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- Posts: 1890
- Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2008 11:54 am
Rule 1: before you break any bit of the instrument, make sure (a) you have a spare part; (b) you know how to fix it. Optionally: (c) also check the spare part isn't ludicrously expensive to replace.
Rule 2: break it when the boss isn't looking, and no one needs the instrument for the length of time it will take you to fix it.
Rule 3: before breaking the instrument, take the instruction manual (or printouts of dubious website downloads) and read them over a cup of tea. This won't necessarily stop you from breaking it, but at least you'll have had a cup of tea first.
Rule 4: when you break the instrument, stop and think before starting to fix it. Remember, you probably only have one spare part from rule 1, so it's a good idea not to break that too, or lose another part you didn't think of, and for which you haven't applied rule 1.
Rule 5: don't break the instrument just for fun/because you can. Wait until there is scientific/commercial benefit in what you're doing that might break it, before doing so.
Rule 6: a terminally broken instrument is fair game for forgetting all rules. If you can't make it worse, and there is a reason to have a go at making it better, don't feel afraid to try.
Rule 7: stuff paper towelling down any hole below your work area (spray-chamber drain holes etc.); it stops loose screws from being eaten by the instrument. Rule 7a: have a lot of strategies for retrieving small parts from the bottom of dark holes (magnets on sticks, telescopic grabbers, wiggly bits of wire etc.).
Rule 8: draw sketches of anything you're about to take to pieces completely, unless you already have a drawing. Look for any bits that could be put back together in several different ways, and make sure you know which way they go (if it matters). Be particularly cautious of the things you don't expect: for example, when you unplug a low-voltage power supply with a coaxial plug, check it hasn't got one of those silly swap-round two-pin connectors built into the plug to allow you to do centre-positive or centre-negative; if you accidentally unplug this, you'll have no idea which way round to replace it.
Rule 9: when you can't remember how to put it back together because you didn't follow rule 8, first look for diagrams on the internet (you're probably not the first to make this mistake), and then see if you've got another of the same thing that you can take to pieces to see how the first one went together. Then think about how to explain to your boss that both the photon-hydrolysis-entropic-paradigm separators happen to be in pieces at the same time and no one knows how to reassemble them.
Rule 10: when you've finally fixed the instrument you broke, make sure your boss thinks someone else broke it, but you fixed it.
Rule 2: break it when the boss isn't looking, and no one needs the instrument for the length of time it will take you to fix it.
Rule 3: before breaking the instrument, take the instruction manual (or printouts of dubious website downloads) and read them over a cup of tea. This won't necessarily stop you from breaking it, but at least you'll have had a cup of tea first.
Rule 4: when you break the instrument, stop and think before starting to fix it. Remember, you probably only have one spare part from rule 1, so it's a good idea not to break that too, or lose another part you didn't think of, and for which you haven't applied rule 1.
Rule 5: don't break the instrument just for fun/because you can. Wait until there is scientific/commercial benefit in what you're doing that might break it, before doing so.
Rule 6: a terminally broken instrument is fair game for forgetting all rules. If you can't make it worse, and there is a reason to have a go at making it better, don't feel afraid to try.
Rule 7: stuff paper towelling down any hole below your work area (spray-chamber drain holes etc.); it stops loose screws from being eaten by the instrument. Rule 7a: have a lot of strategies for retrieving small parts from the bottom of dark holes (magnets on sticks, telescopic grabbers, wiggly bits of wire etc.).
Rule 8: draw sketches of anything you're about to take to pieces completely, unless you already have a drawing. Look for any bits that could be put back together in several different ways, and make sure you know which way they go (if it matters). Be particularly cautious of the things you don't expect: for example, when you unplug a low-voltage power supply with a coaxial plug, check it hasn't got one of those silly swap-round two-pin connectors built into the plug to allow you to do centre-positive or centre-negative; if you accidentally unplug this, you'll have no idea which way round to replace it.
Rule 9: when you can't remember how to put it back together because you didn't follow rule 8, first look for diagrams on the internet (you're probably not the first to make this mistake), and then see if you've got another of the same thing that you can take to pieces to see how the first one went together. Then think about how to explain to your boss that both the photon-hydrolysis-entropic-paradigm separators happen to be in pieces at the same time and no one knows how to reassemble them.
Rule 10: when you've finally fixed the instrument you broke, make sure your boss thinks someone else broke it, but you fixed it.
Where were cellphone cameras when I was first learning.
