"Schrodinger's Screwdriver"

[MacQuarrie]

Has this happened to you?

My dryer wasn't working (turns but doesn't get hot), so I opened it up to take a look. When I got to where the burner is, I started it up.... and it worked perfectly, a lovely blue gas-flame. I put it back together and my clothes are drying.

I call this phenomenon "Schrodinger's Screwdriver"; the act of attempting to observe the problem is often sufficient to repair it.

Am I the only one this happens to? Have you ever tried to fix something, opened it up, looked at it, put it back together and it works, even though you didn't DO anything to it?

[Chris N]

Has this happened to you?

My dryer wasn't working (turns but doesn't get hot), so I opened it up to take a look. When I got to where the burner is, I started it up.... and it worked perfectly, a lovely blue gas-flame. I put it back together and my clothes are drying.

I call this phenomenon "Schrodinger's Screwdriver"; the act of attempting to observe the problem is often sufficient to repair it.

Am I the only one this happens to? Have you ever tried to fix something, opened it up, looked at it, put it back together and it works, even though you didn't DO anything to it?

It only works for me if I get somebody else to look at it.

"Seems to work fine."
"But it wasn't a moment ago."
"I just hit power and it worked. Did you hit power?"
"Yes and it wasn't working."
"Are you sure you hit the power button?"

[howyadoin]

Am I the only one this happens to? Have you ever tried to fix something, opened it up, looked at it, put it back together and it works, even though you didn't DO anything to it?At one of the agencies where I work, the tech guy just has to come into the room and formerly-malfunctioning computers will start behaving themselves again.

[Winslow]

No, that has never happened to me.

Usually I make things worse.

[Asmith]

Am I the only one this happens to? Have you ever tried to fix something, opened it up, looked at it, put it back together and it works, even though you didn't DO anything to it?

While it seems like you haven't done anything, just opened it up and put it back together, the reality is you have done a lot. In disassembling you sent multiple vibrations through the device, altered the stresses in it and opened it up to moving air. Often even then pyhsically touched the internal components.

If the problem was a loose part of dirty connection, this act of 'doing nothing' is often all that's required to fix the problem.

[Paul McEnery]

At one of the agencies where I work, the tech guy just has to come into the room and formerly-malfunctioning computers will start behaving themselves again.

Having a suspicious mind, I wonder what' he's been up to.

[Paul McEnery]

While it seems like you haven't done anything, just opened it up and put it back together, the reality is you have done a lot. In disassembling you sent multiple vibrations through the device, altered the stresses in it and opened it up to moving air. Often even then pyhsically touched the internal components.

If the problem was a loose part of dirty connection, this act of 'doing nothing' is often all that's required to fix the problem.

A technique I firmly approve of.

[Mermaid]

I've heard of Schrodinger's Cat thanks to the Big Bang Theory...but not the screwdriver.

We get customers come in to my store all of the time with "broken" cameras that won't even switch on let alone work.

One press of the on/off switch and i've usually "fixed" it. The poor customers are :eek: :redface: :smile:

[dupont2005]

i only recently learned how to open a dryer, and still don't know what all the parts do. i just watched as the repairman took mine apart

[Gary_B]

This very principle saved our asses on a remote logging road several years ago. A bunch of us were heading up to a quiet lake in two cars. One of the cars conked out and we proceeded to open the hood, scratch our heads and wiggle a few wires. We nervously declared "Well, that exhausts my knowledge of cars", closed the hood and started it up. Problem solved.

You see, wires are wiggly. When all else fails, wiggle a few.

Actually, on the same trip the shifter on our Hyundai came unbolted. We were in the middle of no-where and people in that area only drive American pick-up trucks and 4-wheel drives. The thing that saved us (we needed metric bolts) was that everybody drives Japanese snowmobiles in the winter. Some gear-head had a tin can full of metric scrappy bits that worked well enough to get us back to civilisation.

[Paradox]

MacQuarrie has a common phenomena:

Has this happened to you?

My dryer wasn't working (turns but doesn't get hot), so I opened it up to take a look. When I got to where the burner is, I started it up.... and it worked perfectly, a lovely blue gas-flame. I put it back together and my clothes are drying.

I call this phenomenon "Schrodinger's Screwdriver"; the act of attempting to observe the problem is often sufficient to repair it.

Am I the only one this happens to? Have you ever tried to fix something, opened it up, looked at it, put it back together and it works, even though you didn't DO anything to it?

Sure, and it used to be one of my dad's best things. I figure you end up reconnecting some loose connection along the way.

EDIT: Aussie Coke to Asmith

[morna]

Had an example of that just today, our card reader/point of sale machine refused to work out of the blue.


first rule of any device these days : if it quits working switch it off and back on again. Works alarmingly often.

corollary: if that fails un plug and plug in again.

[Typo Lad]

I used to work tech support for a college with muplipul camupses (campi?). Suff like this would happen almost daily. Generally after I made a two hour train ride.

Heck, I have a side-job where the guy is now saying it doesn't work and I know when I get there it will.

[MacQuarrie]

I used to work tech support for a college with muplipul camupses (campi?). Suff like this would happen almost daily. Generally after I made a two hour train ride.

Heck, I have a side-job where the guy is now saying it doesn't work and I know when I get there it will.

And now you have a name for the phenomenon.

[Mermaid]

first rule of any device these days : if it quits working switch it off and back on again. Works alarmingly often.

corollary: if that fails un plug and plug in again.

totally, I have to agree in my experience.

[mikekerr3]

Has this happened to you?

My dryer wasn't working (turns but doesn't get hot), so I opened it up to take a look. When I got to where the burner is, I started it up.... and it worked perfectly, a lovely blue gas-flame. I put it back together and my clothes are drying.

I call this phenomenon "Schrodinger's Screwdriver"; the act of attempting to observe the problem is often sufficient to repair it.

Am I the only one this happens to? Have you ever tried to fix something, opened it up, looked at it, put it back together and it works, even though you didn't DO anything to it?

I usually get the same effect by kicking it.

[Paradox]

A good smack to the side of an old TV I had with loose resistors always worked pretty well (until they eventually burn out).

[MacQuarrie]

I usually get the same effect by kicking it.

A good smack to the side of an old TV I had with loose resistors always worked pretty well (until they eventually burn out).

That's a whole 'nother thing: "Percussive Maintenance".

[mailedbypostman1]

first rule of any device these days : if it quits working switch it off and back on again. Works alarmingly often.

corollary: if that fails un plug and plug in again.
Yep. Clearly this act reverses the flow of entropy in your localized area of the universe, restoring your machine to optimal (or at least working) condition.

[Asmith]

This very principle saved our asses on a remote logging road several years ago. A bunch of us were heading up to a quiet lake in two cars. One of the cars conked out and we proceeded to open the hood, scratch our heads and wiggle a few wires. We nervously declared "Well, that exhausts my knowledge of cars", closed the hood and started it up. Problem solved.

You see, wires are wiggly. When all else fails, wiggle a few.

Actually, on the same trip the shifter on our Hyundai came unbolted. We were in the middle of no-where and people in that area only drive American pick-up trucks and 4-wheel drives. The thing that saved us (we needed metric bolts) was that everybody drives Japanese snowmobiles in the winter. Some gear-head had a tin can full of metric scrappy bits that worked well enough to get us back to civilisation.

I read your post and couldn't figure out why it seemed so hauntingly familiar... then it dawned on me. You lived through the first five minutes of about 600 horror films! All you were missing was the inbred chainsaw weilding cannibal redneck, and three of four sexy teenage girls in hot shorts.

[thehod]

I know of a similar phenomonum whereby I'll take something apart to see why it stopped working, realise I'm totally out of my depth, so I put it back together, leaving behind a small pile of parts that I couldn't figure out where they went, and the damn thing not only starts working again, it works better than it did before.

[howyadoin]

"Muplipul"?

[fireSTRIKE!]

When major appliances go on the fritz, I call the the guys who know what the hell they're doin... that shit is usually over MY head...

'STRIKE!http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/MSN_Emoticons/MSN-Emoticon-fireball-060.gif

[Roquefort Raider]

At one of the agencies where I work, the tech guy just has to come into the room and formerly-malfunctioning computers will start behaving themselves again.

This, I've observed frequently.

The weird thing is that it works for our home computer as well. If my wife or kids have a problem with it, all I have to do is show up for it to behave again.

Our computer is like a good dog.

[Typo Lad]

I know of a similar phenomonum whereby I'll take something apart to see why it stopped working, realise I'm totally out of my depth, so I put it back together, leaving behind a small pile of parts that I couldn't figure out where they went, and the damn thing not only starts working again, it works better than it did before.

Reseating connections does the job a whole heck of a lot.

[Paradox]

Also grounding. Heck, the wrong outside screw being loose can cause something to be ungrounded. When you put it back together you screw it in when it wasn't...VOILA! It works.

[MacQuarrie]

You guys are undermining my thesis.

"Looking at a problem alters the problem, often correcting it."

[Augusto]

My first thought when I read dryer

http://www.lakewoodconferences.com/direct/dbimage/50323708/Hair_Dryer.jpg

[Tadhg]

You guys are undermining my thesis.

"Looking at a problem alters the problem, often correcting it."

I think the latter part of the thesis is completely dependent on your technological aura. For some, it corrects it. For many more, it makes it worse.

[Paul McEnery]

I think the latter part of the thesis is completely dependent on your technological aura. For some, it corrects it. For many more, it makes it worse.

Interesting corollary. I have known a computer killer or two in my time.

[Paul McEnery]

You guys are undermining my thesis.

"Looking at a problem alters the problem, often correcting it."

Is it too soon to extend the thesis to include Schodinger's Cigarette Pack?

[Tadhg]

Interesting corollary. I have known a computer killer or two in my time.

My wife has to keep distance from my computers or else they go kablooey.

[Bouncing Boy]

"Muplipul"?
He's not called Typo Lad for nothing

[Athena Bast]

At one of the agencies where I work, the tech guy just has to come into the room and formerly-malfunctioning computers will start behaving themselves again.

Sometimes I think that is out of fear more than anything else.

[Mac Danny]

Has this happened to you?

My dryer wasn't working (turns but doesn't get hot), so I opened it up to take a look. When I got to where the burner is, I started it up.... and it worked perfectly, a lovely blue gas-flame. I put it back together and my clothes are drying.

I call this phenomenon "Schrodinger's Screwdriver"; the act of attempting to observe the problem is often sufficient to repair it.

Am I the only one this happens to? Have you ever tried to fix something, opened it up, looked at it, put it back together and it works, even though you didn't DO anything to it?

This happened with my heater. My heater would not work properly until the plumber came to look at it, then it was fine and has been ever since. The plumber didn't do anything but look at it.

This also happens at the Doctor. Whatever is ailing you is usually fixed the moment you pay your copay.

[thespianphryne]

At one of the agencies where I work, the tech guy just has to come into the room and formerly-malfunctioning computers will start behaving themselves again.

This, I've observed frequently.

The weird thing is that it works for our home computer as well. If my wife or kids have a problem with it, all I have to do is show up for it to behave again.

Our computer is like a good dog.
This happens in my workplace a lot. Especially when it comes to networked printing. If I send the command, it prints. Others, not so much.

Interesting corollary. I have known a computer killer or two in my time.
I know one: my boss. Has a brand new superfast Mac. Can't use it worth shit. He brings it in to work to have me look at it and zowie! Works like a dream.

[Puma]

This, I've observed frequently.

The weird thing is that it works for our home computer as well. If my wife or kids have a problem with it, all I have to do is show up for it to behave again.

Our computer is like a good dog.

any time a patron has a problem with a computer all I have to do is walk up and it works.


Computers are afraid of me, I'll thump 'em.

[Winslow]

any time a patron has a problem with a computer all I have to do is walk up and it works.


Computers are afraid of me, I'll thump 'em.

The Librarian Corollary to "Schrodinger's Screwdriver"

When I can't find a book, it magically appears on the shelf when I ask the librarian for help to locate it.

[Puma]

The Librarian Corollary to "Schrodinger's Screwdriver"

When I can't find a book, it magically appears on the shelf when I ask the librarian for help to locate it.

Would that be "Schrodinger's Search"?

[howyadoin]

This happens in my workplace a lot. Especially when it comes to networked printing. If I send the command, it prints. Others, not so much."PC Load Letter"? What the fuck does that mean?"

[PatrickG]

Happens to be all the time.

As an almost-corollary, I have trouble wearing watches too. They die fast, even with a new battery. I've heard most of the "personal electro-magnetic field" theories debunked so many times, I wonder if it's something chemical.

It happens with both cheap and expensive watches, digital and dial. Anything with a battery.

I've noticed the lights dimming thing (supposedly light reflecting) and even with auto-update and all that stuff turned off, my computer sometimes kicks off when I'm around. My cellphone and USB sticks tend to die when I carry them with me (when not in use) too. I've had at least three car batteries die on December 25th. My hard drives AND cars always die in times of high stress. I falsely trigger metal detectors and security systems sometimes and fail to trigger automatic doors.

I really started noticing the watch thing more around the time I turned 18. My watch stopped at the moment I walked up on the stage to receive my high school diploma.

I keep having crazy people stop me and tell me about my aura or whatever. The most memorable time was when I was stopped at a coin show by an exhibitor who started raving about how I was one of the people affected by Tesla's experiments and, rather creepily, he started talking about the part of Ohio I was born in, describing weird dreams I'd had and went on a rant about the power facility my aunt works at in Kentucky, which I didn't tell him about. It always weirded me out that she could never tell me anything about the place when I asked, not even confirm that it's a power plant, which is what everyone always described it as. It was always, "It's secret. I'm not supposed to talk about it."

I think everything is innocent enough with a dozen unconnected and rational explanations but I may eventually write a bizarre, fictionalized memoir out of it someday.

[morna]

dude, you just did!














sorry just being facetious

[thespianphryne]

"PC Load Letter"? What the fuck does that mean?"

Seeing as how I work with series 6 laser printer from HP, I wouldn't know.

[Mac Danny]

"PC Load Letter"? What the fuck does that mean?"

Perfect...

Thanks for that!

[Ontir]

I love this. My experience has been that someone else has to observe it, to make it work, and it will only work as long as they observe it. Once departed, it will not work for me.

This goes hand in hand with whatever is going wrong will only do so in the absence of a certified repair professional.

[Mac Danny]

Happens to be all the time.

As an almost-corollary, I have trouble wearing watches too. They die fast, even with a new battery. I've heard most of the "personal electro-magnetic field" theories debunked so many times, I wonder if it's something chemical.

It happens with both cheap and expensive watches, digital and dial. Anything with a battery.

I've noticed the lights dimming thing (supposedly light reflecting) and even with auto-update and all that stuff turned off, my computer sometimes kicks off when I'm around. My cellphone and USB sticks tend to die when I carry them with me (when not in use) too. I've had at least three car batteries die on December 25th. My hard drives AND cars always die in times of high stress. I falsely trigger metal detectors and security systems sometimes and fail to trigger automatic doors.

I really started noticing the watch thing more around the time I turned 18. My watch stopped at the moment I walked up on the stage to receive my high school diploma.

I keep having crazy people stop me and tell me about my aura or whatever. The most memorable time was when I was stopped at a coin show by an exhibitor who started raving about how I was one of the people affected by Tesla's experiments and, rather creepily, he started talking about the part of Ohio I was born in, describing weird dreams I'd had and went on a rant about the power facility my aunt works at in Kentucky, which I didn't tell him about. It always weirded me out that she could never tell me anything about the place when I asked, not even confirm that it's a power plant, which is what everyone always described it as. It was always, "It's secret. I'm not supposed to talk about it."

I think everything is innocent enough with a dozen unconnected and rational explanations but I may eventually write a bizarre, fictionalized memoir out of it someday.

Dude, you are "Mr. North" Have you tried pocket watches?

In art school I was introduced to the idea of a "ruster." A ruster is someone who, because of their particular Ph metal will rust faster if they touch it.

This has been expanded to me for "Technical Rusters" Someone who, when touching perfectly good electronics, makes electric device stop working.

This was explained better by the acronym PEBKAC (problem exists between keyboard and chair)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519JJPH54PL._SL500.jpg

[Paradox]

MacQuarrie gets quantum emo:

You guys are undermining my thesis.

"Looking at a problem alters the problem, often correcting it."

I'm sorry. I didn't take your feelings into account.

I feel so bad now. I'm going to need to cut myself with Occam's Razor. :wink:

[Paradox]

Mac Danny has me extrapolating:

This happened with my heater. My heater would not work properly until the plumber came to look at it, then it was fine and has been ever since. The plumber didn't do anything but look at it.

Hmmm...and that reminds me of a corollary to that one. The one where it will ONLY function in the presence of a repairman, and screws up otherwise. I've fun into several things like that at the hotel.

And how does this all relate to mechanical things starting to break beginning the day after the warranty runs out?

[Slam_Bradley]

In art school I was introduced to the idea of a "ruster." A ruster is someone who, because of their particular Ph metal will rust faster if they touch it.



I can't wear a watch. My skin is apparently very acidic and it pits the metal within a very short period of time. Leather watchbands last about a month before they wear through. Luckily with the advent of cell phones I have no need for a watch.

[Mac Danny]

I can't wear a watch. My skin is apparently very acidic and it pits the metal within a very short period of time. Leather watchbands last about a month before they wear through. Luckily with the advent of cell phones I have no need for a watch.

http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/cell-phone.jpg

[Slam_Bradley]

http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/cell-phone.jpg

If you reverse the text messaging and the phone calls you'd be correct.

But I'm old.

[Pól Rua]

My first thought when I read dryer

http://www.lakewoodconferences.com/direct/dbimage/50323708/Hair_Dryer.jpg

At least it wasn't this:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u33/icedcake/HunterSeason1front400x286pixcels.jpg

But yeah, I've seen this situation twice.
A friend of mine had a real POS car which was continually breaking down but which would work perfectly when she took it to her local mechanic (she worked at a garage). The guy joked that maybe the car was frightened of him, so she took a photo of the guy growling at the camera and taped it to the inside of the bonnet.
Car ran like a dream for eight months and then just stopped.

Couple of years later, I had a mate who built me a computer which was always having little piddly problems. I told him the story about my friend's car so he took a photo of himself looking all stern and waving a screwdriver menacingly.
Taped it to the inside of the case and presto! Working computer.