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Date:         Tue, 25 Oct 2005 08:56:07 -0700
Reply-To:     Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: This week advice.....
Comments: To: Tim Demarest <tim.demarest@pobox.com>
In-Reply-To:  <5.2.0.9.2.20051025110303.02d88c00@mail-hub.optonline.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

RE: Chasing down electrical problems.... The foregoing discussion re-emphasizes a hard rule of trouble shooting electrical/electronic system: 80% to 90% of failures will be mechanical in nature. That is, bad or broken connections, dirty connections, bad or corroded wiring, etc. In the 1950's the US Navy did extensive studies on the effect of their standard 'Preventative Maintenance' procedures that applied to electrical and electronic systems. These procedures included cleaning of relay contacts on crossbar switches etc. They found that more failure occur ed WITH maintenance than without. They also documented the high percentage of failures that were due to bad connections, etc. Simple visual inspection and continuity testing will find most electrical problems, regardless of how complex the attached components are. Mechanical switches are next in line for failure, then relays. Solid state equipment ends up at the bottom of the list for 'most likely to fail'. Example: how many ECU's are we aware of that actually fail vs. headlight switches.


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