Work process: systematic troubleshooting
How you get started in self-employment
Troubleshooting is detective work. Instead of starting to swap parts at random, you work logically towards the cause. It saves time, parts and frustration.
§1. Describe the fault
What is the symptom exactly? When does it occur — always, or under certain conditions? What do the instruments show? The better you describe the error, the easier it is to identify.
§2. Narrow down the area
- 01Use system and pipe drawings to see which parts may be involved
- 02Measure pressure temperature and other values and compare with normal
- 03Eliminate the parts that demonstrably work so the field becomes smaller.
§3. Find the cause
When you've narrowed the area you investigate possible causes one by one. Check the simplest and most likely first. Confirm it's actually the cause before moving on — otherwise you risk fixing the wrong thing.
§4. Remedy and test
- 01Repair or replace the faulty part according to the manual's instructions
- 02Clamp and assemble correctly and remove tools from the fixture
- 03Test that the error is gone and that nothing new has happened
- 04Document cause, correction and test