Some bits of faultfinding require obscure, expensive or cumbersome equipment. When I had faulty audio equipment I pretty much always had to get the oscilloscope and the signal generator out of the loft. Many times I've wanted an OBD reader for cars, or an exhaust gas analyser, or a rolling road. Or the tuning software for my ECU. I have found myself wanting for various gauges, stroboscopes, microscopes, boroscopes, pressure vessels, vacuum chambers, smoke generators, …
In contrast I LOVED the equipment needed to find where a washing machine is leaking. You can put a sheet of cardboard under it to witness where it drips. You can close a sheet of kitchen roll in the soap drawer or the door to see if it's dry, and you can wrap kitchen roll around any hose, pump, or fitting to see if it gets wet.
While I did find the leak in my washing machine (small crack in the tub) I was unable to fix it and still ended up buying a new one.
Richard "waste of time" B
We took a car to CarMax (used car dealership) to get a valuation and they left an OBD2 reader in the car. I felt bad for them and googled it to see how much it would cost to replace, and if the service tech would be in trouble. They are $25 so I decided they wouldn't even notice and kept it.
ReplyDeleteDoug (mine) B