electronics diagnosis and repair learning web-sites?

[KP11520]

Hello Everybody,

I have done a lot of reading the last several weeks on this site and a lot of searching on Google for sites that teach how to trace circuits to find what is wrong. I haven't been too lucky and I am getting frustrated. Feels like I am going around in circles. I need instruction from the beginning that can teach me. I want to learn. Video would be best as I am a kinetic learner (Learn best thrown into a problem, hands on vs reading about it). Of course I know there will be reading, but endless pure text is harder for me.

I welcome all ideas on where to get my education (free sites are best but if there is one you feel strongly about that is very effective, please do)! Thanks!



Regards//Keith

[adrome00]

Hello KP11520,
There are many different bits of knowledge that come into play when diagnosing, analyzing, and repairing electronic devices, and experience is key.

Sounds like what you'll have to do is start by either narrowing your approach to a specific device (for example, VCRs), or, by generalizing your approach to learning principles of electronics.

There are books on topics such as TV repair, amplifier design, etcetera. Many of the things learned from one of these books can be applied in general to working on other devices.

Really, the best beginning is a study of basic electronics. There are tons of good books. And for hands-on, get a breadboard and build some circuits! You need to be able to correlate between schematic diagrams and the actual components on a board. Measure some voltages. See if they measure what they are supposed to be. Play with the circuits and experiment.

Hope this helps!

[adrome00]

Hey again, this might not be exactly what you're looking for, but there's a few troubleshooting practice circuits here:

science-ebooks

[KP11520]

Hey adrome00,

Thank you for the link. It looks like it will be very helpful. (And Lord knows I need the help! LOL)

Thanks for responding, I was starting to think real beginners don't stand a chance here! There are recommended books on this site but text books aren't always everyone's preferred method of learning. I have to mix some visual and animation for me to get really involved with the subject matter and when I have that I will learn it better and faster than most. But when my eyes pass endless lines of text, I find myself somewhere else not related to what I am learning and I have to go back and reread from where ever I jumped off.

Regards//Keith

[Nordic]

http://my.integritynet.com.au/purdic...-generator.htm

[adrome00]

Hey Keith,

I hear what you're saying about your method of learning. I'm definitely all for learning things in your own way.

What do you think of this suggestion: Take an appropriate general electronics book, then

1. Read and really try to grasp, say, just one or two paragraphs. Like a 30 second reading stint or something.

2. Do something related, such as study a circuit board, build a small circuit, measure some voltages, take something apart, etc.....

3. Repeat 1 & 2 later - whenever.....


Just try to pick up a bit at a time?

[KP11520]

Thanks Nordic and adrome00!

It looks like there aren't to many videos out there (for free anyway). So there are some with pictures and diagrams and sometimes a little more (very helpful). But it looks like just plain reading (the old fashioned way) rules.

Here is a web-site that starts at the beginning that might be helpful for some of you (like me) other beginners: http://www.electronicstheory.com/html/e101-10.htm

I hope this is useful!

Regards//Keith

[KP11520]

Here is the same site from the beginning: http://www.electronicstheory.com/

[gootee]

Originally posted by KP11520
Hello Everybody,

I have done a lot of reading the last several weeks on this site and a lot of searching on Google for sites that teach how to trace circuits to find what is wrong. I haven't been too lucky and I am getting frustrated. Feels like I am going around in circles. I need instruction from the beginning that can teach me. I want to learn. Video would be best as I am a kinetic learner (Learn best thrown into a problem, hands on vs reading about it). Of course I know there will be reading, but endless pure text is harder for me.

I welcome all ideas on where to get my education (free sites are best but if there is one you feel strongly about that is very effective, please do)! Thanks!



Regards//Keith

Keith,

Here is one REALLY-good site:

http://www.repairfaq.org/

Here's the intro paragraph from that webpage:

------------
Welcome to the Sci.Electronics.Repair Frequently Asked Question(s) (or S.E.R FAQ for short) Home Page. This site features Samuel M. Goldwasser's latest and greatest "Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of..." series of comprehensive repair guides for consumer electronics equipment and other household devices. There is also a great deal of other information of interest to the electronics hobbyist, experimenter, technician, engineer, and possibly even the dentist and poet. Included are the now quite comprehensive and massive "Sam's Laser FAQ", many new schematics, and links to over 1,000 technology related sites. In addition, there are a variety of documents from other sources on electronics troubleshooting, repair, and other related topics.
-------------

Sam Goldwasser is a great guy.

You could also browse the searchable 1981-to-present Usenet newsgroups' message-traffic archive (It's a goldmine, for lots of types of information!), especially the sci.electronics.repair group.

The Usenet archive is now at http://groups.google.com .

Good luck!

- Tom Gootee

http://www.fullnet.com/~tomg/index.html

-

[KP11520]

Thanks Tom, Just added to Favorites in IE!

Two weeks ago I sent my CDP to Rotel because I had no idea how to diagnose a bad DAC. It is a SAA7323GP and from what I understand not easy to de-solder and then solder in the new one. The pins are very delicate. But it would have been nice to know what it was BEFORE I sent it. Maybe now after a couple of months of studying I will get that knowledge.