Troubleshoot

How it is used

Used every day in labs, factories and field service. Engineers troubleshoot a board, a panel or a fault, follow a troubleshooting guide and talk about troubleshooting steps. 'Debug' means much the same but is used more for firmware and electronics.

Example sentences

1. I spent the morning troubleshooting the conveyor panel; it turned out to be a loose wire.

2. Start troubleshooting at the power supply and work your way towards the outputs.

Common collocations

• troubleshoot a fault
• troubleshooting guide
• troubleshooting steps
• troubleshoot on site

Related terms

• multimeterA handheld or bench instrument that measures voltage, current and resistance, and often continuity, capacitance and frequency as well. It is the most basic tool for electrical testing.
• oscilloscopeAn instrument that draws a voltage as a graph over time, so you can see the shape, size and timing of a signal. Engineers often just call it a scope.
• continuityAn unbroken electrical path between two points. A continuity test checks whether current can flow from one point to another, for example along a wire or a PCB trace.
• schematicA drawing that shows how the components of a circuit are connected, using standard symbols instead of their real shape or position on the board.
• short circuitAn unwanted low-resistance connection between two points that should be kept apart, such as live and neutral. It causes a very large current that can damage equipment or start a fire.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• troubleshoot · Software Engineering
• troubleshoot · Networking & Telecommunications
• troubleshoot · Robotics & Automation
• troubleshoot · Mechanical Engineering
• troubleshoot · Aviation
• troubleshoot · Customer Service

More terms: Measurement and Test Equipment

• power supply
• sensor
• probe
• calibration