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Copyright © 1994-2007
Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the
following conditions are satisfied:
1.This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning.
We will not be responsible for damage to equipment, your ego, blown parts,
county wide power outages, spontaneously generated mini (or larger) black
holes, planetary disruptions, or personal injury that may result from the use
of this material.
A number of organizations have compiled databases covering thousands of common
problems with VCRs, TVs, computer monitors, and other electronic equipment.
Most charge for their information but a few, accessible via the Internet, are
either free or have a very minimal monthly or per-case fee. In other cases, a
limited but still useful subset of the for-fee database is freely available.
A tech-tips database is a collection of problems and solutions accumulated by
the organization providing the information or other sources based on actual
repair experiences and case histories. Since the identical failures often
occur at some point in a large percentage of a given model or product line,
checking out a tech-tips database may quickly identify your problem and
solution.
In that case, you can greatly simplify your troubleshooting or at least
confirm a diagnosis before ordering parts. My only reservation with respect
to tech-tips databases in general - this has nothing to do with any one in
particular - is that symptoms can sometimes be deceiving and a solution that
works in one instance may not apply to your specific problem. Therefore,
an understanding of the hows and whys of the equipment along with some good
old fashioned testing is highly desirable to minimize the risk of replacing
parts that turn out not to be bad.
The other disadvantage - at least from one point of view - is that you do not
learn much by just following a procedure developed by others. There is no
explanation of how the original diagnosis was determined or what may have
caused the failure in the first place. Nor is there likely to be any list
of other components that may have been affected by overstress and may fail
in the future. Replacing Q701 and C725 may get your equipment going again
but this will not help you to repair a different model in the future.
One alternative to tech-tips databases is to search via
Google Groups (formerly
Deja.com/Dejanews) for postings with keywords matching your model and problem
and the USENET newsgroup
sci.electronics.repair.
See the document: Troubleshooting of
Consumer Electronic Equipment for more information.
They also offer
ServiceTalk, an
on-line discussion group for electronics repair professionals. This
members-only forum has access to a subset of WinSTIPS (about 17,000 tips).
Here is a list of my 390 sites containing free repair tips, forums, free
schematics/service manuals & EEPROM access, I have organized them in
accordance to subject so you would have to go through them and find
which sets have what you need:
The next one is provided at the Bucks
County Tech School Audio/Video Technology Web site.
These types of sites seem to come and go so it is worth checking them out from
time-to-time even if you don't have a pressing need. If possible, download
and archive any useful information for use on a rainy day in the future.
Some also include many useful links in addition to the tech-tips info so are
worth investigating even if you don't have a specific symptom to deal with!
The sites in this list were active as of the version date and most of thenm
have been around for several years - that's all I'll guarantee! :)
-- end V1.17 --
All Rights Reserved
2.There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying.
DISCLAIMER
Every attempt has been made to assure that the information in this document is
up to date and accurate. However, these Web sites come and go without prior
notice and may change their access policies including charges or restrictions.
In addition, their recommendations may not be correct resulting in added time,
expense, and possible damage to equipment. They also assume that the user is
aware of required electrical and fire safety guidelines and precautions.
Introduction
Scope of This Document
Note: This document replaces the individual sections in each of major repair
guides.
Safety
The people who compile tech-tips databases assume you know what you are doing,
at least to the extent of taking appropriate precautions to minimize the
possibility of bodily harm and equipment damage. Before going inside any
piece of electronic equipment, make sure you understand and follow the
guidelines in the document: Notes on Safety. If you
are at all unsure of your understanding of this safety info, take the
equipment to a professional for repair or buy a new one. Your life is more
valuable than the few dollars you might save by doing it yourself!
List of On-Line Tech-Tips Databases
This list is a lot shorter than it was the last time I went through and
checked the tech-tips sites to be sure they still existed. :(