"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...
I see this all too often in computers, where people without a clue, fix
a broken system by replacing parts randomly.

If there are 5 componens in a system, replacing any one of them has a
chance
of fixing the system, possibly as much as 20% and then declaring
themselves
"experts".

Often it is the same component that fails 90% of the time. That makes the
'experts' have an even beter reputation if they know of this part.

I just fixed the dial light on a radio of mine that has a known failuer of a
driver transistor. It was a $ 2 part and about an hour of my time instead
of spending about $ 100 to ship it off and get it back. I did not trouble
shoot it, just tried the 'known' fix. The rado and where the part is
located at is past my ability to do actual trouble shooting, but not beyond
my ability to actually replace the part.

When I was working I would sometimes get a call while I was at home on
something at work was not working. By knowing some known problems, I could
tell the ones at work a thing or two to try,and many times that would fix
the problem.