Why keep Spare Parts?

"I walked into my office this morning, started up my computer and went to open a file that is stored on my sever."

"Drive not found" error...

Why having spare parts could save you a lot of time and heartburn ...

I look at the server and it is powered off. That is strange, it is a 24/7 server, I only power it down when I work on it or we will be gone for a week or more.

I power it up, it starts, after about thirty seconds, it shuts down. This is really weird...

I decide to do some of my more pressing work then realize the file I need to update is on the server...

Arrrgghhh, like being on call and you have to go to the data center at o'dark thirty.

Two cups of coffee, pull the server out of it's storage area, set it up on the work table, open 'er up.

Hummm, nothing jumps out at me as the problem.

Disconnect a drive power it up, it shuts down, do the same for all the drives, same effect.

Ok, next start pulling out each add on card, USB 3 card first, nope still shuts down.

Next the first Intel NIC, nope shuts down.

Next the second NIC, the fan falls off the PNY Video card, that ain't supposed to happen.

I pull out the video card and the two little quick release pins are broken, the fan is hanging by the wires.

Well that means the processor on the video card has been over the temperature threshold, but for how long?

I put the card back in the computer, hold the fan so it won't get tore up or damage something else, power it up. It comes up for about ten seconds and shuts down. The Video card is fried. Too bad, I liked that card.

Now I have a small problem, I don't have a replacement PCIe 32 bit card. Ah, But! I do have some old PCI cards. I dig in my box of spare parts and Volia' there is my old stand-by Paradise VGA card.

I plug it in and power up the computer, it works, 600x400 resolution but it works.

Now I have to put it back together. That takes about thirty minutes to get it back in the storage area and it is up and running.

The 5 Steps to high quality and cheap DIY Computer Repairs Get It Today...

This is one of the reasons why when I upgrade I keep the parts, very seldom do I throw away a good part. (I still have three 20 GB IDE drives on a shelf...)

If you upgrade a part or do a complete upgrade on your computer or even someone else's always keep the parts. A known good part will save you a trip or the wait time for a new part to arrive.

If you are a tech that has spares available explain to your customer that you have a spare part and the computer will be up and running faster if you use the spare to make the computer operational while you either go get a new part or order one.

This is good customer relations, when the new part comes in replace the spare and don't charge for the fix. In the end you will have a customer for life and it will only cost you an hour or less of your time. (Done that quite a few times).

P.S.

Always store your "known good" spare parts in an anti static container or it may be dead when you need it most - ESD will kill an unprotected device...