A Series on Troubleshooting Electrical Equipment

Troubleshooting electrical equipment can sometimes be a very simple problem that is easy to find, simple to repair, and takes very little knowledge or experience. For example, a faulty power cord shorted to ground will immediately trip a circuit breaker or blow a fuse. The evidence left behind, (black soot) is indicative that a short circuit has occurred. The overall time it takes to find and repair this type of problem is minimal compared to other problems that you may encounter. Figure -1 shows the results of a failed component on a printed circuit board. Notice the extreme amount of black soot left behind. However, some of the problems that you encounter can be very time consuming to locate or the time it takes to make repairs can be extensive. But before we get into complex troubleshooting challenges lets first look at the skills, knowledge, and experience that can benefit you when troubleshooting any electrical equipment. The most important attribute and the one that will benefit you the most is common-sense. Here are examples of what I mean by common-sense: 1. Start with the most common problems first. a. Mechanical problems (belt is too tight or a mounting problem causing the breaker to trip) b. Complete loss of input voltage c. An open or broken circuit d. A short circuit e. Voltage problems (too high or too low) 2. Dont make ridiculous assumptions. a. Dont jump into the middle of a circuit before youve check for common problems such as a blown fuse or incoming voltage levels. b. If you were troubleshooting a washing machine and discovered that the tub does not drain prior to the spin cycle, how much sense would it make to start out by reading the resistance of the motor windings with an ohmmeter? This would be a very bad assumption that makes no sense. If the motor was bad then the washing machine wouldnt agitate once the tub was filled with water, and it would not spin. Common sense should have you suspecting a bad drain valve or solenoid, or maybe dirty contacts in this part of the circuit. 3. Consider current events (what has happened in the past few days)? a. A thunder storm can fail solid state components such as a diode in a full-wave rectifier. If the rectifier supplies voltage to a relay or a coil, the low voltage out of the rectifier will not allow the relay or coil to pickup. The end result is that the breaker keeps tripping or the fuse keeps blowing. b. Rain can leave water in a conduit which can cause partial grounds between the metal conduit and any exposed conductor; such as wires tied with twist connectors. The partial ground can bring in nuisance alarms or periodically energize unwanted devices. The problem can be difficult to locate since the conduit may be dried out within a day or so. c. Has someone replaced a part recently? If so, there is a chance that they left a part off or didnt tighten up some of the hardware. d. Has maintenance recently been performed? This is similar to the previous issue. Theres a chance that they forgot to open a valve or turn the heaters back on, etc. To be continued.

Figure 1 Component failure on a printed circuit board