T
6

A bad week that changed my mind about those new digital diagnostic tools

We had three callbacks in a row on a new install in a Portland office building, all for intermittent door faults. The lead mechanic swore by his old meter and said the new handheld diagnostic unit was just a fancy toy. I insisted we use it, and it found a voltage drop in a single wire in the harness that the meter missed. That saved us a fourth trip and a lot of head scratching. Anyone else run into a stubborn problem where the new tech proved the old hands wrong?
3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
3 Comments
gavin_burns49
Ever feel like the new tool is just there to make you look dumb? I argued with one for a week before it showed me a bad ground I'd walked past ten times...
2
shah.barbara
See it as the tool doing its job, not making you look bad. It caught something you missed, which is the whole point. In my experience, that kind of stubborn reading forces you to check your own work more carefully. You end up learning from it instead of just feeling shown up. The dumb feeling fades, but the lesson sticks.
8
stella_shah89
Tell me about it. Had a thermal camera scream at me over a warm outlet last month, swore it was broken. Turns out a mouse had chewed through the insulation right behind it. Felt like a total idiot but man, that camera saved my bacon.
0