Susan Brown

[Susan Brown]

Hi Robert,

That particular question was set up so that you just needed to know the rule of thumb about equivalent resistance: that it will be something less than the smallest resistance in the parallel circuit.

You can calculate the exact value of the equiv. resistance by using the formula that is shown in the last presentation in that unit (starting at about 2 1/2 minutes in), but you didn’t need to for this question.

Does that answer your question?

[Susan Brown]

Hi John,

Since March, we’ve added 9 new presentations to Fundamentals, including the one you are asking about. We almost immediately decided that the Ohm’s Law presentation went beyond the scope of Fundamentals, which focuses on basics, and was advanced enough that we should include it among the presentations in a new course on Advanced Schematic Analysis and Troubleshooting. We left the presentation in the Fundamentals course for the time being while we built the ASAT course, but moved it over to the ASAT course last week when that course was launched.

So you were one of the few students who happened to catch it during that brief window that it appeared in Fundamentals and got a bonus lesson (and a preview of the ASAT). Lucky you! 🙂

We’ve noted this and all other updates in the Course Updates log at the site.

[Susan Brown]

Hi Glenn,

I’m not sure what the “ugh of ohms law” is that you mentioned – perhaps that was a typo? 🙂

To cover all the bases, I’ll go over the basic math functions that are in the Ohm’s law pie chart that first makes its colorful appearance in Unit 3 of Basic Electricity.

1. Multiplication: as in, E = I x R
2. Division: as in, R = E ÷ I (written in the pie chart as E / I, which is just another way to show a division problem)

Those two are easy to do on any calculator.

3. Squared: as in, P = I² x R. A number that is “squared” is simply that number times itself. For example, 2 squared is the same as 2 x 2 which is 4. So, if your calculator doesn’t have a squared function button (usually labelled as x²) just enter the number and multiply it by the same number.

4. Square root: as in, E = √ P x R 
A square root is the opposite of a square. You are basically saying, what number was squared to get this number? If you want to know the square root of 4, you ask “what number times itself will equal 4?” The answer is 2. For all but the simplest numbers, you’ll need a calculator that has a square root button to calculate this. If you are using the calculator on an iPhone, turn the phone sideways to get a lot of extra buttons, including the square root. It looks something like this: ²√ x 

I hope that helps! Lemme know if you have any other questions.

[Susan Brown]

That’s some wise advice, Smashy!

You can retake the quiz when you are ready.

[Susan Brown]

Listen to the video starting at about the 6:20 mark 🙂

It’s great that you’re going back and studying new material, even though you finished the course a while back. Have you seen all of the new screencasts that were added to the Basic Electricity module over the last month? You should check them out if you haven’t – it’s killer stuff!

[Susan Brown]

Hi Smashy!

Thanks for the suggestion. That would be a good thing to be able to show in the results. I played around with the quiz settings in the software we use, and unfortunately it doesn’t work quite the way we need it to for our particular style of quizzes. I’m putting in a ticket with the software company to see if they can make this possible in the next update. If we can do this, I’ll let you know!

By the way – props to you for going back and studying the quizzes!

[Susan Brown]

Hi – sorry for the delay, there was a glitch in the system that notifies me of posts!

No, when new content is added to a course you will have to take any new quizzes. If you have already done that and you still have problems accessing the units, please let us know. There have been a couple of students who took the business class early on who have had problems getting back in, but we have a way to reset you if that happens. If you do end up needing to retake any quizzes, just think of it as a good review! Fortunately, they are short.

[Susan Brown]

Thanks for the heads-up! Yep, we made that change because we realized how long that sidebar was going to be as we kept adding courses. Now you only see the modules/units for the course you are in.

[Susan Brown]

You got it! And, no, cavemen did not figure out how to use mathematical formulas to represent real-world phenomena. Don’t be hard on yourself! 🙂

[Susan Brown]

That’s not quite it!

Look at the “pie chart” near the end of Unit 3. The bottom right quadrant shows three different formulas for calculating resistance depending on what information you have. And the quiz problem gave you power and voltage data.

[Susan Brown]

Hi Kevin,
Ohm’s law says V=I*R. Power is not part of that equation.

But we learned that P = I*V (“*” means times)

This problem doesn’t give you the current, I, so you either need to first calculate the current (from power and voltage) and then use that result to calculate the resistance, or you can use the pie chart in the lesson to find the formula that calculates R from just knowing volts and power. (Remember that E is the same as Volts.)

Does that make sense? Let me know if that helps you figure it out.

~Mrs. Samurai

[Susan Brown]

Hi Chance!

Yes, while you are working on the appliance itself, focus is very important. But before you begin that work, or after you are done, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to bring more value to the customer by noticing and recommending other appliance-related work or add-on sales that you could offer to the customer.

We mention this in the sections “At the appliance – Diagnosis:” and “Explaining the problem, proposing the repair:”

Does that clear it up for you?
~Mrs. Samurai

[Susan Brown]

Hi Billy,

We’re happy to help you with this, but first, which Unit/Quiz are you referring to?

~Mrs. Samurai

[Susan Brown]

Good question, Christopher!

Advertising has changed a lot since we first started this business. Back in the 90’s it was all about a big yellow pages ad. Now it’s mostly about an online presence.

Every area/region is going to be a little different, so it’s good to network with other business owners in your area to find out what works for them- especially when it comes to choosing a print medium to advertise in.

Our area is semi-rural with a higher-than-usual population of retirees. Even so, nearly half of the people who call us found us thru a web search. The other half saw us in the Kearsarge Shopper that Scott mentioned. Maybe 5 people a year report that they saw us in the print yellow pages.

So, an online presence is critical – nice, simple website, social media, etc. That’s the place to start. We talked about this some in the “Other Business Items” unit in the second module. If you have more questions about setting up a website or social media, start a separate topic on that!

One potential online mistake to avoid – there are businesses out there who claim to help you get more clicks by using their services, and these can be a big waste of money. Most people can figure out how to use Google Adwords themselves, so we recommend doing that before paying someone else for “clicks”.

Of course, a critical part of any advertising campaign is to know what your message is. What distinguishes you from the competition? This is often referred to as your “unique selling proposition”. Things like speed, expertise, honesty, reliability. You may find that you’ll zero in on this more clearly after you get more experience dealing with customers in your area, but work hard to know what unique thing you want to offer, and then work hard to communicate that to potential customers.

The one adjective we encourage people not to use is “budget”. We hope you can understand why! A high-quality, responsive appliance repair service is not usually going to be the cheapest option in town.

There are low-cost methods of advertising that are worth doing as well. For example, I have magnets with our logo on my car, since I am out in town every day. It’s basically free advertising! I get asked for business cards on a regular basis.

Probably the most important low-cost method is to try to make your customers into cheerleaders so you’ll get referrals. Besides treating them well during the service call, make the effort to thank them afterwards. We’ve found sending an actual thank-you postcard in the mail, that offers them a discount on their next repair, is better received than a thank-you email. One way or the other, make that extra contact to try to build a stronger relationship with your customers so they will recommend you.

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