TO BE AN expert in electronics requires a knowledge of design as well as application, and when litigation looms large and experts are called upon to investigate and to provide opinion, the difference between design and application needs to be appreciated to ensure the right person is instructed and the appropriate issues are considered.
One of the most common reasons for the failure of portable appliances and products is water damage.
Mobile phones get dropped in the bath or down the toilet, laptops have coffee spilled on them and televisions, video and DVD players have plants placed upon them that are then watered.
Second in line to water damage is dropping of items. Many hand-held devices are incredibly robust and most are required to pass stringent ‘drop tests’, but inevitably, if products are dropped onto hard enough surfaces from great enough heights, damage ensues.
With the development of very tough plastics there is often no evidence of dropping from the surface of the device.
Other aspects of shock have to be investigated. Most electronic devices these days are surface mounted, meaning there are no longer heavy devices with long legs that may yield information about shock from the shift experienced when the device hit the floor.
Other devices have to be inspected, such as crystals which provide timing information. Those devices are sometimes more prone to shock than other electronic devices.
Thirdly we have overheating: devices that are operated in the wrong way or in the wrong place. Laptops left on duvets and shop point of sale terminals (POS or EPOS) that are crammed into cupboards under the counter inevitably close down at some point due to over-heating or lack of ventilation. Modern electronics are very good at taking preventative action and closing down before permanent damage is sustained; but if the reported problem is intermittent operation then sometimes things can become litigious before anyone actually realises that overheating is to blame.
When litigation is underway during or just after the design of a new product or a bespoke system based on a non-compliance complaint or a failure-to-deliver issue, the expert under instruction may often be required to analyse any number of aspects of the total design, and such an exercise can be disproportionate to the claim being brought. Comprehensive disclosure and close co-operation between the experts on both sides and the technical staff at the design company can sometimes short-cut the issue, but the effort necessary to get to the answer, whatever that may be, must not be underestimated.
• D A SYKES is the managing director of IT Group, a highly credited IT consultant and experienced expert witness in IT, telecommunications, electronic and electrical engineering, and cell site analysis.