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Look for blackened components or melted or broken parts of the printed circuit traces, the little metal lines that connect components together on both sides of the board. Components can burn out and when they do they can smoke. Also look for swollen or discolored components.

The causes can vary, however some common ones are environmental factors like exposure to heat, dust and moisture, accidental impact AKA drops and falls and power overloads/surges can be causes of circuit board failure. However, the most damaging cause of premature circuit board failure is electrostatic discharge (ESD) at the assembly stage.

To remove a component from a PCB, the most practical method is to cut each leg with very thin and sharp cutting pliers. You can then remove the component and desolder the legs one after the other. Obviously, it works only if your component has legs. The component is destroyed in the process.

Place your meter probe on the circuit directly after the first resistor. Set your volt meter to the "resistance" setting. Power the board and make a note of the reading. The meter will signal a zero reading if the resistor has shorted or is not connected.

Start by identifying the printed circuit board, or PCB. Identify other "nuts and bolts" electronic circuit components, Locate the circuit board's battery, fuses, diodes and transistors, locate the processor, or processors, Look for connectors on the circuit board that may be put in place to attach to other, smaller circuit board

The lines are thin copper traces with a protective coating. They connect all the chips together, providing pathways for energy and data to move around. The circles are called "vias". They connect traces from one layer of the board to another. Many simpler devices will have only one or two layers of copper, but computers tend to have multiple layers