Comment by analog31

I repair practically anything that breaks in my house -- except heavy work on the car, or the roof. A few things, from me as a kid:

1. Take things apart, and try to figure out how they work. Don't worry too much about getting them back together. But then, trying to reassemble it is good practice too. There's plenty of old electronic junk that you can explore before throwing it away. Build a mental catalog of how things work and are assembled. Among other things, this will help you when you need to come up with a strategy for getting some particular gadget open -- often 9/10 of the problem.

2. Like others have said, YouTube is great. People will make a video of a repair, or even just getting something open, for a few "likes." Also, most of them are just normal genuine people who aren't trying to be influencers, so it's kind of culturally refreshing. Many of my successful repairs started with YouTube, such as my clothes washer and dryer, refrigerator, lawn mower.

3. Many of my most cherished tools are what I call for "demolition," not electronics specific, like picks, pry bars, a slim knife that can get between things, stuff like that. Another set of cherished tools are my magnifying visor, small magnifying glass, bright flashlight, and a stereo inspection microscope that I got second-hand.

4. A lot of "electronic" failures are actually mechanical in nature, and you can just use your general troubleshooting rundown to figure them out. Switches, connectors, cables, etc.

5. Begin to get the hang of identifying parts, and how part numbering schemes work. It will help you in your search for spares.

6. These days I often ask my spouse for a opinion. She's a laboratory scientist, quite sharp and skeptical. I'll have a hypothesis, and she asks the one question that blows it out of the water.

Good luck! Don't get electrocuted or burn your house down.