Rough Trade ?

TRING TRING!! - the phone rings........ "Hello....." and before I can even get what may remotely resemble a business-like salutation out, the voice says "Can you fix the computer 'cos it won't switch on ??"

"Well certainly I can look at it and see what I can do. Whereabout are you? " I reply in best newsreader tones....

"I'll be over in an hour or so" ........ CLUNK......SILENCE......... my customer has gone.

Sometines you can just read a job before they even place the PC on the bench. This one sounds like he's in a hurry so it's likely he's the guilty party or needs the data quickly.

An hour or so passes.

The workshop doorbell / burglar alarm rings. A big bloke with a PC under his arm enters - "I called you earlier, PC wont switch on."

"OK Dokey" says I, "set her over here & I will have a quick look see..."

PC on the bench & apply power lead and switch on. No joy, nothing, not a whisper or light displayed.

So it looks like the power supply unit (aka PSU) has gone. Quickly connect up a PSU and test again - still nothing. Push switch on front again after checking all leads OK and switch at back of PC case is on..... all OK, so should work...... But the front switch just doesnt click correctly, as if it isn't even switching. So take the side off the case and jumper the power switch at the board - Voila! lights & whispering fan indicate life at last.

So the problem must lie between the board & the switch button, so check the switch mechanism. AHA !! the wee switch device is being pushed out of its housing when the power button is depressed. Therefore should be a simple job to glue the switch back in place. So I tell the customer that I'll need to get some time to fix it ( i.e. let the glue dry ) and its only going to be the cost of the replacement PSU. He's happy with that, so I can leave it a wee while. As soon as he trots off I have a closer look at the casing and pull off the front panel. The micro-switch is held in by four lugs on the opposite side of the plastic panel. All of these lugs are broken, and the inner plastic panel is split. So some force required to push the power button perhaps ? I hazard a guess that the PC is set it floor level and the power button is within kicking distance. So user has got into the habit of kicking the PC on and now its broke.

Phones the guy and enquires whether the PC sits at floor level? "Yes it does" he says. So give him the bad news and tell him that fixing the switch will cost more than rebuilding the PC in a new case with replacement PSU. So he's happy with the info & I tell him it will be ready on Sunday if I can get a replacement case delivered next day. ( Yeah I work 7 days a week on PC Repairs )

But the problem is that it is Friday and I can't get a PC case delivered until Monday. So ..... the nearest town has a shop which has cheap PC cases which will do the job in this case. Send the brother over to buy one quickly. When I build a PC I use quality cases with metal which isn't paper thin and will actually look like quality. But this isn't the issue. Its all about how quick I can turn it around in this instance. So come Saturday afternoon after I picked up the el cheapo case I'm on the bench extracting all the components from the broken PC and installing them in to the new case. No problems, works a treat and PC boots up first time. Operating System has the latest upgrade so no need for me to even upgrade any software. Perfecto !!

Give the guy a call and advise him that it's ready for pick up on Sunday afternoon. Fine. Sunday morning I get a call and its " can I come along & pick it up now ?" Yeah, no problem...... I reply....... Good job its been sitting running all yesterday..... So when they arrive ( the wife is with him also) I show him the damaged case and the switch etc, and the PC up & running just fine. "Looks far better..... " she says. Followed by " I don't know why it just stopped working........ but we need the data to fill in the tax return......" Well I bit my lip and kept my comment to myself. Gave her the invoice and accepted the cheque, with thanks.

But I'll share my thoughts with you, my friends...... " if numbnuts there hadn't been so lazy and actually got into the habit of bending down to switch on the PC then he would have saved the cost of the rebuild, case & PSU...... "

Human nature never ceases to amaze me.