I like fixing things. Computers, vacuums, cars, cell phones, washing machines, dishwashers, sinks, ceiling fans, chainsaws, home electrical wiring, you name it I've fixed it. There are many benefits to fixing things yourself. You save money, time and (usually) know the quality of your fix. And then there's the satisfaction of doing it yourself which, in my opinion, is the best of them.
There's three steps to fixing something: identifying the problem, addressing the problem, and verifying the solution. Today we focus on the first, and more important part, identifying the problem. Obviously, you need to identify the problem before you can fix it. Identifying the problem involves looking at the symptoms, and applying your knowledge of the situation in order to identify likely causes of the symptoms.
Many would-be DIY (do-it-yourself) mechanics fail to do this. They identify some symptoms, and then "throw parts" at the problem instead of spending more time diagnosing it. This is a huge waste of time, effort and money. If your brake rotors are scratched and you just replace the rotors without understanding WHY they got scratched then chances are the new set you put on will face the same fate. This applies to almost anything. If you have mold on a wall, you can cut out and replace the section of the wall but without treating the root cause you're just putting a loose band-aid on the problem.
The first thing you need to do is learn about whatever it is your working on. Without some knowledge of the situation you aren't going to be able to understand what caused whatever you are dealing with and your ability to actually address the problem will be limited. Car overheating? Learn how your cooling system works. Bedroom doesn't have power at any outlets? Learn how home wiring works.
The internet has the complete sum of human knowledge available at the click of a button. Anything you want to learn, you can. If I'm tackling something I haven't worked with before I'll learn as much as I can beforehand. Read articles, forums, and watch videos on YouTube all with the intent of learning. You have to be broad in your scope because you don't know what's going to be the thing that helps you identify the cause of what you're dealing with. Keep learning until you can explain it to someone else.
The other method of learning, which I recommend to be used in conjunction with the one above is to examine and tinker with what you have. You can learn a lot by just looking at something and figuring out how it works. Open something up and put it back together. See how parts fit together and how they might work when they're operating. Doing this after you read up on how something works gives you the best possible understanding and foundation for troubleshooting.
Ideally, after you've learned about the system your working on you'll be able to use your deductive reasoning to diagnose the problem completely. If not then, then google it! I'm going to spoil the master trick of anybody who's fixed a computer before. At least 80% of the issues we deal with aren't things we instantly know how to fix; we just google them and follow suggestions posted online. Now be warned, we don't do it mindlessly. With a basic understanding of how a computer works we can read similar problems people have had and conclude which is most likely in our specific scenario. This is why understanding what you're working on is so important, mindlessly following tutorials on the internet will often lead to making your problem even worse.
Now rarely, if ever, do we search online and find the exact cause of our issue. Normally we gain an understanding surrounding the problem and limit our possibilities down to a few likely causes. Then we have to tinker with whatever we're working on to isolate the exact cause. Let's say the light switch in your home doesn't work and through your research you've isolated it to two things: loose wiring or a faulty switch. You unscrew the cover and take a look at the switch and the wiring going to it. Online you learned how to test a switch using a multimeter. You disconnect the switch and find it to be functioning properly. This leaves loose wiring as your identified diagnosis. This is one area where following online tutorials WILL be super helpful. Troubleshooting tutorials walk you through how to test certain problems are great in helping people isolate specific issues. Following these tutorials is also a fantastic way to apply your previous research. You want to avoid tutorials that show you how to fix/replace things until you've diagnosed the problem.
The final and most important skill for anyone properly troubleshooting things is to embrace failure. You will fail, and you will fail often the more you try to fix things. My parents lost power in their bedroom a year ago and I tried fixing it but only got one outlet to work. I tried some more over the next few days but couldn't figure it out. Fast forward a year and 25 YouTube videos later I understood the issue, understood how much I messed up the wiring a year ago, and managed to fix the power for about $10 and 30 minutes. The first project car I worked on had a blown headgasket and after repairing it I forgot that I had dropped a bolt in the engine. I started her up tried to drive and blew up the engine beyond repair. The point is you will screw up (a lot) but the idea isn't to be some magic genie that can fix anything on command, it's to add all the experience to your arsenal and slowly increase your success rate and limit the resources you use to fix things. The more things you see the better you'll be, and there's no substitute for that.
There's three steps to fixing something: identifying the problem, addressing the problem, and verifying the solution. Today we focus on the first, and more important part, identifying the problem. Obviously, you need to identify the problem before you can fix it. Identifying the problem involves looking at the symptoms, and applying your knowledge of the situation in order to identify likely causes of the symptoms.
Many would-be DIY (do-it-yourself) mechanics fail to do this. They identify some symptoms, and then "throw parts" at the problem instead of spending more time diagnosing it. This is a huge waste of time, effort and money. If your brake rotors are scratched and you just replace the rotors without understanding WHY they got scratched then chances are the new set you put on will face the same fate. This applies to almost anything. If you have mold on a wall, you can cut out and replace the section of the wall but without treating the root cause you're just putting a loose band-aid on the problem.
The first thing you need to do is learn about whatever it is your working on. Without some knowledge of the situation you aren't going to be able to understand what caused whatever you are dealing with and your ability to actually address the problem will be limited. Car overheating? Learn how your cooling system works. Bedroom doesn't have power at any outlets? Learn how home wiring works.
The internet has the complete sum of human knowledge available at the click of a button. Anything you want to learn, you can. If I'm tackling something I haven't worked with before I'll learn as much as I can beforehand. Read articles, forums, and watch videos on YouTube all with the intent of learning. You have to be broad in your scope because you don't know what's going to be the thing that helps you identify the cause of what you're dealing with. Keep learning until you can explain it to someone else.
The other method of learning, which I recommend to be used in conjunction with the one above is to examine and tinker with what you have. You can learn a lot by just looking at something and figuring out how it works. Open something up and put it back together. See how parts fit together and how they might work when they're operating. Doing this after you read up on how something works gives you the best possible understanding and foundation for troubleshooting.
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| Flowcharts like these are very helpful if you can find one applicable to your situation |
Ideally, after you've learned about the system your working on you'll be able to use your deductive reasoning to diagnose the problem completely. If not then, then google it! I'm going to spoil the master trick of anybody who's fixed a computer before. At least 80% of the issues we deal with aren't things we instantly know how to fix; we just google them and follow suggestions posted online. Now be warned, we don't do it mindlessly. With a basic understanding of how a computer works we can read similar problems people have had and conclude which is most likely in our specific scenario. This is why understanding what you're working on is so important, mindlessly following tutorials on the internet will often lead to making your problem even worse.
Now rarely, if ever, do we search online and find the exact cause of our issue. Normally we gain an understanding surrounding the problem and limit our possibilities down to a few likely causes. Then we have to tinker with whatever we're working on to isolate the exact cause. Let's say the light switch in your home doesn't work and through your research you've isolated it to two things: loose wiring or a faulty switch. You unscrew the cover and take a look at the switch and the wiring going to it. Online you learned how to test a switch using a multimeter. You disconnect the switch and find it to be functioning properly. This leaves loose wiring as your identified diagnosis. This is one area where following online tutorials WILL be super helpful. Troubleshooting tutorials walk you through how to test certain problems are great in helping people isolate specific issues. Following these tutorials is also a fantastic way to apply your previous research. You want to avoid tutorials that show you how to fix/replace things until you've diagnosed the problem.
The final and most important skill for anyone properly troubleshooting things is to embrace failure. You will fail, and you will fail often the more you try to fix things. My parents lost power in their bedroom a year ago and I tried fixing it but only got one outlet to work. I tried some more over the next few days but couldn't figure it out. Fast forward a year and 25 YouTube videos later I understood the issue, understood how much I messed up the wiring a year ago, and managed to fix the power for about $10 and 30 minutes. The first project car I worked on had a blown headgasket and after repairing it I forgot that I had dropped a bolt in the engine. I started her up tried to drive and blew up the engine beyond repair. The point is you will screw up (a lot) but the idea isn't to be some magic genie that can fix anything on command, it's to add all the experience to your arsenal and slowly increase your success rate and limit the resources you use to fix things. The more things you see the better you'll be, and there's no substitute for that.
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