Source: https://mokxi.com/teachers/plans/technician-capstone Updated: 2026-11-12 Lesson plan # Technician capstone: your own repair bench lesson plan Faulty units come in, and you send them back working: intake, a diagnosis plan, schematic reading, repair, verification, a repair log and a customer report, with the meter, the scope and the component tester. 3 chapters, 7 lessons, about 7 hours, no board. Every lesson runs in the browser, with nothing to install. Start a class from this course The unit ## Objectives and materials ### By the end, students can - Log the unit, test the parts, write a plan and read the schematic before you touch anything. - Let the readings pick the part, change one thing, and prove the repair under load. - As-found and as-left logs, a customer report in plain words, and your bench portfolio. ### Materials for the whole unit - Battery: AA, coin cell, LiPo - Bench power supply - Capacitor x 2 - Component tester x 2 - DC jack and adapter - Diode x 2 - Full-size breadboard - Half breadboard - LED x 3 - LM317 regulator - Mains transformer, 230 V or 120 V to 12 V - Multimeter - NE555 timer - Oscilloscope - Resistor x 3 - Signal generator - Transistor (NPN or PNP) - Voltage regulator Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too. Chapter 1. About 2 h 45 min ## Intake and diagnosis Log the unit, test the parts, write a plan and read the schematic before you touch anything. Lesson | Time | What students do Intake: log the unit, test the parts Your bench opens for business. Take in a bag of loose parts the way a shop does: write the ticket, then let the component tester name each part, its legs and its numbers, and catch a wrong substitute before it goes in. | 55 min - Your bench, your rules - Name the transistor - Name the LED - Catch the wrong substitute - Sort the mystery LED - Write the intake ticket Diagnosis plan: reproduce, then halve the problem A 5 V supply comes in with a dim light and a gadget that keeps resetting. Reproduce the complaint, write a plan that splits the circuit in half, measure in that order, and confirm the cause by substitution. | 55 min - Reproduce the complaint - Write the plan before you measure - Measure the input - Measure the load current - Confirm by substitution - Find the edge of the spec Schematic reading: predict every node A reference divider reads high. Trace the meter onto the schematic, predict the healthy reading from the parts, find the drifted resistor, learn why one reading can point at two suspects, and close the chapter with a predict-the-reading quiz. | 55 min - Trace the meter onto the schematic - Predict the healthy reading - Load the unit as it came in - One reading, two suspects - Chapter quiz: predict the reading - Milestone check: chapter one ### Materials - Battery: AA, coin cell, LiPo - Capacitor x 2 - Component tester x 2 - Full-size breadboard - Half breadboard - LED - Multimeter - Resistor x 3 - Transistor (NPN or PNP) - Voltage regulator ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Schematic reading: predict every node" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Milestone check: chapter one". Chapter 2. About 2 h ## Repair and verify Let the readings pick the part, change one thing, and prove the repair under load. Lesson | Time | What students do Repair: one change, one reason Two 555 timer units come in running at the wrong rate. Use the meter's frequency and duty ranges and the scope to work out from the readings alone whether the capacitor or a resistor is wrong, then fix each with one change. | 55 min - Measure the as-found rate - Let the duty cycle pick the suspect - Repair: change the one part - See it on the scope - Second unit: which part this time? - Repair the second unit Verification: prove it under load A transformer power supply hums and sags. Find the dried-out smoothing capacitor with the meter and scope, replace it, then prove the repair: DC output, ripple on the AC range, a heavier load, and a predict-the-reading quiz to close the chapter. | 65 min - Safety first: this one plugs into the wall - Measure the sag - See the ripple - Repair and measure the output - Measure the ripple on the AC range - Test under a heavier load - Chapter quiz: predict the reading ### Materials - Capacitor - Diode x 2 - Full-size breadboard - Half breadboard - Mains transformer, 230 V or 120 V to 12 V - Multimeter - NE555 timer - Oscilloscope - Resistor x 2 - Signal generator ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Verification: prove it under load" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 7 of its 7 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Chapter quiz: predict the reading". Chapter 3. About 2 h ## Hand it back As-found and as-left logs, a customer report in plain words, and your bench portfolio. Lesson | Time | What students do Documentation: as found, as left An LED light bar comes in dim. Record every as-found reading before you touch it, fix the one wrong resistor, record the same readings as left, and write a repair log another tech could follow. | 55 min - Record the as-found current - Record the as-found brightness - Repair and record the current - Record the as-left brightness - Clear the regulator - Write the repair log Customer report: no fault found, and why A bench supply "reads 10 V when set to 12". Measure it, find it is doing exactly what it was told, protect the customer's load, then write the report a customer can understand and finish your portfolio write-up. | 65 min - Reproduce the complaint - Measure the current - Prove it with the limit raised - Spot the danger in the "fix" - Chapter quiz: predict the safe setting - Write the customer report - Your bench portfolio, and the road from here ### Materials - Bench power supply - DC jack and adapter - Full-size breadboard - Half breadboard - LED x 3 - LM317 regulator - Multimeter - Resistor ### Check for understanding Each student finishes "Customer report: no fault found, and why" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 7 of its 7 steps as they go. Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Your bench portfolio, and the road from here". Your class ## Teach this unit as a class Start a class from this course and its 7 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you. The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way. Start a class from this course See the demo class More units ## Other lesson plans Electronics basics 20 lessons, about 10 h. Embedded on the Arduino Uno 16 lessons, about 12 h. Embedded on the ESP32-C3 13 lessons, about 11 h. Embedded on the Raspberry Pi Pico 7 lessons, about 6 h. Build your own fight stick 5 lessons, about 4 h. Embedded on the STM32F411 6 lessons, about 6 h. C++ on a board 13 lessons, about 10 h. Digital logic and memory 4 lessons, about 4 h. Interactive devices on the Uno 9 lessons, about 8 h. From gates to a computer 23 lessons, about 16 h. Build a claw machine 8 lessons, about 6 h. Every unit All the courses as ready-made units, on the teachers page.