miles_burns•2mo agoMost Upvoted

Just realized my most reliable diagnostic tool is a $2 magnet from the hardware store

Last week, a frantic customer brought in a vintage stereo receiver from 1978 that would randomly shut off, and after three hours of checking caps and transistors, I finally found the culprit when the magnet stuck to a tiny, hidden steel shaving that had fallen onto the main board and was shorting two traces every time the unit vibrated.

4 comments

4 Comments

stellaperry2mo ago

My buddy who fixes old pinball machines swears by a magnet on a string. He found a loose ball bearing rolling around inside a machine that was causing a weird tilt sensor fault, and the magnet fished it right out from under the playfield without taking the whole thing apart.

diana5122mo ago

My toolkit's basically just a magnet and a prayer.

spencer_park261mo ago

Magnets are the real heroes sometimes.

dylan3762mo ago

A magnet saved me a ton of time on an old tube amp with a hum that came and went. I was about to start recapping the whole power supply when my magnet stuck to the chassis near a preamp tube. Pulled out a tiny screw that had fallen down from the top plate years ago and was just barely touching something it shouldn't. Felt like a genius for about five minutes.