I like repairing Analogue Electronics because ...

[Mjolinor]

5. Can't spell

Searching "spairs or repair" gets a lot of those.

[bd139]

That's genius 

[Specmaster]

There's a program called Fat Fingers that you can use for looking duff spelling options.

[bd139]

I've actually written my own version of that. I wrote a parser in python that breaks words down into phonemes and then a visitor builds an alternative tree and writes them all out. Basically does stuff like this:

te-k-tr-o-n-ix -> te-c-tr-o-n-ics

Also handles missing sounds which people forget a lot like S on the end.

My sister was a consultant on that project because she was a speech therapist 

[Specmaster]

Ever thought about either selling it or making it available as a download? 

[bd139]

Yes and the answer was no. Never reveal your secret weapon

[Alex Eisenhut]

...no one ever painted their DS1054Z like this

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Tektronix-545A-Oscilloscope-Powers-Up-Responds-W-Type-CA-Plug-In-SR256/311944221773

[3db]

Everything is analogue under all the abstractions

Actually it's digital under all the abstractions. The test gear gets expensive though when you start talking quantum voltage levels.

NO !!
Digital is a subset of analogue.   

[Kilo Tango]

No he means at the electron level,

so we are counting electrons now are we ?. Certainly beats counting sheep to get to sleep !.
1 electron, 2 electron, 3 electron, 4 elec …...zzzzzzz


Ken

[3db]

No he means at the electron level,

so we are counting electrons now are we ?. Certainly beats counting sheep to get to sleep !.
1 electron, 2 electron, 3 electron, 4 elec …...zzzzzzz


Ken

You are of course correct. I didn't read the post fully.
I award myself the 

 

[Mr. Scram]

I'm doing ok out of fixing stuff headed for landfill so I'm not complaining

Last year was the best win. Dead Samsung 40" OLED TV, about £500 retail. Buyer listed on ebay "Dead. Makes burning smell when turned on" and "buyer collects only" with 85% positive feedback which is pretty shit. So low risk as I could see if it was nicked or the guy was an idiot first, put a £50 bid in and won it for £0.99. One capacitor later and it's sorted ... total expenditure £2.20 and a 5 minute drive. And the £2.20 was only because RS only sold the damn capacitors in packs of 5.

He nearly cried when I said he could keep the change from the £1 coin I gave him 

Got receipts as well for it. You know the stupid thing? He had no idea that it was still warranty returnable after a year.

Why didn't you just use the warranty?

[bd139]

Samsung warranty isnt worth shit after the first year. It’ll go to a third party repairer who will wreck it further or send another screwed up unit out as a replacement.

[Specmaster]

Samsung warranty isnt worth shit after the first year. It’ll go to a third party repairer who will wreck it further or send another screwed up unit out as a replacement.

Well I have loads of Samsung stuff and have yet to have any problems, 3 TV's 1 monitor, 2 mobile phones and a tablet....

[bd139]

Check out their trustpilot: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.samsung.com/uk/

Their stuff is ok while it remains working. I wouldn't buy anything of theirs new now. We've had a fridge fail in under two years, a washing machine die and several dead handsets that have been dumped after 6-9 months of updates and then the hardware fails. Not really impressed.

Oh and the dead TV but that one went in my favour

[Mr. Scram]

Check out their trustpilot: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.samsung.com/uk/

Their stuff is ok while it remains working. I wouldn't buy anything of theirs new now. We've had a fridge fail in under two years, a washing machine die and several dead handsets that have been dumped after 6-9 months of updates and then the hardware fails. Not really impressed.

Oh and the dead TV but that one went in my favour

I'm not sure where those people on Trustpilot come from, but EU consumer law dictates you don't have anything to do with the manufacturer. You buy from the seller and as such, he has to ensure you receive a working device within the obligatory warranty period. If the device kicks the bucket, you take it back to the seller and he has to repair or replace. After that, it's between the seller and the manufacturer. Sellers often try to evade this by redirecting you to the manufacturer, but that's just a cheap trick to save costs.

Then again, most people don't have the faintest idea what their rights actually are. They tend to claim rights they don't have, and not use rights they do actually have. Most things can easily be found with some Google savvy and a spare evening, but somehow people just won't.

[Specmaster]

I think to be honest that if you check on most companies these days, customer service is something that they really don't want to do which in part why the correct thing in the UK is take up any warranty issues with the seller as your contract is with them firstly and manufacturer if the seller is no longer in business.

[bd139]

The seller will usually refer to the manufacturer.

Also it’s 2 years in the EU of statuatory warranty. In the UK it’s 6 years under CRA and the bit that people don’t realise is that it’s up to the buyer to prove that the defect was present after 6 months has elapsed or accept a repair by the retailer or manufacturer.  This requires paying for an expensive independent report in most circumstances. The repair will be done by the lowest bidder. It’s not uncommon to find your phone which wasn’t water damaged come back with the water detection stickers activated because it’s cheaper to wet them and blame the owner with a handling fee than actually fix it.

You’re best only buying things you can afford to sling in a skip every 6 months.

[Mr. Scram]

I think to be honest that if you check on most companies these days, customer service is something that they really don't want to do which in part why the correct thing in the UK is take up any warranty issues with the seller as your contract is with them firstly and manufacturer if the seller is no longer in business.

If I'm not mistaken, that's actually how EU consumer law is constructed. In some cases, you might even lose the warranty the seller is obliged to give you, and become dependent on the warranty another party voluntarily gives you. That's obviously usually the manufacturer warranty, but much more can be excluded than a seller ever could.

However, a lot of people somehow tend to seek out the manufacturer. He's not under any obligation to help you, unless they explicitly promised they would. Anything printed on the box would be considered such a promise.

[Mr. Scram]

The seller will usually refer to the manufacturer.

Also it’s 2 years in the EU of statuatory warranty. In the UK it’s 6 years under CRA and the bit that people don’t realise is that it’s up to the buyer to prove that the defect was present after 6 months has elapsed. This requires paying for an expensive independent report in most circumstances.

You’re best only buying things you can afford to sling in a skip every 6 months.

If a seller refers you to a manufacturer, you know to take your business elsewhere next time. They can try, of course.

[bd139]

Yes of course. This is why a large chunk of the retail electronics sector has gone down the shitter in the last decade 

Apple are the only ones I’d consider reasonable. My wife cracked the screen on her 6s and they just gave her a whole new handset for the £25 premium. Headphones died, walk in walk out and sorted.

[Mr. Scram]

Yes of course. This is why a large chunk of the retail electronics sector has gone down the shitter in the last decade 

Apple are the only ones I’d consider reasonable. My wife cracked the screen on her 6s and they just gave her a whole new handset for the £25 premium. Headphones died, walk in walk out and sorted.

Don't let Louis Rossmann hear you

[bd139]

Rossmann is a crazy person. It’s really not practical to repair some things these days past FRU swap out and having done rework in the defence sector, I wouldn’t trust any of the repairs. The only niche it fits is when someone can’t afford to replace whatever they bought and that his Labour is marginally cheaper.

What don’t factored into any of his videos is repair longevity. Track rework and bodge wires on some of them have a lifetime of weeks. Long enough to get paid.

Buy shit you can afford to replace or can be repaired if you can’t. Stuff that’s easy to repair costs an order of magnitude more. Your Tektronix 465B is about £15,000 in real money or a £370 Rigol. Hmm. Finances don’t add up.

Also what’s your time worth?

[Specmaster]

Its all well and good buying what you can afford to skip should it fail, but for most people their income doesn't allow them that luxury. Most people will expect to get at least 5 years of work out of a product and even then, it's still a struggle affording a replacement.

Yes SMD stuff does not lend itself to easy repairs, but it does not have to be that way. It is still perfectly feasible to use modern manufacturing techniques and still be repairable, it just takes the makers a little effort to put together some decent service manuals with some typical failure modes and what to look for to determine what has failed and then to make these parts available at a sensible cost and timeframe.

It is not good for the planet to be skipping so much stuff simply because manufacturers can get away it in the name of profits and no government is going to bring in laws to change it because the politicians often have vested interests in these large companies for their own personal gain.     

[Mjolinor]

Its all well and good buying what you can afford to skip should it fail, but for most people their income doesn't allow them that luxury. Most people will expect to get at least 5 years of work out of a product and even then, it's still a struggle affording a replacement.

Yes SMD stuff does not lend itself to easy repairs, but it does not have to be that way. It is still perfectly feasible to use modern manufacturing techniques and still be repairable, it just takes the makers a little effort to put together some decent service manuals with some typical failure modes and what to look for to determine what has failed and then to make these parts available at a sensible cost and timeframe.

It is not good for the planet to be skipping so much stuff simply because manufacturers can get away it in the name of profits and no government is going to bring in laws to change it because the politicians often have vested interests in these large companies for their own personal gain.     

And that is the truth.

I would add that local councils shout the "environment" language but won't let you take stuff from the skips at the dump. You can see brand new Dysons, you know the mains lead is broken because they used cheap wire but will they let you have it? Not in a million years. Lip service is all it is.

[Specmaster]

And that is the truth.

I would add that local councils shout the "environment" language but won't let you take stuff from the skips at the dump. You can see brand new Dysons, you know the mains lead is broken because they used cheap wire but will they let you have it? Not in a million years. Lip service is all it is.

Amen to that.