Who else reads manuals?

[High Wire]

Yes, all of them plus other competitors manuals when mine are completely lacking. Recently, my CAV filter fiasco could have been avoided with just a little better guidance. "2- Install the gaskets." Wait you give me 5 gaskets but only 4 get used? Well known to those that know it well. Thank God for the internet.
Right now researching replacement generators which means reading NL, Norpro, Phasor, Mase, Kohler, and Onan manuals where I can find them.

 

[Donsan]

Softcopy works pretty well for us. Makes keyword searches possible, etc.

Keyword searches are great EXCEPT some (expletive deleted) vendors put their manuals in a PDF format that can't be searched.

 

[rwidman]

Not sure about other MFDs, but my Raymarine has the manual in it and has a search function..

That's great if:

1) The MFD powers up without problems and you don't need the manual to figure out why it's not powering up.

2) You don't need the manual to find out how to bring up the manual on the MFD.

One reason I like paper manuals is that I can take the manual and go sit in the corner (or on the pot) and study how the thing is supposed to work or why it may not be working. Having an index is sort of like a search function.

 

[rwidman]

I love reading stories told by tech support.

"Tech support" in many cases is useless or close to it. It often seems like I know more about the product in question than the support person does.

Having been in the position of supporting computers in the past, I realize that they are speaking with people from all levels of understanding and it's probably a pretty frustrating job.

 

[Bruce B]

"Tech support" in many cases is useless or close to it. It often seems like I know more about the product in question than the support person does.

Having been in the position of supporting computers in the past, I realize that they are speaking with people from all levels of understanding and it's probably a pretty frustrating job.

I try hard to give them enough information to get up to speed with my needs as quickly as I can.
Every time I call Cox tech support I get the same "your modem is outdated" message from the tech support technician. I now inform them that the modem they are referring to is the telephone modem and that it is fine as it is. I'm looking for support for the internet/cable modem so please focus on that!
They spend a minute looking and then move onto my issue...
Bruce

 

[BandB]

I read every page of every manual for anything I ever purchase. Doesn't mean I learn it all but at least know it's there and where to find the information when needed.

As to printing out 200 pages, I use digital and keep them handy that way. As to not being able to search PDF's, you can search them just fine, one of their attributes. As to complex equipment and briefer manuals, I've found 9 times out of 10 that's the written manual but there's still a more detailed electronic version. As to a smart phone without a manual, I can't imagine which one as all I'm aware of have very thorough electronic manuals available online.

I also expect persons servicing equipment to do so with service manuals with them and open.

 

[Bruce B]

...I also expect persons servicing equipment to do so with service manuals with them and open.

Interesting, my business involved the maintenance and repair of mostly European automobiles. In the auto world, most technicians do have access to the service requirements and manuals (we did, even as an independent shop) but it is unusual for the tech to have manuals open at all times.
We listed service requirements on each invoice and published a "technician's version" for in house use for each job so that if a car was in for a B service, each step was listed. Wheel torque, fluid volumes, part numbers and other useful data were printed in this document as needed.
The tech was expected to know his subject matter beforehand but if there were questions, we provided access to manuals at their work station.
Typically, they were used only when questions arose...
Bruce

 

[psneeld]

That's great if:

1) The MFD powers up without problems and you don't need the manual to figure out why it's not powering up.

2) You don't need the manual to find out how to bring up the manual on the MFD.

One reason I like paper manuals is that I can take the manual and go sit in the corner (or on the pot) and study how the thing is supposed to work or why it may not be working. Having an index is sort of like a search function.

Some of us know how to overcome simplistic problems and prefer not to have our legs go to sleep once a day.


They do provide a DVD and have it online.

No one said it was the second coming.....

 

[BandB]

Interesting, my business involved the maintenance and repair of mostly European automobiles. In the auto world, most technicians do have access to the service requirements and manuals (we did, even as an independent shop) but it is unusual for the tech to have manuals open at all times.
We listed service requirements on each invoice and published a "technician's version" for in house use for each job so that if a car was in for a B service, each step was listed. Wheel torque, fluid volumes, part numbers and other useful data were printed in this document as needed.
The tech was expected to know his subject matter beforehand but if there were questions, we provided access to manuals at their work station.
Typically, they were used only when questions arose...
Bruce

I see your solution basically as a reasonable substitute for the service manual being open. Many facilities don't have similar so don't have all the details available in such fashion. Also, your method facilitates routine tasks better than others. Still even for diagnostic tasks having the steps, procedures and what to look for and expect on a technician's version can work very well. My point is I don't want them determining torque or volumes from memory, don't want them determining how far to turn something from memory. I also want them, if parts are furnished to them by a parts department, checking the parts numbers themselves.

I don't care how many classes one has had or how many times they've done the job, but they should double check themselves. You provided that means in your technician's document.

 

[CPseudonym]

Decades ago I worked for a shop that wound up with a contract to install for Sears(not at all lucrative but that's another story). Gotta call to install a water softener so picked up the unit at Sears and went to the lady's house. 20 minutes after I showed up the lady stepped into the garage to find the unit unboxed and me reading the last of the installation instructions. She asked what I was doing so told her reading the manual.

30 minutes later my boss pulled up as I was half way through the install and asked me what was going on. Turned out the lady called in a complaint that the guy they sent out obviously had no clue what he was doing...

 

[psneeld]

Decades ago I worked for a shop that wound up with a contract to install for Sears(not at all lucrative but that's another story). Gotta call to install a water softener so picked up the unit at Sears and went to the lady's house. 20 minutes after I showed up the lady stepped into the garage to find the unit unboxed and me reading the last of the installation instructions. She asked what I was doing so told her reading the manual.

30 minutes later my boss pulled up as I was half way through the install and asked me what was going on. Turned out the lady called in a complaint that the guy they sent out obviously had no clue what he was doing...

How little consumers know at times...

I have seen so many boat techs with no clue what they are doing install stuff they have no clue how to install properly....

I am a lot more pleased when I see them reviewing instructions or on the phone with tech services....shows that they DO give a crap about doing it right....not the wham bam thank you mam approach way to many cocksure types have out there.

 

[ranger58sb]

Keyword searches are great EXCEPT some (expletive deleted) vendors put their manuals in a PDF format that can't be searched.

Yeah, I've encountered that a couple times. Not often... Can't find any examples on this machine, just now...

And IIRC, I've once or twice been able to convert some of those...

-Chris

 

[ABfish]

A few things that frustrate my reading of manuals (and I am a manual reader)-

Manuals that are printed in eight different languages, such that the manual is far larger and harder to navigate than necessary. I should be able to easily separate and discard the languages that I don't need.

As some one else pointed out, the sheer volume of safety warnings in some manuals makes them all but useless. If you buy a new cordless drill, there are ZERO tips on operating techniques, but there are dozens of safety warnings, most of which are common sense anyway.

 

[CPseudonym]

Once upon a time manuals where written by engineering. Nowadays they at least must pass muster with legal, at worst they are completely written by legal.

For the most part manuals have morphed into legal disclaimers often rendering them *almost* completely useless.

 

[BandB]

A few things that frustrate my reading of manuals (and I am a manual reader)-

Manuals that are printed in eight different languages, such that the manual is far larger and harder to navigate than necessary. I should be able to easily separate and discard the languages that I don't need.

As some one else pointed out, the sheer volume of safety warnings in some manuals makes them all but useless. If you buy a new cordless drill, there are ZERO tips on operating techniques, but there are dozens of safety warnings, most of which are common sense anyway.

They are common sense but many people don't have common sense. Of course, those same people aren't likely to gain it from a manual. We pack all manuals away in vacuum sealed bags after we insure we have an electronic copy accessible in many ways. If the manufacturer doesn't have it electronically, then we go through the ugly task of scanning it. Fortunately, the need to do that is now rare.

With the lowered prices of disk space and the low prices of basic tablets today, coupled with the fact most of us have WIFI, it's gotten pretty easy to have all manuals on a computer drive and accessible from tablets anywhere on the boat. You're seeing this in auto shops now and a few boatyards.

 

[MYTraveler]

The only manuals I don't read are the ones that are mostly drawings with little explanation. Maybe that is one reason I don't like Apple products -- crappy abbreviated manuals and a UI that is supposed to be intuitive but that I can never figure out. A comprehensive, well organized and well written manual is a pleasure and significantly cuts the learning time and increases the utility of complex equipment.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Supposed to have every manual available on line.... https://www.manualslib.com/

 

[BandB]

The only manuals I don't read are the ones that are mostly drawings with little explanation. Maybe that is one reason I don't like Apple products -- crappy abbreviated manuals and a UI that is supposed to be intuitive but that I can never figure out. A comprehensive, well organized and well written manual is a pleasure and significantly cuts the learning time and increases the utility of complex equipment.

I share with you a dislike of manuals with just drawings and not explanations in words. I've seen it on a lot of small products for the home that have numbered photos showing how to assemble but that's it.

 

[DHeckrotte]

A well-worn catchphrase around here is, "When all else fails, read the instructions."

Doesn't help nearly as often as one would wish. Two recent examples I've suffered with on our boat are the installation instructions for the Raritan Elegance and those for the Raymarine Radar/chartplotter. Both suffered errors of omission. The Raymarine was also not apparently in English.

 

[RT Firefly]

I hear ya on the drawings...

??????

 

[Bruce B]

The only manuals I don't read are the ones that are mostly drawings with little explanation. Maybe that is one reason I don't like Apple products -- crappy abbreviated manuals and a UI that is supposed to be intuitive but that I can never figure out. A comprehensive, well organized and well written manual is a pleasure and significantly cuts the learning time and increases the utility of complex equipment.

Interesting! I find that Apple manuals are pretty decent and cover a lot more than many other competing products. I have a buddy that can't figure out how to use an iPad and hates it... He is an Android guy.

I've used my share of Windows, Android and Apple and have developed my own bias. Different strokes I guess.
Bruce

https://support.apple.com/manuals/

 

[Art]

I'm avid reader of most things. Manuals included. That said... there are times when I know how to ready something for use and how to use it (at least in a limited fashion or maybe even completely). I will scan the manual either before, during or after use. I keep manuals too. Have couple boxes full on boat, categorized with dividers and individual tabs. Oodles of folders on computer with manuals from boat as well as other manuals for items not even owned by me - but interesting none the less. Also, on folder pages have cutouts from some really smart posts and/or articles.

 

[porman]

I've found that most people want things explained to them by a living, breathing person rather than reading a manual. My experience with this has been in new vehicle sales. After spending 60 to 100 thousand dollars on their new Porsche, the new owner shows up a week later in the service drive asking how to program their radio. Then they're back a few days later to get their seat memory programmed. The list goes on and on. Of course, their salesperson explained all of this to them during delivery, and all of it is available in their Owners Manual. Instead the job falls on the service department (because their salesperson is conveniently not available), usually the shop foreman. Can you guess who that used to be?

 

[psneeld]

My old boss at the marine electronics shop recognized this.

He wouldn't sell inexpensive items at regular prices...

If someone wanted a cheap handheld radio or similar, his price would either drive them away or have a couple tech hours for training built in.

 

[Cigatoo]

Service Manual

The first items that I purchased when I purchased my boat were the service repair manual and parts catalog for the Yanmar. Worth every Penney even at the inflated Yanmar pricing. If only the service bullitans were more readily available.

First purchase with the BMW Motorbike was the BMW Service manual.

 

[Art]

I have original copy of thick mechanics service book for my 1967 Buick Wildcat. I call it the Cat Bible. Owned the now 50 yr old high performance "Luxo Muscle Car" for 19 yrs. Drive it often. Cat Bible comes in handy... keep it sequestered in the trunk. New heater core goes in today... Cat Bible come out for this procedure!

 

[bilge53]

I read manuals, read instructions for set up/assembly, count parts and lay them out in organized fashion and, if possible, contact someone who has actually done the task except for the brainless endeavors. It is nice to know ahead of time where the potential for a FUBAR might be lurking.

 

[FlyWright]

In my world of aviation, manuals were king. Procedures manuals, Operations manuals, airplane manuals, air traffic control manual (The Bible), Instrument Flight Procedures manuals (TERPS), Flight Inspection Manual, Federal Aviation Regulation manuals, and then we had countless handbooks to explain the regulations and the manuals! We were constant students of the books and strived to understand all that they contained. We knew our airplanes in the finest detail and took pride in that.

In boating, it's much to same to me. I transferred my work ethics into boating and try to understand, as best I can, the inner working of all systems I operate and operate within. The way I look at it, the more I know, the better operator and safer mariner I am.

My old preference was for paper manuals that I could highlight and mark up with notations and important formulae but now I prefer the .pdf format. A simple CTRL-F will launch the FIND function to search for a key word or phrase. It makes finding the reference much faster.

 

[Art]

In my world of aviation, manuals were king. Procedures manuals, Operations manuals, airplane manuals, air traffic control manual (The Bible), Instrument Flight Procedures manuals (TERPS), Flight Inspection Manual, Federal Aviation Regulation manuals, and then we had countless handbooks to explain the regulations and the manuals! We were constant students of the books and strived to understand all that they contained. We knew our airplanes in the finest detail and took pride in that.

In boating, it's much to same to me. I transferred my work ethics into boating and try to understand, as best I can, the inner working of all systems I operate and operate within. The way I look at it, the more I know, the better operator and safer mariner I am.

My old preference was for paper manuals that I could highlight and mark up with notations and important formulae but now I prefer the .pdf format. A simple CTRL-F will launch the FIND function to search for a key word or phrase. It makes finding the reference much faster.

Evolution = Teaching ol' dogs new tricks! - LOL and Woof, Woof

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. FW. "In my world of aviation, manuals were king." Most probably written and proof read by professionals who were English language speakers/writers. Said manuals were most probably reviewed by the FAA and who knows who else. So a BIG difference between them and a consumer product manual. As noted, some are better than others and some mostly unintelligible/poorly written/poorly translated.