Fault Diagnosis tests are used to select technical personnel who
need to be able to find and repair faults in electronic and
mechanical systems.
As modern equipment of all types becomes more dependent on
electronic control systems (and arguably more complex) the ability
to approach problems logically in order to find the cause of the
fault is increasingly important.

This type of test is used extensively to select technical and
maintenance personnel as well as to select for artificer
(technical) roles within the armed forces. For example, aircraft
technician.
Fault Diagnosis tests usually form part of a test battery
in which
verbal reasoning and
numerical reasoning
also feature. No specialised knowledge is required to answer these
fault diagnosis questions (unlike
mechanical
reasoning )
This sample question paper contains 12 questions and has a
suggested time limit of 10 minutes. The questions are presented in
Letter/A4 format for easy printing and self-marking.
Download
Fault Diagnosis Test - Practice Test 1
Example Fault Diagnosis Question
There are two components to this question.
- A grid which describes the function of a series of
switches.
- A flowchart showing: input – switches – output.
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Each of the switches acts to alter the input before the next
switch in the series.

This grid shows four switches and their effect on four numbered
inputs which may be either on or off. The first switch (diamond
symbol) inverts inputs one and two. That is, if the input is on,
it is turned off and if it is off it is turned on. The other
switches act in a similar way as detailed in the grid. If a switch
is not working then it has no effect on the input which passes
through unchanged.

In this example flowchart, all of the inputs
(numbered 1, 2, 3, 4) are on.
When these inputs pass through the first switch 1 & 3 are inverted
(i.e. switched off).
These modified inputs (1=off, 2=on, 3=off, 4=on) then pass through
the second switch.
The second switch inverts inputs 3 & 4, which gives (1=off, 2=on,
3=on, 4=off).
These modified inputs (1=off, 2=on, 3=on, 4=off) then pass through
the third switch.
The third switch should invert inputs 2 & 4, giving (1=off, 2=off,
3=on, 4=on).
However the third switch is not working so the output from switch
two is not changed.
The answer to this question is therefore ‘C’ – because switch type
‘C’ is at fault.
Over 95% of the candidates who fail these tests did not do enough practice - Don't be one of them!

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