How do they do it at their shop?????

[Jules Winfield]

I remember a new tech coming to work for us years ago that asked dumb questions like that. Eventually, the Service Manager smiled and said to the guy in front of a bunch of us, "Maybe this isn't the right job for you". Scary thing is, this guy used to work on airplane engines before trying his hand at copier repair...

[ExXeroid]

This rant is for all the newbies that throw their one liner questions up. You know... I have dirty copies , what do I do? Is this what you do at your shop? Do you call the service manager and say "My Bizhub is jamming , what do I do? At my shop there is a thing called service history that tells when parts were changed. If some of you used that info and changed overdo parts, you may learn something about how stuff wears down. How about a meter count once in a while. You may fix your own problem with your question, like "My Bizhub 600 has 600,000 prints and nothing has been changed and I have dirty copies? "Oh wait, maybe I should change everything trhat needs to be changed and see if I still have a problem. OK I am done.

Bravo!
To many guys dont use their heads. Too many guys dont have a process or call flow that they follow. To many guys are lazy and want the EASY answer and ask for help before they have even walked into the customers office. Call me for help after you have done the Basics at least.

[Stirton.M]

I remember a new tech coming to work for us years ago that asked dumb questions like that. Eventually, the Service Manager smiled and said to the guy in front of a bunch of us, "Maybe this isn't the right job for you". Scary thing is, this guy used to work on airplane engines before trying his hand at copier repair...

The key phrase here being "used to".

There is a reason he "used to" do that job and no longer does and got into a job that pays as little as ours.

I thought about going to school for something aircraft related, we have a major training center here in Calgary for that...but then I was stricken with RA and that plan was put on the back burners...now I think I am too old to get into that...but then again...now it's a matter of paying the bills...can't do that and school at the same time unfortunately.

[jonhiker]

Bravo!
... To many guys are lazy and want the EASY answer and ask for help before they have even walked into the customers office. Call me for help after you have done the Basics at least.

I hear you! When i get the call, do you know what an SC---, is? The first thing I ask is, did you look it up? They have the access to all of the same manuals, etc that i do. Then I say, after you have looked it up and followed the procedure in the manual and the problem still exists, call me back and we will take it from there. I am always happy to help, but.. as the theme goes, please do a few basics first, then ask, and please let me know what yu have done so far, so I don't duplicate the efforts or so I can try and think of what might have been missed.

[ExXeroid]

I hear you! When i get the call, do you know what an SC---, is? The first thing I ask is, did you look it up? They have the access to all of the same manuals, etc that i do. Then I say, after you have looked it up and followed the procedure in the manual and the problem still exists, call me back and we will take it from there. I am always happy to help, but.. as the theme goes, please do a few basics first, then ask, and please let me know what yu have done so far, so I don't duplicate the efforts or so I can try and think of what might have been missed.

I am a service manager (I still do my share of calls) and I know how we in the field need to find that perfect balance of being fast and fixing the problems.
Every thing you say is true especially the part about doing duplicate work.
Poor troubleshooters
1 Dont understand how the device or subsystem works
2 Dont have a process they follow on every call
3 Dont start troubleshooting with a problem statement
"The paper is jamming at the fuser."
(Malfunction is in the fuser or in the transport before the fuser.)
4 Dont go through basic simple checks
5 Never consult the manual or look to include Jam Codes in their troulbleshooting
6 Never fill out logs properly.
Had one log entry that went like this
"Jams in the fuser, cleaned optics and corona wires"
Makes it sound like dirty optics was causing fuser jams.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

Thank you ExXeroid for this excellent post. You have highlighted very important aspects of FAULT FINDING TECHNIQUES in a system. I do totally agree with you that most technicians are poor troubleshooters of faults.
Before considering any fault conditions, the principle of operations of the equipment, or circuit must be understood. The service engineer must use a SYSTEMATIC approach, rather than a NON-SYSTEMATIC approach, in order to locate which block of the system is faulty before he can locate the actual component that has failed. He must also have an UP-TO-DATE service/repair manual. He must have all the necessary TEST EQUIPMENT (specialized tools).
The service engineer then has to DEFINE THE FAULT CLEARLY, ACCURATELY-this is the MOST IMPORTANT POINT. It is no good trying to locate a fault that is VAGUELY DEFINED. The symptoms must be accurately noted and this means a FUNCTIONAL TEST must be done on the equipment. Break the equipment into functional blocks,rather than as a whole, narrow down the search to a faulty part to one block & then take measurements in that block to locate the actual faulty component or part.

[charm5496]

a lot of guys will call other techs and try to get solutions to problems without even going to look at the machine. This drives me nuts personally. If you haven't even gone to the machine or taken the time to do your own research and are calling me and asking questions...don't bother. I'm not here to do your job and my job...sorry.

I also like the guys who have no clue on how to troubleshoot a copier problem and narrow down the issue they are fighting wether it is a CQ issue, jamming, error code, communication problems. I don't see how those techs actually stick around. Dumb luck I guess.

We have a detailed service log that goes out with every device. B/W, CLC, and printer, but if the techs that are too lazy to fill it out with correct, good information they are just hurting themselves in the long run. I can look at my logs and tell you exactly what items any particular machine is going to need and give that customer a good idea as to how long I will be at there location and when the unit will be up and running for them. The other guys don't have a clue!!!!

[ToshibaTech]

I am a service manager (I still do my share of calls) and I know how we in the field need to find that perfect balance of being fast and fixing the problems.
Every thing you say is true especially the part about doing duplicate work.
Poor troubleshooters
1 Dont understand how the device or subsystem works
2 Dont have a process they follow on every call
3 Dont start troubleshooting with a problem statement
"The paper is jamming at the fuser."
(Malfunction is in the fuser or in the transport before the fuser.)
4 Dont go through basic simple checks
5 Never consult the manual or look to include Jam Codes in their troulbleshooting
6 Never fill out logs properly.
Had one log entry that went like this
"Jams in the fuser, cleaned optics and corona wires"
Makes it sound like dirty optics was causing fuser jams.

Amen! I can't stand the guy who takes pride in the fact he never uses his laptop to look at the manual then calls me and asks "hey what's this code mean." Or the guy who doesn't even run a freaking copy!? But has had the copier in pieces for over an HOUR and can't tell you what the copies looked like when he got there!?!?!?