That old timer who told me to ditch the multimeter and trust my nose

Guy named Dave at my last shop swore I could smell a bad capacitor before I ever tested it. Laughed it off for a year until I walked past a rack and caught that burnt plastic whiff. Pulled the unit, sure enough cap was bulging. Anyone else got weird sensetricks that actually work?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.quinn5d ago

I watched a guy at a salvage yard once tap capacitors with a wooden chopstick to listen for the rattle. Turns out a failing cap can sound different than a good one when you tap it, like a dull thud instead of a solid click. He'd go down a whole row of boards, tapping each one, and pull the bad ones before even plugging anything in. I tried it myself with a plastic screwdriver handle, and I swear it works maybe seven times out of ten. The trick is you need a light touch, not a hard whack, or you'll crack the board. It's a weird skill but beats digging out the meter for a quick pass.

ninah105d ago

One time I used a chopstick to test a bad relay in a microwave and it clicked weird after I tapped it.