Nature of Empire vs. Federation technology

[Mr. Oragahn]

Self-reseals? Good find.
That's pretty much AOTC: a few jolts here and there (say to power those functions) and you're done.

[Praeothmin]

The movie clearly shows us the arm wasn't just "disconnected"...
A lot of wires seemd to have been sheared of, same thing with the metallic cervos...

And I stand by my assessment:
If you want to be good at repairing things, and especially if you work on a farm, where you need to be able to do anything to keep it running efficiently, then you need to know at least the basics, such as what these parts do, and how to repair them.
You don't need to know how to design a circuit to repair it, but you do need to know how it works and what the components do...

[Lucky]

The movie clearly shows us the arm wasn't just "disconnected"...
A lot of wires seemd to have been sheared of, same thing with the metallic cervos...

At the same time there is nothing to lead us to believe Luke had to make extensive repairs the C3PO's arm, and it looks as if it never fell off when fixed.

[Who is like God arbour]

The movie clearly shows us the arm wasn't just "disconnected"...
A lot of wires seemd to have been sheared of, same thing with the metallic cervos...

As far as I can see, the movie does show a lot of exposed cables. But it does not show, that these cables were torn. Insofar, what the movie shows does not contradict the description of the novel. And, as Mr. Oragahn already said, » That's pretty much AOTC: a few jolts here and there (say to power those functions) and you're done. «

[Praeothmin]

At the same time there is nothing to lead us to believe Luke had to make extensive repairs the C3PO's arm, and it looks as if it never fell off when fixed.

And there is nothing to indicate that he did not have anything hard to do either.`
Look at 3PO's "good" arm, and look at the state of the damaged one.
The shoulder joint seems busted, the wires seem charred, and there seems to be some kind of broken mettallic "bone" as well.
It looks far more difficult to repair than what the novel made it out to be.

And again, the heads may be modular, just like Graphic cards on a PC, but when you need to repair something that was sheared off, or blow off, it's a bit more difficult.
Repairing 3PO's arm may not have been a difficult repair, but the facts are, Luke lives on a farm, flies a beatdown speeder, and apart from his Uncle, he's the only maintenance guy there is on an isolated settlement...
When the red and white unit breaks down in ANH, he immediately knows it's the motivator, and not something else.
Luke may not have been officially schooled, but he definitely has experience at repairs and isn't a dumb country boy...

[Lucky]

And there is nothing to indicate that he did not have anything hard to do either.`
Look at 3PO's "good" arm, and look at the state of the damaged one.
The shoulder joint seems busted, the wires seem charred, and there seems to be some kind of broken mettallic "bone" as well.
It looks far more difficult to repair than what the novel made it out to be.

Well how long do you think Luke was even at Obi-won's home? It seemed like Luke was only there for a few hours.

Where are the tools Luke would have needed to fix that? Remember Luke also seems to have fabricated a new casing.

How's this for a theory: Luke didn't actually fix anything because Obi-won "just happened" to have a spare arm for a common droid like C3-PO?
Or

C3-PO's arm looked worse then it was.
____
I can't believe my spell checker identifies Obi-won and droid as words.

And again, the heads may be modular, just like Graphic cards on a PC, but when you need to repair something that was sheared off, or blow off, it's a bit more difficult.
Repairing 3PO's arm may not have been a difficult repair, but the facts are, Luke lives on a farm, flies a beatdown speeder, and apart from his Uncle, he's the only maintenance guy there is on an isolated settlement...
When the red and white unit breaks down in ANH, he immediately knows it's the motivator, and not something else.
Luke may not have been officially schooled, but he definitely has experience at repairs and isn't a dumb country boy...

The Empire Strikes Back kind of shows C3PO is designed to come apart at the shoulders, hips, and neck rather then be badly damaged.

Knowing what a blown motivator looks like does not mean Luke even knows what a motivator does, or how to fix it. They wanted R2 for fixing things remember.

Think about at the end of ANH when R2-D2 is damaged, Luke has someone else fix R2, and that damage doesn't seem any worse then C3-Po's arm. If Luke was actually skilled why would he have someone he does not know fix R2?

[Who is like God arbour]

At the same time there is nothing to lead us to believe Luke had to make extensive repairs the C3PO's arm, and it looks as if it never fell off when fixed.

And there is nothing to indicate that he did not have anything hard to do either.`

The novelization indicates that he did not have anything hard to do.

Look at 3PO's "good" arm, and look at the state of the damaged one.
The shoulder joint seems busted, the wires seem charred, and there seems to be some kind of broken mettallic "bone" as well.
It looks far more difficult to repair than what the novel made it out to be.

Appearance can deceive.
I do not see anything in the movie that outright contradicts the novelization.

And again, the heads may be modular, just like Graphic cards on a PC, but when you need to repair something that was sheared off, or blow off, it's a bit more difficult.
Repairing 3PO's arm may not have been a difficult repair, but the facts are, Luke lives on a farm, flies a beatdown speeder, and apart from his Uncle, he's the only maintenance guy there is on an isolated settlement...
When the red and white unit breaks down in ANH, he immediately knows it's the motivator, and not something else.
Luke may not have been officially schooled, but he definitely has experience at repairs and isn't a dumb country boy...

When I start my computer and I do not get an image on my screen, I can guess, that there is a problem with my graphic card - without knowing how exactly my graphic card (or my screen) works.

When I try to start my computer and there is no reaction at all, I can guess that, there is a problem with my power supply unit - without knowing how exactly my power supply unit works.

The ability to diagnose that a module in a comprehensive system does not work and is responsible for the whole system not working, does not mean that one has to know how the defect module or any other module in the system works en detail. You only have to know what the module is supposed to do. And if the technology is very modular, you usually do not repair the module but change it because that is cheaper.

Let's take your capacitor example. I bet that most computer repair services would not be able to find a defect capacitor on a main board let alone are able to repair it. They probably wouldn't even try such thing because, as long as you do not have a very special and expensive main board, it would be more expensive to look for such a defect and repair it compared to a simple change of the main board.

[Praeothmin]

C3-PO's arm looked worse then it was.

Ok, it was not as damaged as it looked, this still is not evidence Luke doesn't know anything about electronics...

Knowing what a blown motivator looks like does not mean Luke even knows what a motivator does, or how to fix it. They wanted R2 for fixing things remember.

He saw the droid "blowing a fuse", saw the smoke coming out, the droid not moving, and was able to ascertain it was the motivator.
He cannot do that if he doesn't know what a motivator does.
If you don't know what a part does, how can you know what this specific part not working is supposed to look like?

The novelization indicates that he did not have anything hard to do.

Ok, I accept this explanation, as I told Lucky.
This still isn't evidence Luke doesn't know anything about droid repairs, or straships...

When I start my computer and I do not get an image on my screen, I can guess, that there is a problem with my graphic card - without knowing how exactly my graphic card (or my screen) works.

Wrong, the issue can be your screen, could be your screen's cable, its connector, or the graphics card...

When I try to start my computer and there is no reaction at all, I can guess that, there is a problem with my power supply unit - without knowing how exactly my power supply unit works

What kind of "no reaction"?
How can you suspect your power supply if you don't know what it does?
It could be your processor, your hard drive, or your power supply.
If you're able to pinpoint the damage, then you know more than the basics...

Anyways, you won't convince me, I've been an electronic board repair technician, and there's no way I could have done my job without knowing what things were, and how they worked...

[Lucky]

Ok, it was not as damaged as it looked, this still is not evidence Luke doesn't know anything about electronics...

But the fact he had someone else fix R2 shows he is limited.

He saw the droid "blowing a fuse", saw the smoke coming out, the droid not moving, and was able to ascertain it was the motivator.
He cannot do that if he doesn't know what a motivator does.
If you don't know what a part does, how can you know what this specific part not working is supposed to look like?

I can only really guess at what parts of my car do what, but I know from experience what certain problems look and sound like, likewise Luke had clearly seen a droid do that before, and that is how he knew what was wrong. It doesn't tell us Luke knows electronics.

[Kor_Dahar_Master]

He saw the droid "blowing a fuse", saw the smoke coming out, the droid not moving, and was able to ascertain it was the motivator.
He cannot do that if he doesn't know what a motivator does.
If you don't know what a part does, how can you know what this specific part not working is supposed to look like?

I thought summat popped and poked out of the droid top as well as started smoking?.

Well i am not a mechanic but if a piston on my car shot through the top of my car bonnet and started smaking id know that it was summat to do with the engine.

[Praeothmin]

But the fact he had someone else fix R2 shows he is limited.

Yes, compared to trained Technicians, just as I would be limited compared to experienced people who repaired electronics board for years upon years, and if I had had that choice when my PC went belly up, I would have let experienced people take car of it.
But limited compared to experts doesn't mean incapable, or that with time he couldn't repair almost anything...
I'm still not convinced...

I can only really guess at what parts of my car do what, but I know from experience what certain problems look and sound like, likewise Luke had clearly seen a droid do that before, and that is how he knew what was wrong. It doesn't tell us Luke knows electronics.

Yeah, so if your engine starts spouting smoke and stops working, just with the noise, you are able to ascertain what part is damaged?
Are you able to repair it?

I thought summat popped and poked out of the droid top as well as started smoking?.

Nope, only the top exploded...
That's akin to your car hood blowing up.
Would you be able to ascertain, with only your hood blowing up, through the smoke, what part was damaged?
I doubt that, unless you have car engine knowledge...

[Kor_Dahar_Master]

Nope, only the top exploded...
That's akin to your car hood blowing up.
Would you be able to ascertain, with only your hood blowing up, through the smoke, what part was damaged?
I doubt that, unless you have car engine knowledge...

I would know it was the engine that was screwed anyway is this this out of date then?.

8:34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQSIRgKB ... re=related

PS: Holy crap you has a big link there dude.

[Lucky]

But the fact he had someone else fix R2 shows he is limited.

Yes, compared to trained Technicians, just as I would be limited compared to experienced people who repaired electronics board for years upon years, and if I had had that choice when my PC went belly up, I would have let experienced people take car of it.
But limited compared to experts doesn't mean incapable, or that with time he couldn't repair almost anything...
I'm still not convinced...

How does Luke know the guys working as techs/mechanics are more skilled then he is?

What makes you think that those "trained" techs aren't just farm boys like Luke?

I can only really guess at what parts of my car do what, but I know from experience what certain problems look and sound like, likewise Luke had clearly seen a droid do that before, and that is how he knew what was wrong. It doesn't tell us Luke knows electronics.

Yeah, so if your engine starts spouting smoke and stops working, just with the noise, you are able to ascertain what part is damaged?
Are you able to repair it?

Different problems have different symptoms.

[Praeothmin]

Lucky, you're just arguing for the sake of argument now, so I'm leaving this debate.

I've said what I thought, based my reflexions on real-life experience where no one without basic theoretical knowledge can do the job, so let's agree to disagree.
You'll never convince me, because I've worked in electronics repairs and know you need basic theoretical knowledge to repair stuff, so I won't budge, and I don't agree with your position, which basically is a lot of "what if"...

[Praeothmin]

I would know it was the engine that was screwed anyway is this this out of date then?.

8:34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQSIRgKB ... re=related

PS: Holy crap you has a big link there dude.

You're right, there's a part that came off the top.
But just knowing what it is already shows some basic knowledge of mechanics, or Droids in Luke's case, or automobile engines in yours.
Basic knowledge needed to perform repairs...