Most equipment suppliers today want to send you a replacement board. That can run you a couple of thousand dollars. We had this happen recently (as well as 6 years ago on something else). The replacement board (which, by the way, would be a refurbished board) was going to be around $1,000 plus the downtime waiting for it to arrive. We had our board "static tested" and it turned out to be a simple component that was fried. They soldered in a new one and a couple of hours later we were back in business for a mere $120.00.

When you're calling around, be sure to tell the electronics company you don't have wiring schematics. Some will tell you they can't do anything without a schematic, but you may be lucky enough to find one who can put it on their bench and perform these static tests to at least find out if it is a simple problem.

Even it it had turned out to be a major component that they couldn't fix, it would have been worth it to find that out. Then, if we'd had to get a replacement board, at least we'd feel like it was actually necessary. In the last 6 years we've saved ourselves close to $4,000 by repairing boards that the manufacturers insisted on replacing.

That's my tip...hope it helps someone save BIG bucks!

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Diane Crowther, Metaline Graphics Ltd., Nova Scotia, Canada, ID #285