When should intermittent failure detection routines be part of the legacy re-host TPS?

Intermittent failures are failures that do not manifest themselves all the time. The fact that they are sometimes there and sometimes aren´t can make them very difficult to analyze.¹ Some of the most difficult to diagnose faults are intermittent. It is very difficult to isolate intermittent faults which occur with low frequency.² Intermittent electrical faults, as a rule, are notoriously difficult to detect. Sometimes an intermittent short or open circuit may leave visible signs of overheating or micro-arcing on a printed circuit board or a connector, but at other times damage may be on such a microscopic scale that it is likely to go undetected.³ The inability to find anything wrong by trying to reproduce the incident is no guarantee of the detection of an intermittent fault. This paper will discuss various ways to detect intermittent failures. The paper will discuss the root causes of intermittent failures. Also, a discussion will take place that addresses why we must pursue new techniques, methods and technologies to detect elusive failures.