CHAPTER 3

DIAGNOSIS TECHNIQUES
Learning Outcome (LO)
At the end of this chapter, student should :-
 Understand the process of disassemble and assemble of
electronic equipment
 Understand the diagnosis technique to diagnose fault in
electronic equipment
 Disassemble of Electronic Equipment
 For disassemble, its better to consult the service manual or documents on
specific equipment provided by the manufacturer.
 Opening the equipment non destructively maybe the most difficult and
challenging part of many repairs.
 A variety techniques are used to secure the covers on electronics equipment ,
including :-
 Screw – somewhat antiquated screws are usually of the Phillips type. There are
many type of screws for electronic equipment use.
 Hidden screws – there will require the peeling off a decorative label or prying up a
plug. For a stick on label, rubbing your finger over it may permit you to locate a
hidden screw hole.
 Snaps – Look around the seam between the two halves.You may see points wherein
gently or forcibly pressing with a screw driver will help unlock the covers.
 Fused casing – LCD display housings are usually secured by plastic catches built
into the case. There still may have a couple of screws that are position in the most
innovative places such as under stiches. Have patience in locating the catches and
screws.
 Reassemble of Electronic Equipment
 When reassembling equipment repairs, all parts should go
together without being forced.
 If you cant get them back together, there must be a reason, which
you should find out.
 Make sure the route cables and other wiring such that they will
not pinched or snagged and possibly broken, or have their
insulation nicked or pierced.
 Replace any cable ties that were cut or removed during dis-
assembly and add additional ones of your own, if needed.
Fault Analyzed Techniques
 Identifying electronic devices damage are based on the
use of such equipment.
 Before we identify the damages, we must know the basic
functions of tool that will be repaired.
 From here, we can analyze what damage or symptoms
encountered by that tool.
Fault Analyzed Techniques
 There are several techniques to identifying faults for
electronic devices:-
 Using visual techniques.
 Using injection techniques & signal tracing techniques.
 Using signal tracing techniques
 using voltage measurement technique.
 using resistance measurement technique.
 1. Visual Techniques
 Identify damage to electronic devices using a physical method
involves several senses such as sensory or visual, hearing, smell,
and touch.
 The first thing to do is to observe the components or PCB at the
suspected area, whether good or burnt, loose or broken.
 For example, a broken fuse can be seen physically when a device is
turned on, we can also see if there are smoky effect, sparkling or
burnt in the circuit.
 Main visual techniques are
 Burning effects
 Short effects
 Broken effects
 Heat effects
Burning Effects
Short effects

Broken effects

Heat effects
2. Injection Techniques
 The injection technique can be used to identifying the
faulty/damage.
 To perform injection techniques, we have to use test
equipment such as oscilloscope, audio generator and DC
power supply.
 Example : Once the power output of the amplifier is confirm
damaged, no need to check the RF and IF receiver. Continue
to check the audio amplifier.
 RF, IF &
Detector
section
Tone
Control
Power Amp & Speaker
Pre Amp
Volume Driver
control

• After isolating the fault area such as audio amplifier, signal

injection and tracing is applied to this area.
• AF/RF signal generator is one of the equipments that is used to
inject signal to the isolated block.
Fault Finding Chart
Oscilloscope is then used to trace the output signals of the circuits
Follow this step before we begin the fault finding process:-
- Identify the amplifier blocks.
- Identify the supply voltage to prevent from over-current.
- Adjust a suitable signal of 1kHz or 400Khz from the function
generator.

Tone
Control

Volume Pre Amp Driver (Pre Power Amp Speaker

control Amp Stage 2)
Check the speaker to determine whether it is
functioning. It can be done by ohmmeter.

Speaker Testing
 If the speaker is functioning, the signal can be injected at the input
of power amplifier
 If normal, place the audio generator probe at the driver input
 If normal, check the tone circuit. The output will be small or the
tone cannot be adjusted if the circuit is faulty
 If the circuit is normal, inject signal at the pre-amplifier input.
Level the function generator to obtained an undistorted output
signal.

Push-Pull Amplifier Circuit

3. TRACING TECHNIQUE
 Tracing through the printed circuit is essential to
determine the location of the components and
techniques to be used. The most popular systematic fault
location methods are:
 Determine the input and output
 Determine the power source and earth
 Determine the numbering of the components
Tracing can be done either from the input to output or vice-
versa. Below is an example of the printed circuit.
Circuitry used to trace the track and connection
4. VOLTAGE MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUE.
 Once the fault area is located, voltage measuring technique is
used. Supply voltage to this area must be determined. For
example, a supply of +12V is available at the junction R1 and R3.
If lower or none, it mean the supply is not normal.

Amplifier Circuit
Resistance measurement technique

 This method is used for the components with know resistance such
as resistor, diode, transistor
 Resistor
 Resistor can be measured in the circuit with absence of the other lower
resistance, inductance and transformer. An open circuit resistor give an
infinity or higher resistance in the circuit
 Diode
 The same applied to measuring diode which including checking on it’s
biasing. If both forward biased yields the same results as when it was
measured outside the circuit, the diode is in a good condition
 Transistor
 Transistor testing must be done outside the circuit. We must identify
transistor type whether it is NPN or PNP. If reading are normal, then
the transistor is in good condition.