How to Find Manuals

Over the years, some of us tend to acquire tools, electronics or other useful equipment that is not new but still has much value. Sometimes this is discarded by friends who no longer desire or need the equipment, sometimes it is inherited from grandparents or parents or friend’s parents. Perhaps, if you are the type, as we are, you may have acquired something from a garage, yard or estate sale that caught your eye as useful or desireable.

So now you have something that is useful but perhaps have no instruction manual, user manual or maintenance manual, depending on the item and who owned the item before. Some people are very organized and keep manuals with the equipment but mostly manuals tend to go missing for one reason or another. It has been my experience over the years with a variety of acquisitions.

If you need or would like a manual for your newly-acquired old item, the first thing to do is identify the brand and do a search on the internet to find out if the company is still in existence or under what name it now operates. If you can find the actual company site, navigate to the “Support” or “Customer Support” page and look for links to “Legacy” devices or equipment (if your item is very old). Support does not usually mean there is a cost associated with downloading manuals but this is possible. Make sure you have an up-to-date version of Adobe Reader installed on your PC as this is the method that established companies prefer to use (almost exclusively) as a means of distributing protected or proprietary documents. If you are fortunate in your search , you will find exactly what you need from the manufacturer.

If you were unsuccessful in your search for free support, there are several manual search sites on the net. Most of these are redirecting-type sites that send you to yet another site. If this proves frustrating (it is possible to go around in circles sometimes), then E-bay or Craigslist would be good to check, as you may be lucky and win an auction for just a few $$ to get your manual.

Other than the auction sites, a search on the major engines will be your last resort. With a little perseverance, one can usually get the manual you need for little or no money.