Effective fault-finding. Part 1

In the Autumn 2007 issue of Electronics Education, Joe Brock presented an introduction to the basics of fault-finding. This follow-up article, the first in a series of three, expands on Joe's introductory guide with an in-depth examination of the fault problems associated with conventional ‘hard-wired’ PCBs, i.e. printed circuit boards that do not incorporate a microcontroller such as PIC. The author takes a detailed look at techniques designed to promote effective fault prevention and detection insuch circuit boards.