The Northwest Repair Discord server is pretty active with people sharing techniques, tips, technical info and gear advice. While NWR's YouTube channel is mainly focused on GPU repair, there's a lot of good knowledge in their vids, and in their Discord channels.
Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
61–70 of 115 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#62I've done a lot of tinkering and repair of home electronics and appliances and usually the problem is a blown fuse, bad connector, bad switch, worn out battery, or other simple problems. Stocking these items - connectors, switches, fuses, rechargeable batteries - will let you fix the most common problems. A lot of folks have given good advice on resources to learn about electronics and ways to practice, so I wanted to offer a little practical advice about tools and supplies that I've picked up over the years.
Most important equipment is a multimeter and soldering station (with desoldering supplies), good wire cutters and strippers (I like the self-adjusting wire strippers for everything except very large and very small gauge wire), so I'll recommend a couple of additional tips I've learned; first, don't get an auto-ranging multimeter, especially cheap ones are usually not very good. I would also recommend one with a higher "count" like 6000 count, meaning the voltage and resistance measurements ranges go up to 6, meaning you have more range before you have to switch to the next higher range.
Also, I want to really emphasize the importance of good soldering materials and technique - I prefer finer solder because it melts faster and requires less heat. It is easy to destroy some more sensitive items with too much heat. Learn to recognize a cold joint, make sure to use a good flux (I like liquid flux like kester 186). Keep a wet sponge at your station for cleaning the tip, remember to tin the tip, and use a fume extractor. Also, there are a variety of "third hands" you can get, I don't really like the small ones with two alligator clips and a magnifying glass, you can get ones with more clips that can hold more things, but a magnifying glass is really helpful (although it interferes with your depth perception) - I use a gooseneck magnifying glass with a built in light ring to help me solder.
Make sure you have heat shrink tubing and a heat gun. These are great for finishing wires and much more durable than wrapping with electrical tape (although high quality electrical tape like super 33 is much better than the cheap stuff)
Finally, when you're looking at a board, try to identify how the electricity will flow. Learn to identify the ground and vcc traces/planes on a pcb and test your theories with the multimeter (continuity mode on a powered off device is best for this). Build up a mental model of how the device works, and write down a circuit diagram. Seek to learn to identify common circuit patterns and what they are used for - decoupling caps, pull-up/pull-down resistors, ESD protection diodes, debouncing filters, level shifters, voltage dividers, op-amp configurations, serial headers (SPI, UART, JTAG, etc), transistor/mosfet/h-bridges. Learn to identify your ICs and look up the datasheets (I have found that taking a picture with flash with my phone is the best way to read hard-to-read IC labels) - the app notes will usually have a reference circuit with the necessary components, and you can use those to identify which components are related and why they're there. Good luck and have fun!
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#63To debug electronics effectively, you cannot underestimate how much EE knowledge is needed.
Start with something like The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Winfield.
An example of the kinds of EE stuff you don't heave to know to be an effective troubleshooter of basic issues, might be, oh, say, what it means for the poles of a transfer function lie in the left half of the s-plane.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#64Louis Rossmann’s electronics guide was the first time these concepts truly clicked for me: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2ltOWmriIdOc5Cti... Apart from that, just fix broken stuff. Practice like any other skill, like others have said. Like decide what skills to learn based on what’s broken. Need to solder something together? Buy the soldering iron. Need to figure out which capacitor you need to replace…
I'd add: Learn to recognize dangers first. From the top of my head:
* big caps that can contain high voltages even when a device is powered off, in TVs or microwaves.
* Know where a fire extinguisher etc is, keep them near the workbench.
* Keep the workbench clean, tidy and well-vented.
* Don't panic when mistakes are made. Slow down instead of doing a quick-fix.
* I like a big red button to power down everything instantly. Can be just a switch on a plug box.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#65i usually just let the magic smoke out for a walk and put back in it.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#66Louis Rossmann’s electronics guide was the first time these concepts truly clicked for me: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2ltOWmriIdOc5Cti... Apart from that, just fix broken stuff. Practice like any other skill, like others have said. Like decide what skills to learn based on what’s broken. Need to solder something together? Buy the soldering iron. Need to figure out which capacitor you need to replace…
I'd add: Learn to recognize dangers first. From the top of my head: * big caps that can contain high voltages even when a device is powered off, in TVs or microwaves. * Know where a fire extinguisher etc is, keep them near the workbench. * Keep the workbench clean, tidy and well-vented. * Don't panic when mistakes are made. Slow down instead of doing a quick-fix. * I like a big red button to power down everything ins…
Definitely
Risks to consider in general are (also of the top of my head don't take as exhaustive):
* Electrocution
* Burning yourself
* Setting stuff on fire
* Fumes, both from soldering and overheating/burning plastic
There's a kind of balance between habits and awareness. Rely too much on awareness and you will miss some safety issue during a complicated repair. You need good habits, but rely too much on them and you won't notice when you finally make a mistake.
Those apply during repair processes. It's also possible to render a device unsafe to use, for example by damaging a li-ion battery or by a 'bodge' repair that circumvents a safety feature.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#67by first learning practical electronics.
you have to know how to make it before you can break it or repair it.
jk, but dammit, man, sometimes I wish that I had learned practical electronics in my school and college days.
in fact, iirc, there was a book by that exact name, practical electronics, by an author named bernard grob. it was in our school library.
I just googled. the book is still around.
https://www.amazon.in/Grobs-Basic-Electronics-Mitchel-Schult...
but it's very expensive for India these days.
also it my day had good Synergy with software development
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#68The Pace soldering lessons on YouTube are good.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL926EC0F1F93C1837&si=U4Jx...
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can get quite far with a Pinecil + additional tips (chisel tip is nice).
I have a large, powerful soldering station and I pretty much exclusively use my pinecil instead. They're wonderful little tools, and they work well up to surprisingly large circuits. If your power supply is beefy enough, you can melt quite a bit of solder with flat tip and decent contact.
Similarly I used to dislike soldering (I used really cheap irons before) and thought it was due to my technique until I bought a Pinecil. For anyone else reading I suggest getting the additional tip sets, the long red USB-C to USB-C cable and the PinePower too if you can afford it, otherwise a laptop power supply with USB-C is good too usually.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn practical electronic repair?
#70Watch a lotta NorthridgeFix youtube channel. He is excellent and leads you through his thought processes. Also get tons of hand ons experiences. Disassemble everyday things and try to figure out how they work / how to modify them. Remote controlls, routes, childrens toys, mobile phones.