My buddy at the shop in Phoenix said I was overthinking a simple power supply fix.

He watched me spend an hour checking every single trace on a 2018 Dell laptop board when he just pointed at a visibly bulging capacitor near the input. He said, 'Your eyes are a better tool than your meter sometimes, start with the obvious.' Now I'm second-guessing my whole diagnostic routine. Do you guys have a mental checklist you run through before you even grab the multimeter?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.amy1mo ago

Yeah, and that's such a good point about starting with the obvious! I always do a full visual check first, like looking for burns, broken parts, or anything that smells off. Then I check if anything is loose or if the board looks cracked. After that, I'll gently poke at connectors and sockets to make sure they're seated right. Only then do I grab the meter to confirm what my eyes already told me. It saves so much time to trust your gut and look for the easy stuff.

samf951mo ago

Honestly that visual check is huge. I've fixed so many boards just by re-seating a ram stick or pushing a power connector in all the way. Tbh the smell test is underrated too, a burnt resistor has a very specific smell. Saved myself hours of metering by spotting a bulging capacitor once.