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 Posted - August 17 2013 : 9:22:42 PM
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I went into my LMTS on Friday to see if the owner had a miniature gear puller. He had a pusher, but not a puller. As we were talking, he just out of nowhere asked if I was interested in doing repairs on trains for him. Hmm...sounds interesting! He knew I was in Computer Electronics manufacturing/repair, I think, anyway, I said give me a try-out. So I went in this Saturday afternoon, and the first hour I spent cleaning up his shop benches, they were just covered in junk. Then he gave me a Lionel 0-gauge Tanker disaster accessory to work on, the LEDs didn't work, or 3 out of 4 didn't. The website was no help, "no internal serviceable parts" blah blah blah. Yeah, yeah, heard it all. Anyway, has a small circuit board with surface mount components, the owner said " We don't fix circuit boards", and walked away. Heh heh! I do THAT for a living!  After 40 minutes, I figured out it was a fried resistor. I was near my other job building anyway, and took a break and went over to look for the special 470 ohm SMD resistor. Found it after some searching, but before that I was able to remove the worm gear from my Bachmann Trackster project, then install it on the new motor while at my "real" job. LOL. ( see the trackster post by Justin) I then went back to the train shop before it closed, and in 5 minutes replaced the resistor, and powered it up with the shop's Z4000 transformer. All LEDs working! 3 of the 4 are blue, and simulate blinking welding lights. The owner was amazed that I fixed it, and stunned when he asked for the old part, and I picked out this baby flea-sized speck on the work bench and said " there it is ". He looked at me like I was crazy.  I think he was impressed with my repair then and there!  But hey, it's what I do for a living, so I do know how to repair PCBs to some degree.  So he wants me to start next Saturday, said he has an 80+ repair order coming in. Oh boy! Not sure what to expect with that, but I think I'm on the "right track" with him at the moment.  Looks like an opportunity to work on things I love, make money at it, AND be able to get store discounts on items, too THAT won't make my wife happy! LOL! Oh well. We'll see how this works out, I don't like giving up my weekend days, but I can use extra money , and while I won't get rich at this, I'll see how it works out in the long haul. And I'll have an inside track on the vintage train collections he acquires, too. So, an interesting end to the week, and maybe the start of a new job/era for me, it's only part time, don't think I can make a living off it, but it will be a fun job nontheless. Wish me good fortunes with this, if not a large fortune! 
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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 Posted - August 17 2013 : 9:26:43 PM
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cool Awesome Wish I knew how to do that kind of stuffs 
I usually get my friend to do it
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Posted - August 17 2013 : 10:07:47 PM
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That's fabulous!
I'd really like to hear how it works out for you. Maybe wife would be supportive?
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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Posted - August 18 2013 : 02:23:11 AM
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That's a great opportunity, Jerry. I asked at my LHS a few times, but they have several repair guys, and I doubt they could pay me anyway. Those surface mount specks are a pain to work with, and that crummy leadless solder doesn't make it any easier. Good luck!
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - August 18 2013 : 10:14:11 AM
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Awesome Jerry - Congratulations
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