Knowledge of effective troubleshooting practices can go a long way toward getting equipment back on line quickly. Unfortunately, due to many reasons troubleshooting occupies too much of a technician's time. You might consider these six key elements to improve your troubleshooting skills: Understand the system Understand the problem and history Eliminate the obvious Develop possible causes and theories Eliminate causes, start with what is easy, or likely Validate and document the solution Firstly, if you do not understand the system and how it functions, you will be thrashing around in the dark. I found the best time to understand was while the equipment was running and producing product. Time spent studying the process while the equipment was running paid huge benefits when issues arose. It was always beneficial to listen closely to what the operator saw, heard, noticed, and did, just before the problem occurred. I learned quickly that a good operator was a great asset. ...
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