Used to chase every short with a meter, now I just wiggle the connector first | Electronics Repairers - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
Used to chase every short with a meter, now I just wiggle the connector first
When I started fixing guitars at my bench in Boise, any amp that cut out got the multimeter and a half hour of poking around the board. Now I grab the cable and wiggle the plug at the jack, and 7 out of 10 times it's just a worn contact or a cold solder joint right there. Saved a guy $60 on a bench fee yesterday because his input jack needed a quick reflow and nothing else. Anyone else skip straight to the jacks before cracking the chassis open?
The wiggle test is the first thing I do, always. Nine times out of ten it's the jack or the cable, not some mystery gremlin on the board. Quit charging people bench fees to play detective when the answer is right there in your hand.