Our Technical Support line is open from 9 am to 5:30 pm Mon to Friday and Saturday 9:30am to 5pm.

All answered calls start with a brief message stating the nature of the service and any restrictions. We will endeavour to answer any question you have on any of our products. If an answer or information is not readily available then you will be asked to provide a telephone number. Once the information is obtained the engineer will call you back free of charge. You must obtain permission from your telephone account holder before using this service. It will save time if you have all relevant details to hand, e g catalogue page number for components, project book number for kits, and if replacement or additional parts are required, your customer number and post code. It is seldom that kit/project fault finding can successfully be carried out over the phone and can be very time consuming. We recommend you take advantage of our ‘get you working service’. The free ‘Do You Do?’ service on 0870 264 6005 (Standard National Rates apply) is open from 9 am to 5:30 pm Mon to Friday. If you know what you want but are not sure if we stock it then this is the service to ring. This line is not able to provide technical advice. If you write or e-mail, please keep technical enquiries separate from any other enquiry or order. Address your letter to the: Technical Department, Maplin Electronics, Valley Road, Wombwell, Barnsley, S Yorks, S73 0BS. Address your e-mail to technical@maplin.co.uk, or doyoudo@maplin.co.uk

Please ensure that your customer number / account number or a copy of the Maplin store receipt is provided. We will do our utmost to answer your enquiry within 2 working days of our receiving it. We are unable to offer the service on projects where the kit has been discontinued for over one year. We are unable to help with the design of your equipment or the redesign of Maplin projects. We will however, assist you to find the parts you need from our range of products. Enquiries about projects appearing in magazines must refer to the relevant magazine issue number.



Project Fault Finding
Before you write try to narrow down the fault: it’s hard to help you if you just say it doesn’t work, since in most cases the fault could be almost anything. Most designs follow a logical sequence so, if possible, check to see if any parts of the circuit are operating correctly and make a note of every test you make. You will undoubtedly require a multimeter and in audio circuits a crystal earpiece can be useful as only the tip need be connected to enable you to hear what is happening throughout the circuit and the extremely high impedance of this monitor will not cause the existing conditions to change. Always check the power supply voltages and voltage rails in the circuit, and check that all points that should be at earth potential are correct, especially when you have several seemingly unconnected faults Hums and buzzes are almost always caused by incorrect earthing, poor layout or interconnecting wires that are too long. Poor soldering is one of the most common causes of faults. Keep the soldering iron tip clean and free from build-ups of flux by wiping it on a damp rag or sponge, but ensure that it is always tinned covered with a layer of molten solder with a new iron, tin the new bit by wiping the molten solder over it with a piece of card or rag. It is most important that both sides of a joint are heated together by the iron If one side is cold the flux from the solder will flow around it and insulate it from the other side, exactly the opposite to what is wanted.