My Troubleshooting Textbook.
At Western Kentucky University where I used to teach the catalog listed a course in the electrical engineering department called troubleshooting. It had never been offered because none of the senior faculty members wanted to teach it. In the spring of 1987 some students came to me and asked if I would be willing to take it on. I agreed and they petitioned the department head to offer the course. It was offered in the fall. About 15 students signed up. I taught the course and because there was no textbook anywhere to be found I wrote one. I still have the files. I have decided to update, convert them to HTML, and post them.Although I tried I never succeeded in getting a publisher interested in it. I self published it through a copy shop near campus so the students could buy it. I retain all rights and posting it here does not mean I am placing it in the public domain.
Troubleshooting.
Table of Contents.
Chapter 0 Review of Fundamentals.
0.1 DC Circuits.
0.2 AC Circuits.
0.3 Power Supplies.
0.4 Bipolar Transistor Fundamentals.
0.5 Bipolar Transistor Circuits.
0.6 Operational Amplifiers.
0.7 Field Effect Transistors.
0.8 Vacuum Tube Fundamentals.
0.9 Vacuum Tube Circuits.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Troubleshooting.
Chapter 2 Test Equipment.
2.1 The Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter (VOM).
2.2 The Electronic Voltmeter.
2.3 The Digital Multimeter (DMM).
2.4 Choosing The Correct Test Meter.
2.5 Analog Versus Digital Meters.
2.6 The Oscilloscope.
2.7 Miscellaneous Test Equipment.
2.8 Instruction Manuals.
Chapter 3 Failure Modes.
3.1 Generalized Failure Modes.
3.2 Electrolytic Capacitors.
Chapter 4 Troubleshooting Techniques.
Chapter 5 Things that have never worked.4.1 Check The Obvious First.
4.2 Do Not Make Modifications.
4.3 Half-splitting.
4.4 Signal Tracing.
4.5 Signal Injection.
4.6 Disturbance Testing.
4.7 Static Testing.
4.8 Shotgunning.
Chapter 6 Faults in Passive Circuits.
Chapter 7 Faults in Power Supplies.6.1 Series Circuits.
6.2 Parallel Circuits.
6.3 Ladder Networks.
Chapter 8 Faults in Transistor Circuits.7.1 Rectifier-Filter Circuits.
7.2 Simple Regulator Circuits.
7.3 Switching Power Supplies.
Chapter 9 Faults in Feedback Circuits.8.1 Common Emitter Amplifier.
8.2 The Emitter-follower's Fatal Flaw.
8.3 AC Coupled Amplifiers.
8.4 DC Coupled Amplifiers.
8.5 Switching Circuits.
Appendix A Mechanical Disassembly.9.1 Discrete Transistor Circuits.
9.2 Operational Amplifier Circuits.
9.3 Regulated Power Supplies.
Appendix B Desoldering.
Appendix C Component Substitution.
Back to Fun with Transistors.
Back to Fun with Tubes."