Should one post questions about faulty circuits and steps needed to fix them?
Examples:
- Computer motherboards,
- Consumer electronics (TV, Radio, Sat receivers)
- Custom made circuits
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\$\begingroup\$ Depends on the type of question. \$\endgroup\$– endolithCommented Oct 28, 2012 at 14:54
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8\$\begingroup\$ If it is a detailed one with circuit, tests done and a little bit of theory is it accepted? I am asking because this is the only SE site that might be appropriate to ask such questions \$\endgroup\$– OdysCommented Oct 28, 2012 at 15:27
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8\$\begingroup\$ @odyodyodys My short answer. If you are troubleshooting a design in some way then yes. If you are just trying to fix something you bought and dont know the design of, no. \$\endgroup\$– KortukCommented Oct 29, 2012 at 5:29
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2 Answers
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I enjoy answering repair questions if they are asked in a way beneficial to others, i.e. show some research effort. As I said here, "much can be learned about electrical engineering when troubleshooting existing circuits and looking for the root causes of [the] exact types of failure."
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5\$\begingroup\$ this requires OP have some basic knowledge on electronics before asking. \$\endgroup\$– OokerCommented Aug 20, 2017 at 19:22
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\$\begingroup\$ Exactly, the worst part is that I don't even know what to start searching on google. \$\endgroup\$– QwertyCommented Jun 24, 2021 at 19:24
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In general, these questions are "Too Localized". This isn't so much an assessment of repairing stuff, but of the kind of repair questions that we have gotten.
The issues I find with repair questions include:
- The OP has no electronics experience and can only say "it's not working."
- The device contains proprietary/custom chips (no documentation)
- The circuit needs specialized equipment and knowledge for debugging
- The circuit is part of a module that is in a "throw-away" circuit.
- It's really dead (wrong power supply voltage, lightning, blunt force trauma)
- The complexity of the circuit and debugging is beyond what is reasonable.
These issues make for very frustrating questions because it is practically impossible in most cases to be able to intelligently find the correct answer. Often what will happen is that everyone will start throwing out guesses as to what the issue is, because there's not much else that one can do with just a computer. Granted, these are judgement calls and some of this may seem like a catch-22, but that's where I see the line.
