For those of you with children, you may agree that some of the most trying times in your relationship with your kids occur when you expect them to absorb what you teach them. They struggle to grasp that you have a bunch more life experience than they do, and it’s from your experiences that you are trying to teach them. Like it or not, they will eventually learn (sometimes “the hard way.”) I’d like to show you some techniques from my experience I’ve learned to employ. Yes, it’s because I, too, learned this "the hard way."
Headed down the right road
It seems just a few short years ago (similar to many of you, whose presence I noted all over Facebook chat groups and iATN), I was introduced to what I would call “new testing techniques.” These involved tools like the digital storage oscilloscope (DSO). I finally found myself in a place where I was comfortable. The DSO offered me (for the first time) a view of electricity displayed in an operating circuit. This dynamic view offered me a chance to truly understand how components of a system operate to accomplish a goal. For the first time, I could truly understand what I’d grown to only memorize in school to pass a test.
It was an incredibly liberating feeling. On a day-by-day basis, my passion for what I did for a living became more and more rekindled. I felt “alive” again, and my career was now fun! Equally as important, I gained a better understanding of how the automobile and all its systems functioned. Each day, I became a better, more knowledgeable technician.
Expanding my abilities
My introduction to the DSO changed my career forever. Being able to view voltage allowed me to see a command being delivered to a component. The multiple lab scope traces allowed me to also view current flow, proving a circuit’s functionality or its deficiency. Suddenly, being able to view these voltage or current flow changes over time allowed me to locate not only instantaneous faults but also ones that had progressively worsened over time. For the first time, I could locate a fault without a symptom present. To those who were not “in the know,” it almost appeared like magic!
Yes, the power of a DSO is still unrealized by many, and it’s been my goal for years to “help spread the word.” Learning to implement the DSO improved my efficiency many times over. More importantly, I now had the power to (in almost any scenario) capture a fault and replace a component or make a repair to a circuit, with absolute certainty the fault would be remedied. Again, this was a game-changer for me, and my employers were equally pleased with the results. Attitudes were good, income was good, and so were customer relations.
A bit of an obsession
I’m quite sure many of you can relate. After seeing the results of my DSO usage reflected in my performance gains in the shop, I became a bit obsessed. I found myself reading more about system description and operation, planning experiments to see the systems in action. It led to the recording of what we refer to as “known-good” captures.
I began to “scope” everything I encountered, and at times, it indeed interrupted my workday and caused my efficiency to plummet. I was so focused on capturing faults and continuing to grow that the time invested no longer meant anything to me. I soon lost track of what was important, the goal of customer satisfaction above all. One could argue that “accuracy” supports that goal, but it means nothing if one is spending hours a day conducting arbitrary tests simply to fill one’s buffer of “known-goods.” I had to train myself to realize that the time/place for these experiments should not be while “on-the-job” (although unavoidable at times).
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Some changes had to be made. On one hand, I knew I was on the right track by pursuing labscope diagnostics, but on the other hand, it was affecting my productivity and even my income (flat-rate pay). Something had to change.
One evening, I sat at home with a beer and my thoughts. I grabbed a pen and paper and began to scribble down some notes. These notes contained experiments I desired to carry out. After about 20 minutes or so, the list was quite fruitful. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks! I needed to plan some of my free time to carry out these experiments. My previous thought was if I were working on cars and analyzing them, it should be during work hours. I later realized that anything above and beyond the normal call of duty (like the training most of us undergo) should be performed after-hours.
I decided to stay late on the upcoming Wednesday evening. This didn't interrupt my schedule at all (just some beer-drinking). My time was not pressed, and this allowed me not only to focus on the tasks I wished to accomplish but also to relax and become even more efficient with the scope and the data acquisitions. Scope setup became second nature in no time. My game plan for “training” in place forced me to get organized and reinstate my efficiency in the shop. In the upcoming weeks, one of the veteran technicians caught wind of my experiments and decided to join me. We soon became best of friends and conducted our ideas/experiments as partners, side-by-side. Learning together became a very dynamic thing, and as the adage goes, “two heads are better than one.”
Developing a structured archive
After months of capturing and saving humongous files, the storage devices began to fill quickly. Not only that, but my attempt to review the data was a nightmare. Locating what I desired was like trying to search for that lone sock in your child’s drawer, full of them! I required a better and more efficient way of storing the data. I had everything I needed; I just couldn't find it efficiently.
Over time, the structure of my archive was refined to suit what I found works best for me. I eventually settled on this:
I would first create a file folder based upon the year/make/model of a vehicle:
- Include engine/trans configuration
- Include symptom exhibited/reason for analysis
That file contained the individual captures. Each capture would be labeled by:
- Scope channel
- Circuit and/or component measured
- Engine operating condition (cranking/idle/rpm value/ WOT)
- Whether or not the fault was present (known-good/ unknown/faulted)
By labeling the file folder with all pertinent vehicle information, I have eliminated the need to annotate every single capture with the same information. This saves so much time. Creating a folder provides a targeted area to send all of the proceeding captures. Give this a try and see what works best for you!
Once the experimentation event is concluded, I upload the file to a cloud-based storage facility, such as Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and Google Drive. The storage limits vary by service, from 2 GB for Dropbox, 5GB for OneDrive, and 15GB for Google Drive; additional storage is available for a monthly fee. This will benefit you threefold! By storing the files on the cloud, you free up your PC memory. What’s more is “when” that PC finally throws in the towel, your carefully saved data is safe and sound in the cloud. You can access the data files anytime and anywhere, so long as you have connectivity to the internet.
Finally, one of the greatest reasons to store this data in the cloud is the ease of accessibility to others. Sharing what I have found/discovered (through my experimentation) and helping others is something I've always been very passionate about. I’ve had a lot of help over the years, and it’s always been a goal of mine to pass it along to others. This is a great and convenient way to do just that.
This eventually evolved into me offering online technical support. I have a folder like those I described above for hundreds of technicians, and each tech has his or her own folder. Each of those folders contains another subfolder for every single car that person inquires with me about. I assist, and in return I develop many friendships and a ton of known-good captures! We all learn together; if “two heads are better than one,” what about a few thousand?
If you find yourself at a crossroads trying to determine if the DSO and other advanced tools are right for you — and you find yourself questioning their implementation due to the time invested — don’t sweat it. Structure your learning and get organized. Don’t sacrifice your growth as a technician for money or efficiency. Just make it a priority in your available free time.
