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Electrical Connectors Can Be Confusing, But There’s an Easy Fix (VIDEO)

Description Don’t waste time with jumbled electrical connectors under the hood. Dorman Training Center instructor Pete Meier explains two tricks for keeping track of all those connections instead of getting your wires crossed.Related Videos

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Why are Muffin Tins in the Shop? (VIDEO)

Description Keeping track of small parts during a job can be tricky, but there’s a cheap and effective way to solve that problem. Old muffin tins are perfect for storing and labeling auto parts. (Just don’t mix up your “shop” muffin tin with the one in your...

Service Writing Tip: Justify Your Recommendations

Writers, are you as tired as I am of getting lambasted by customers when you recommend work beyond the symptoms displayed by a vehicle that was brought to your shop? Between TikTok videos and fuel touching $5 per gallon (or six, for those of you burning diesel), it...

Start Fasteners by Hand Before Using Power Tools (VIDEO)

Description Cordless power tools are stronger and more common than ever, and they help to speed up all kinds of automotive work. But cross-threading or stripping a fastener can bring progress to a halt in an instant. Start by hand-threading fasteners before reaching...

The Frog That Ate a TV: A Tech’s Guide to the Plastic Hiding in Plain Sight

Years ago I was scrolling Reddit and stumbled onto one of the most oddball stories I’ve ever seen, and I was sure it was a joke. A guy had worked at a carnival that ran a game called “Frog Bog,” where you hammer a lever to catapult little rubber frogs onto moving lily...

Take a Step Back to Take a Step Forward (VIDEO)

Description Ever get up to your elbows in a diagnostic problem, only to wind up right where you started an hour later? It may be time to take a step back to get fresh perspective. That way, you can reevaluate the problem and potentially spot issues you’ve...

Harley Earl: The Designer Behind the Corvette, Tailfins, and Jet Era Concept Cars

One could argue that if there were a Mount Rushmore of automotive designers, Harley Earl's face would be carved into the granite before anyone else's. Long before automakers obsessed over focus groups and wind tunnels, Earl understood something revolutionary: people...

In The Bay

Don’t let your scanner go unprotected

by Lemmy | Feb 1, 2024

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This article is a quick reminder to buy (and use!) a surge protector on your (or your shop’s) scan tool(s).

The modern vehicle scanner has WiFi, a screen, and touch input. It is, for all intents and purposes, a computer, and it doesn’t like “dirty” power. Protect it as you would a legitimate computer. The modern shop has all sorts of power draws and supplies. Customer vehicles are already a questionable source of power—reduce your exposure when charging your tools at night and throw a surge protector between the power source and your tool.

Single-input surge protection devices exist and are compact and cost-effective—grab one! Photo: Lemmy

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