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Is it possible to know if a circuit is Parallel, Series or Series Parallel just by looking at the board??

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rego21

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Hello, I'm a beginner to repairing electronics, so recently I was watching a youtube video and this person opened up a power supply and he knew which components where in parallel and series, so I was wondering what is it I should look out for to be able to know??
 
Hello, I'm a beginner to repairing electronics, so recently I was watching a youtube video and this person opened up a power supply and he knew which components where in parallel and series, so I was wondering what is it I should look out for to be able to know??

Before getting any injury attempting to repair, learn basic schematics of switch mode power supplies. from schematics you can easily know the arrangement of components. then try to understand principal of operation and function of each components.
 
Before getting any injury attempting to repair, learn basic schematics of switch mode power supplies. from schematics you can easily know the arrangement of components. then try to understand principal of operation and function of each components.

Thanks for the reply
 
Welcome to ETO!
Consider two connected components A and B, each having two terminals. If one terminal of A is connected to one terminal of B, and the other terminal of A is connected to the other terminal of B then the components are in parallel. If A and B have only one terminal in common then they are in series.
 
Welcome to ETO!
Consider two connected components A and B, each having two terminals. If one terminal of A is connected to one terminal of B, and the other terminal of A is connected to the other terminal of B then the components are in parallel. If A and B have only one terminal in common then they are in series.

Thanks for your time alec_t!!

is it possible to see the connection between the terminals without a schematic??
 
Yes. Follow the circuit traces between components by eye. Or you can use a multimeter in low Ohms or continuity mode to detect if components are connected to each other.
 
One comment I have is that say for PC motherboards, it might be impossible. PCB's can go as many as 40 layers. Most common is double sided. One side can connect via the other via what's called VIA's. A hole can be plated-thru which means the hole make the connection to the other side.

I have never seen them, but I know it's possible to actually "burry" components within the PCB.

For 2-sided boards, a flashlight from the other side usually works. X-rays may be necessary for more complex boards
 
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