What do you think of repair lab that needs to write down which button enable PSU

[mcinque]

In my city there is a famous and historic electronic repair lab that run probably since late 80's. They repair almost any consumer electronic product, from smartphones to televisions. Naturally, they now have a website where they promote their services and share pictures of their lab, their personnel and their equipment: white coats, Metcal soldering systems, Agilent, Tek and R&S instruments, ESD check station... all top level equipent.

All the premises are that they are running a quality repair service provided by qualified personnel.

But while browsing the pictures, I saw a sticker near the "output enable" on one E3632A Agilent PSU (which is a well know PSU and that it's almost a standard in its form factor)
This sticker indicates that the button...well... "enable and disable the output" (in italian). 

I'm asking myself: what kind of electronic technician (even unexperienced) needs to have a sticker to know or remember which button turns the output on on its programmable PSU? It's written on the button itself. Even if it's not "your" desk and even if you don't speak fluent english you recognize the words "OUTPUT" and "ENABLE" even if it's the first time you see that PSU. How do you program that PSU if you don't remember the output enable button? Or there is someone that programs it for you and you turn it simply on and off? What kind of electronic technicians are on that lab?

And what do YOU think about it?


P.S. I've done some modifications to the picture to avoid reverse image search that would help to identify the lab I'm talking about.

[Andy Watson]

I would think it is a useful mnemonic that allows operators to concentrate on the job in hand - presumably the repair - and not have to futz around trying to fathom the operation of power supply. This is especially true in situations where different test equipment is shared amongst different operators when and as needed.

[Macbeth]

Judging by the filth caked on that well prodded button I guess it became too hard to read. Hence the label.

[vodka]

So they will  have had apprentices that  didn't know to read  on English, and these  began to touch all the buttons without having idea .
 On resume, the  lab's owner were until the nuts of have to reconfigure the instrument

[Seekonk]

I worked for an ISO-9000 shop.   I wrote a test procedure to test a board. Red positive wire of power supply to terminal X and black negative wire to Y. Tech was unable to get any board to pass.  I was dinged because I didn't say to use a DC power supply, he used an AC supply.

I sent a scope off for calibration.  Didn't bother to tell them one channel was dead. It came back caled.  Tech called me with an attitude and said he couldn't find anything wrong.  I told him to connect to the cal loop on the front of the scope. Oh, it is dead, we only check them at 1 mhz.

[P90]

I think it's a great idea... minimizes mistakes and one less thing to concentrate on... mo different than highlighting text in a repair manual...

[mcinque]

Some of you wrote that highlighting a button is a great idea and helps remain concentrated on the repair task.

I hardly comprehend this because the only times I saw that kind of solution was when the operator doesn't know and don't want to know anything about what he's using: for example a client of mine wants to know only what button to press to turn on and off his PC and what icon to click on to use his invoicing software. Nothing else is needed and interesting. He learnt the steps needed to create an invoice and nothing more. If something different than he's expecting appears on the screen he goes mad. He's not a computer addicted and doesn't care anything about computers. He put a sticker on the power on button because he was going mad trying to power his desktop by pressing the reset button. He DON'T KNOW his instrument.

In the same way I thought that a PSU marked in that way is operated by someone that is not electronics addicted. Someone that doesn't understand or that have never operated a lab equipment. Also because it's not exaclty "enable and disable the output", but more a "turns on / turns off" (literally), something written by an inexperienced user.

There are plenty of buttons and knobs to operate while doing troubleshooting, so you cannot stay focused only on the DUT and almost ignore the surrounding, you must know what you're doing with your instruments.

For me is hard to accept that highligting the output enable of a PSU is a great idea, but thank you for sharing your points of view.

I worked for an ISO-9000 shop.   I wrote a test procedure to test a board. Red positive wire of power supply to terminal X and black negative wire to Y. Tech was unable to get any board to pass.  I was dinged because I didn't say to use a DC power supply, he used an AC supply.

So sometimes techs are simply dumb. This is what I thought when I saw that pic.

So they will  have had apprentices that  didn't know to read  on English, and these  began to touch all the buttons without having idea .
 On resume, the  lab's owner were until the nuts of have to reconfigure the instrument

I would never let touch a single instrument to someone that press button randomly. And if I'm not wrong, that PSU has a lock for its config.

Judging by the filth caked on that well prodded button I guess it became too hard to read. Hence the label.

heheh 

[VK5RC]

My '2 pennies' , the note is an indication of relatively poor front panel design (from a function viewpoint).
The disable button - IMHO - probably one of the major buttons on a lab psu, should be substantially different in location and size (and? even colour) . Similarly V and I set functions.
On that unit all the buttons look very similar - I doubt they all have similar 'importance of use'
Robert.

[hendorog]

<snipped>  How do you program that PSU if you don't remember the output enable button? Or there is someone that programs it for you and you turn it simply on and off? What kind of electronic technicians are on that lab?

https://www.picclickimg.com/00/s/MTI2N1gxNjAw/z/xmgAAOSwDuJW10rD/$/Indian-Prayer-Wood-Framed-Kaydee-Linen-Walked-a-_57.jpg

https://sachemspeaks.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/21-07-2012-02.jpg

[SL4P]

Test or assembly operators are often not techs or engineers.
They are human robots that follow a script to configure or 'pass' the equipment under test.

[Paul Moir]

Corrective action that failed to identify the root cause.  Might work though.
At least there's a glimmering of a quality system.

[mcinque]

https://www.picclickimg.com/00/s/MTI2N1gxNjAw/z/xmgAAOSwDuJW10rD/$/Indian-Prayer-Wood-Framed-Kaydee-Linen-Walked-a-_57.jpg
https://sachemspeaks.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/21-07-2012-02.jpg

"BEFORE YOU ASSUME, LEARN THE FACTS"
I'm not assuming, all of us have opinions based on the elements we have. The real error is to build up an opinion without searching for elements. So I'm asking other opinions to better comprehend but I have the right to have my opinion, as you. I'm not assuming, otherwise I wouldn't have asked for other opinions. I would have written a post saying: "look how much is dumb the tech that sits in front of this PSU".

"BEFORE YOU JUDGE, UNDERSTAND WHY"
Of course I can't phone the lab asking about that label in their photos or to host me for some days as a volounteer to be in their shoes.

"BEFORE YOU HURT SOMEONE, FEEL"
I anonymized the picture so no one can be hurt by this topic.

"BEFORE YOU SPEAK, THINK"
Assuming what I said before, the same advice is good also for you.

[nctnico]

This sticker indicates that the button...well... "enable and disable the output" (in italian). 

And what do YOU think about it?

Well, Italians aren't known for their knowledge of foreign languages  But it would make more sense to me to highlight the button to make operation easier. I agree with others that this button should be set apart in the layout and have a red color. I have various bits of HP/Agilent gear with such a button and it is in a different place on each instrument.

[hendorog]

https://www.picclickimg.com/00/s/MTI2N1gxNjAw/z/xmgAAOSwDuJW10rD/$/Indian-Prayer-Wood-Framed-Kaydee-Linen-Walked-a-_57.jpg
https://sachemspeaks.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/21-07-2012-02.jpg

I would have written a post saying: "look how much is dumb the tech that sits in front of this PSU".

That is exactly what I thought you were saying when I read your original post so I am sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick.

[mcinque]

Well, Italians aren't known for their knowledge of foreign languages

In fact here we all have our workbenches with our instruments populated of label with translations

[mcinque]

That is exactly what I thought you were saying when I read your original post so I am sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick.

It wasn't my intention and so I didn't write in that way: I asked "what do you think about..."; you must admit that you also assumed something.

I think that there is no offence in asking about a thing that appears strange to me: an instrument that you operate every day at work should AT LEAST be familiar, so a label indicating what button enables the output seems (something that you do many times a day) to me something that is bizarre.

You put "push" or "pull" over your office door for clients and couriers, not for you or your personnel: you KNOW how to open that door after some days at work. It becomes automatic.

I'm talking about pictures of a website that should promote the professionality of the repair shop. I can't simply believe that something that is DAILY operated needs a sticker.

I really can't understand why asking and having an opinion about something different has to be considered offensive, taking in mind that just the picture anonymization I've done shows clearly my initial intention: I would like to receive your opinions, not making fun of the lab.

[voltsandjolts]

I think you've just forgotten that it's your label and the lab guys left it there for you, just as they received it.
Very nice of them.   

[German_EE]

I'm on the side of the lab people. Way back in the mists of time someone probably pressed that button at the wrong moment and killed something expensive, now there's a reminder there to stop it happening again.

[yada]

I tried to reverse engineer that image back into google, and it didn't work but it was close. The red was throwing it off.

[yada]

Next I tried this one. We should make a challenge out of this!

[mcinque]

I'm on the side of the lab people. Way back in the mists of time someone probably pressed that button at the wrong moment and killed something expensive, now there's a reminder there to stop it happening again.

Your comments made me think about that label in a different way in respect to the moment when I started the topic.
Receive differents point of views is why I made the initial post.

[JPortici]

Well, Italians aren't known for their knowledge of foreign languages 

that would be my guess too, maybe that sticker was put there a long time ago, when one or more users didn't know a single word of english and then it just stayed there because it has always been there

not the case but i would probably put stickers all over a panel written in chinglish. who knows what the hell they were meaning to say 

[KL27x]

Uh... perhaps they have a variety of PSU, there. And some have an enable button, and some do not. If tech switches work station and spends time figuring out why some board doesn't power on... perhaps because his job involves debugging problems that will look exactly the same on the surface... 100mA shows on the display and he/she thinks current limiting is happening.. and that is what he is used to seeing in certain conditions...that is waste of time and $$ for owner and increased agitation and stress on the worker. Tech may give rat's behind about all the fancy features of your various mishmash of equipment beyond figuring out how it helps him perform his job. You have no idea what kind of repetitive, specific task someone may have had to do for which the enable button had potential to cause a problem.

[eugenenine]

Usually those kinds of labels appear after you've worked the last 14 hours because the project deadline is tomorrow and the last two hours you have been banging your head trying to figure out why it stopped working when someone else walks up and points out you forgot to turn the power back on.

[Red Squirrel]

I'd say it saves you that extra few seconds of thinking when you go to reach for the button.  I find that happens even with TV remotes as they're all different.  A super annoying commercial comes up and I race for the mute button so I can make it stfu and have to scan for a sec or two to find it.  So in this case the label just immediately draws your attention to the button that's the most important.  So take a few minutes to make a label and it saves a lot of time in the long run.