Reported to Consumer Affairs - beware!!
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frase
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What exactly do you mean by "Static Build
up?." You gave them a suggestion on your behalf, they took your advice. They say the issue is still occuring, even though the customer went out and got the item you suggested they get. So this would be an open job for me if, I suggest that something on your basis that you have explained, the issue remains to be repaired. I personally would not charge them, you need to go there and take the system with you and. Ask firstly do they have a backup of the system, usually no.
Then however you create your tickets, inform them before you take the system offsite, as what Data Loss Cause may occur, etc. Go over it fully loaded with a stressing tool before you mess around with it with your setup. Check all the hardware, I noticed you did not even test the PSU, so that there could be the issue. You only seemed to skim over the PC in it's entirety, rather target the power board itself. I would agree, yes indeed an issue would be with the board. Though it may be an accumlated issue, that has affected the other devices already.
It may have surged the PSU as well, even though it turns on It would be intermittant, as the voltage may be spiking; or even a loose power header cable. That is why you need to measure all possibilities rather than direction on part of the problem. You may have got the source, though that is berking everything else up when it was connected.
So no the customer has a point here, back to you Jim.
up?." You gave them a suggestion on your behalf, they took your advice. They say the issue is still occuring, even though the customer went out and got the item you suggested they get. So this would be an open job for me if, I suggest that something on your basis that you have explained, the issue remains to be repaired. I personally would not charge them, you need to go there and take the system with you and. Ask firstly do they have a backup of the system, usually no.
Then however you create your tickets, inform them before you take the system offsite, as what Data Loss Cause may occur, etc. Go over it fully loaded with a stressing tool before you mess around with it with your setup. Check all the hardware, I noticed you did not even test the PSU, so that there could be the issue. You only seemed to skim over the PC in it's entirety, rather target the power board itself. I would agree, yes indeed an issue would be with the board. Though it may be an accumlated issue, that has affected the other devices already.
It may have surged the PSU as well, even though it turns on It would be intermittant, as the voltage may be spiking; or even a loose power header cable. That is why you need to measure all possibilities rather than direction on part of the problem. You may have got the source, though that is berking everything else up when it was connected.
So no the customer has a point here, back to you Jim.
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Frase, you have never across staticbuildup in your career? You can’t be serious. You made assumptions. Who said customer went out and bought whatever based on my advice? I never said that so it wasn’t me. I didn’t read the rest of your post after all that opening jibberish.
Techlogon
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I have to disagree, no way I would do open ended freebies on a job like that either... First, he doesn't say that they took his advice or that they went out and got the item he suggested.
Second, even if they did, he had told them that it's a very old PC - way past its economic lifespan.
The fact that another issue (not necessarily the same cause) arose a few weeks later on a 10 year old SFF isn't all that surprising - presumably he quoted/advised on a new PC and they didn't want to buy one so the risk is on them.
The only question mark I'd have is over his communication - did he tell them that this may be a temporary fix and if they want him to take it back to the workshop for a week and stress test etc to look for intermittent faults (in the hope of finding a permanent fix) that would cost far more than the pc is worth? If so, then the customer hasn't a leg to stand on.
britechguy
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If we're talking 10 year old SFF, the correct solution is replacement, pure and simple. Hardware has a finite service life.
You could have made her sign a kind of paper / contract, where she would acknowledge the fact that her PC was fixed but without any kind of warranty?
sapphirescales
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Holy crap. You didn't run proper diagnostics and stress testing on the unit before you declared it "fixed?" No wonder the client is p*****. First off, at 10 years old, that thing needs to be replaced. If the client insists on keeping it for whatever reason then you have to do the proper diagnostics on it and get to the bottom of the actual problem. Just because you fiddled with it and it turned back on doesn't mean there isn't something wrong with it.
Personally I would have quoted a replacement and if they insisted I fix it I would have taken it back to the shop and done proper diagnostics and stress testing. By the time they paid for all my labor it would be just as much as a replacement, so they'd be stupid not to agree to replace it. Diagnosing and fixing hardware in the field just isn't feasible. Replace, replace, replace, or take it back to the shop to be properly diagnosed and repaired. With a 10 year old SFF like that it's almost guaranteed to have a power supply and/or motherboard failure. Seeing as it sprung back to life after you messed with it, I'd bet on it being the power supply. Just having it disconnected from power for a while and discharging the capacitors inside the power supply will usually allow a "dead" power supply to come back to life for a few days/weeks.
You're supposed to be a professional and know what the heck you're doing. If a repairman came out to fix my washing machine and he got it to work after fiddling with it, and then it did the same thing a week later, I'd be p***** off and rightfully so. I'd demand that he come out and fix it properly or give me a refund for his previous "fix."
britechguy
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Don't let the door . . .
I'll never understand why, on any venue such as this one, anyone joining or posting expects a cheerleading section for bone-headed behavior. The unvarnished truth, or what people believe to be the unvarnished truth, is far more helpful, even when it's apparent you've made a big mistake.
sapphirescales
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Wow, butthurt much? You F'd up and got called out on it but instead of seeing that you call everyone else stupid. With an attitude like that you really shouldn't be offering your services to people, regardless of your skill level (or lack thereof). Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it is the surge protector and not the computer, but that's highly unlikely. Even if it was the surge protector, you still should run proper diagnostics and stress testing on a computer before declaring it "fixed." If you're not willing to properly diagnose a computer, you shouldn't touch it because when you touch it, it becomes your responsibility.
britechguy
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That one had (and has) me scratching my head, too. I've been working with computers since the 1980s, and other than a static grounding wristband, intended to prevent the tech from giving the computer an unexpected static shock, I've never heard of "static build up" in any way, shape or form.
Love how the original message was conveniently edited, too, so that "the evidence" of inanity is no longer present.
ThatPlace928
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I read it this morning, then got distracted and came back to re-read the original post only to see the OP throwing tantrums and calling names. How sad.
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Well judging by the comments from the op, he has clearly broken one of our rules.
So the op is no longer welcome on the forum, and the account has been terminated.
So the op is no longer welcome on the forum, and the account has been terminated.
Computer Bloke
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Neither have I but I'm impressed that OP cleared it "in the usual way", which would be a light spritzing with water from the spray bottle that I'm sure we all have in our toolkits.
Deionized water is safer than tap water, but when fixing computers with magic perhaps Holy Water would be the best.
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frase
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GTP
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What is "static buildup?" I've never heard of such a thing. I'm open to being enlightened though.
GTP
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"In the years following the first description of this phenomenon, controversy has surrounded the Dunning-Kruger effect and its validity. While it was once considered a well-founded explanation of how we evaluate our abilities, the effect has since been questioned by certain data scientists and mathematicians alike."
Sounds like something you'd encounter on Tik Tok....
frase
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What is "static buildup?" I've never heard of such a thing. I'm open to being enlightened though.
I have never worn any static bands either in my entire life. I usually do work on a non static surface anyway. I discharge on something metal if I see huge dust cave.
I am struggling with perfectionism, which I am trying to lessen with. Either I do something great and meet expectations, though I thought I could have done this or that. Or I fail miserably because it just happens sometimes, live and learn own it. It is done by the best of people, I cannot control it; Just learn from it and move on.
I have never worn any static bands either in my entire life. I usually do work on a non static surface anyway. I discharge on something metal if I see huge dust cave.
I am struggling with perfectionism, which I am trying to lessen with. Either I do something great and meet expectations, though I thought I could have done this or that. Or I fail miserably because it just happens sometimes, live and learn own it. It is done by the best of people, I cannot control it; Just learn from it and move on.
sapphirescales
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@britechguy @Computer Bloke @GTP @frase I know Linus isn't a technician and LTT is more about entertainment than anything else, but I've found some of his content valuable. For example, the tests he did about how much thermal paste to use and different ways to apply it (spoiler alert: it doesn't really matter so long as you use enough of it). He also did a rather silly video about static electricity killing components. I've had STATIC ELECTRICITY BAD drilled into my head since I was a kid in the 90's and even to this day I'm obsessive about grounding myself before touching anything inside a computer or any bare components, but his rather unscientific tests show that the fear of static electricity is either way overblown or maybe modern components are just better protected from it:
Computer Bloke
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Yes, absolutely. I learned this the hard way in the early Eighties when designing circuits using 4000-series CMOS chips, which will drop dead if you give them a dirty look on a dry day. An expensive lesson that I only had to learn four or five times before it stuck.
What I have trouble with is OP's apparent belief that a computer will build up a static charge (it doesn't) which needs to be cleared (huh?) in order to make it work. This is pure magical thinking and OP's assumption that this is a routine procedure that we all perform ("in the usual way") is staggering.
Don't get me started on his/her daisy-chained power cord/surge protector theory.
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