| General > General Technical Chat |
| Repair or Replace |
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| mengfei:
From where I am, 20+ years ago it was very common to repair broken AV systems or other electronic/ electrical stuff where parts are easily bought like resistors, diodes or caps & IC's but with the latest trend in electronics being almost all-in-one modules & very small electronic parts is it still practical in your area to do repairs or just get a whole module from the net or just completely replace with the latest thing? I remember that time that we also converted PAL/ SECAM TV's signals to NTSC :phew: |
| Psi:
The repair itself is just as easy as it has always been, perhaps you need some additional tools like a microscope, but that's about it. The issue isn't the repair itself its getting the schematic/service manual/service software and the parts. Which is all artificial limitations on 3rd party repair. The whole "modular repair" thing is not really the whole story. Yes, it's cheaper/faster to hire low-skilled staff to follow a simple diagnostic flowchart and replace the entire PCB while the customer waits, rather than have an engineer fix it. But a lot of the time the business will double-dip. The store will charge the customer the cost of an entire new module, which is expensive and has high profit. Then every month all stores box up all the dead modules and ship them to one location where a small number of engineers do component level repair on them in bulk and turn them into refurbished boards for all the low skilled shop workers to use as new modules for repair. Saves on shipping, only requires a very few skilled engineers, and you get to charge for the module twice, maybe even more times as you sell it again and again. (I think this should be illegal, but that's another story) |
| Zero999:
--- Quote from: Psi on November 13, 2023, 06:47:17 am ---But a lot of the time the business will double-dip. The store will charge the customer the cost of an entire new module, which is expensive and has high profit. Then every month all stores box up all the dead modules and ship them to one location where a small number of engineers do component level repair on them in bulk and turn them into refurbished boards for all the low skilled shop workers to use as new modules for repair. Saves on shipping, only requires a very few skilled engineers, and you get to charge for the module twice, maybe even more times as you sell it again and again. (I think this should be illegal, but that's another story) --- End quote --- It is illegal if the customer is told they're getting a new module, when it's second hand. |
| Psi:
--- Quote from: Zero999 on November 13, 2023, 08:33:17 am --- --- Quote from: Psi on November 13, 2023, 06:47:17 am ---But a lot of the time the business will double-dip. The store will charge the customer the cost of an entire new module, which is expensive and has high profit. Then every month all stores box up all the dead modules and ship them to one location where a small number of engineers do component level repair on them in bulk and turn them into refurbished boards for all the low skilled shop workers to use as new modules for repair. Saves on shipping, only requires a very few skilled engineers, and you get to charge for the module twice, maybe even more times as you sell it again and again. (I think this should be illegal, but that's another story) --- End quote --- It is illegal if the customer is told they're getting a new module, when it's second hand. --- End quote --- Yes, They are often trained to use specific words. .. "Yes Sir, we can fix your device, the replacement part cost is $454" etc.. specific word use to avoid actually saying it's a new part and leave you to assume it is. Usually no one knows to even ask if the part is refurbished. Even if you did ask the sales person may not even know |
| Someone:
--- Quote from: Psi on November 13, 2023, 10:53:22 am ---Usually no one knows to even ask if the part is refurbished. Even if you did ask the sales person may not even know --- End quote --- It will be somewhere in the impossibly long terms and conditions including gems like: "may use parts or products that are new or refurbished and equivalent to new in performance and reliability" "may be repaired or replaced by new or refurbished goods of the same functionality, at [sole providers] discretion" "may be made with parts of like kind and quality, including non-original manufacturer's parts or remanufactured parts, as necessary" The lawyers no doubt had fun writing this. |
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