okunewck@gondor.UUCP (Philip E. OKunewick) (03/08/86)
When I was servicing computers, we had a running joke about the 120 volt test. The testing procedure was to apply 120 volts to a questionable component, and if it snapped crackled and popped, it WAS good. Now, after spending many hours trying to pin down an intermittent bug, one is very tempted to do severe bodily harm to the defective component. I actually tried this one day. I took a defective memory chip and soldered the bare ends of a power cord each along row of pins. I then set the assembly on the floor, plugged it into the test bench, and turned on the power. It snapped, it crackled, it popped, it hopped around, the lights flickered, I heard "What th' heck?!?!" from my boss's office, and we all had a wonderful time. ---Duck
tgralewi@ti-csl (03/14/86)
On the same lines as the "120 test", I once knew a repair tech that had a "perfect" system for finding the problem when a machine blew fuses. He kept putting larger and larger fuses in until something else blew.
okunewck@gondor.UUCP (Philip E. OKunewick) (03/18/86)
In article <15400002@ti-csl> tgralewi@ti-csl writes: > > On the same lines as the "120 test", I once knew a repair tech that >had a "perfect" system for finding the problem when a machine blew fuses. >He kept putting larger and larger fuses in until something else blew. This one isn't quite as foolish as it sounds. A smoking component is very easy to find and replace. I would rather see something pour out thick black smoke than go intermittently. The intermittent problems usually result in MULTIPLE service calls. The only problem with smoked components is that it's usually a power supply that smokes. This is usually accompanied by a voltage drop (no big deal) or a surge (Oh, S***!). The surges cause things to go intermittent. Smoked components can be fun, though - especially when you didn't cause them. We had numerous calls from customers screaming "OUR MACHINE IS ON FIRE!", when in reality it was just a little bitty thing pouring out smoke. (They CAN fill a room with smoke, though.) Then you get to walk in all cool and collected in the midst of a "crisis". We also had an occasional gag where, when one tech reassembled a repaired power supply and turned on the power, (probability of repeat failure = high) another standing behind him would clap his hands once. This usually scared the bejabbers out of 'em. ---Duck
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (03/20/86)
Pat Hume, one of the very senior profs in CS at U of T, once told the
story of how he broke the FERUT. FERUT was FERranti U of T, one of
the first computers in Canada -- a great vacuum-tube monster. It had
something like a ten-step procedure for powerdown. From time to time
this machine got modified. One day Hume was the last user of the day,
and the time came to shut it down. Somebody had added an extra step
to the shutdown procedure, presumably as the result of some modification,
but either the writing was illegible or the instructions weren't clear.
He did the best he could, and smoke started coming out. He hastily
finished the powerdown procedure, and called Ferranti. They naturally
said "your service contract is nine to five, we'll be there tomorrow
morning".
Next morning, the Ferranti technical crew showed up and spent all morning
in the machine room. From Hume's description, one got the impression of
technicians half-inside the computer briskly hurling parts out. Hume, a
rather junior professor at the time, sat in his office all morning waiting
for the word on the multi-million-dollar computer he'd broken. People
walking past in the hall would look in with pitying expressions.
Towards noon, the Ferranti senior man walked into Hume's office with a
double armload of parts, dumped them on his desk, and said "that's it".
Machine restored to operation, junior professor not having to contemplate
spending the next fifty years paying back its price... But the really
cute part was that the machine's reliability was markedly better after
this episode. He'd managed to apply just enough stress to blow out all
the marginal parts.
[I don't vouch for the precise accuracy of the above, as it's been a
while since I heard him tell this, but I think it's about right.]
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henrymrgofor@mmm.UUCP (MKR) (03/20/86)
In article <15400002@ti-csl> tgralewi@ti-csl writes: > > On the same lines as the "120 test", I once knew a repair tech that >had a "perfect" system for finding the problem when a machine blew fuses. >He kept putting larger and larger fuses in until something else blew. Reminds me of a guy I once knew (non-programmer) who was trying to write a BASIC program. Every time he would get an error message, he would simply replace the offending line with a REM statement and try the program again. His programs ended up not doing much, but boy were they fast! :-) -- --MKR "The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency." - Albert Einstein
larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) (03/22/86)
In article <2040@gondor.UUCP>, okunewck@gondor.UUCP (Philip E. OKunewick) writes: > ... > Smoked components can be fun, though - especially when you didn't cause > them. We had numerous calls from customers screaming "OUR MACHINE IS > ON FIRE!", when in reality it was just a little bitty thing pouring out > smoke. (They CAN fill a room with smoke, though.) Then you get to walk > in all cool and collected in the midst of a "crisis". > > We also had an occasional gag where, when one tech reassembled a repaired > power supply and turned on the power, (probability of repeat failure = high) > another standing behind him would clap his hands once. This usually > scared the bejabbers out of 'em. If you have ever seen a tantalum capacitor (sintered plug style) explode, with the tantalum plug shooting across the room like a bullet, this gag would not be so funny. I had this happen once, and it was not a pleasant experience, considering that I could have been in the "line of fire"; it sounded just like a .22 going off. ==> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York <== ==> UUCP {decvax|dual|rocksanne|rocksvax|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <== ==> VOICE 716/688-1231 {rice|shell}!baylor!/ <== ==> FAX 716/741-9635 {G1, G2, G3 modes} duke!ethos!/ <== ==> seismo!/ <== ==> "Have you hugged your cat today?" ihnp4!/ <==