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Will you keep reviewing DMMs from other vendors while selling Brymens?
You think I wouldn't? -
Will you keep reviewing DMMs from other vendors while selling Brymens?
You think I wouldn't?
I assume that you will have a clear disclosure in each video but it will be awkward regardless, as if a Toyota dealer reviewing Honda cars. The conflict of interest will be hanging there. It already affected the choice of DMMs that you now show on your bench, Brymens are more visible, and not just your own model.
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I watched a few and it seemed the guy was scared like hell of all of the competition out there.
Just plain scared.
People who haven't watched the content or followed the story, make comments like this one above. That comment represents the exact opposite of my views, and the lowest common denominator of forum trolling; making things up.
Three years ago, I hired a technician. I fired him a month later. He did what any young entrepreneur who just lost his job does; opened a store that does exactly what mine does, three blocks away, with slightly lower prices on everything.
Good on him!
He runs a good shop, but isn't as good at the component level repairs as I am. I have a long head start on him. He has a good mind for learning this stuff, but he lacks knowledge and experience when it comes to board repair. Here are just two sessions, on camera, where I sit with him in my spare time and tutor him on how to do better. I am showing him how to repair his own devices, for his own customers.
Here I am at a workshop last year, where I travel away from my business for a week to a room of 12 microscopes, 12 soldering stations, and 12 students of "competitors" to teach them how to compete with me.
Here you can see him and a friend working on their own devices, for their own customers, in my shop room's secondary table. They are using my tools, my electricity, my space, my solder, my parts, to work on their stuff. I encourage it. I enjoy being a member of that type of collaborative community.
Where this scared of competitors business comes from is beyond me. My competitors are not my enemies. In the repair business, your competitors are not your enemies. This has been my mantra for seven years. This is the only business within which people think it is “them or me” . No pizzeria thinks that if another pizzeria opens in a ten mile radius that it will directly cause their doom. It doesn't.. and I've been trying to get that across to repair shop owners who act insecure and defensive on the topic.
I tackle the same issue when it concerns employer/employee relations & side jobs in this video. I encourage employees to do whatever they can do to build their own revenue streams so long as it is done honestly.
I've probably invested more time into helping my competitors than my competitors have invested in themselves. Comments like Bud's that I quoted are just the kinda thing that make obvious who follows the story & who pull statements out of their Massey-Ferguson.
I get it, a lot of people don't like the content I create, and that's cool. I had to take classes that were over 75 hours long with “teachers” who had a lot of attitude, who rambled on with unnecessary, boring, annoying personal stories. They belittled their own students. I took these classes to learn things that had nothing to do with my profession to obtain licenses that are as worthless as toilet paper just so my company would live up to regulations. It was mandatory for what we wanted to do at the time. It sucked.
The great part about component level laptop motherboard repair is that there are no required licensing courses and no required education.
If someone wishes to watch the videos and learn, that's great. If it's not the content for you, I totally respect that – hit X. Just don't put words in the content that aren't there, because that's bullshit. I put a lot of time and effort into presenting the concept of mutually beneficial & friendly competition so our industry stands a chance to be taken seriously. I want us to work together to solve the real issues facing us rather than throw spitballs at one another. Those comments just derail everything, and lack citation or purpose. Just hit X. -
Will you keep reviewing DMMs from other vendors while selling Brymens?
You think I wouldn't?
I assume that you will have a clear disclosure in each video but it will be awkward regardless, as if a Toyota dealer reviewing Honda cars. The conflict of interest will be hanging there. It already affected the choice of DMMs that you now show on your bench, Brymens are more visible, and not just your own model.
Dave is one of the few people with whom I believe there is no conflict of interest. I've only seen six of his videos at this point, but from what I've seen, he seems physically and mentally incapable of not calling something a piece of crap if he believes it is a piece of crap. If he thought it was crap, it'd stop getting sold. He will get in trouble with a vendor waaaaaaay before he will get in trouble with his audience.
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My first experience of Louis was his rant on how reflowing and reballing GPU chips is bulls**t. My first impression was, wow what a scary and brash guy.
BUT, and it is a BIG BUT, I decided to watch more of the videos that Louis has produced. Having now watched many with great interest, I have learnt a great deal about this gentlemans work ethics and repair practices. My view now is that Louis is :
Personable
Ethical
Skilled diagnostic technician
Smart
Very clever business man
In short, he is a really nice guy once you get past the initial shock of some of his slightly brash videos.
With regard to the use of flux, as others have stated, the view we get in the videos is heavily magnified. Using a decent flux and plenty of it ensures that Louis gets the good result that he desires. Judge him by his results rather than exact technique. Louis has himself admitted that his soldering skills are not the greatest..... But they are good enough. The suff he works on is truly tiny and woukd scare many away from working on such PCBs.
I must say that I have really enjoyed watching Louis repairing motherboards in his videos, and also his commentary on the industry, including the bad practices that others are guilty of. I learnt a lot about ultrasonic cleaning from Louis. I do not work with fluid damaged PCBs, but I now know the techniques needed. I will continue to watch Louis's videos and feel sure I will continue to enjoy the content.
I am pleased to see that Louis is a member of this forum.
Louis, I salute you for getting the training you needed to do MB repairs yourself, instead of outsourcing the work to plonkers. I also salute your commitment to the industry by offering training and videos providing the correct diagnostic approaches and techniques.
Louis you are impressive
Fraser
(A retired Limey component level repair tech)
UK
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Louis is going to cost me money, because I now want to buy a hot air rework station and an ultrasonic cleaner, purely for hobby use.
His videos - and I've watched quite a few of them now - have made me inclined to try working on surface mount stuff. Keep up the good work, man - your videos are both educational and entertaining. People need to grow thicker skins - I see nothing wrong with any of your commentary.
-Pat -
My only complaint is he does tend to drone on a bit. But I guess thats those New Yorkers for ya. Content is always great, and as a bench service engineer over 20 years ago before I got into IT, I can fully empathize with the customer expectations, etc.
I had to deal more with knuckle draggers buying TVs and VCRs on the "never never" vs the Manhattan set. Let's just say the customer service disagreements were a little more rambunctious than Louis probably deals with.
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When I saw the first of Louis videos linked here I thought to myself "What the heck is this dude on?"
Then I watched more of them and reflected back on years of dealing with other techs and some customers. I owned a TV shop in the early 80's, worked for a TV shop and several land mobile radios companies. A lot of it was cleaning up after other techs.
I now finds his videos educational and entertaining. Although I do not work on the same type of stuff he does. -
@ Cubdriver
Buy a decent hot air station. You will not regret it. I have not looked back since getting one. Just bought a hot air pencil for really delicate work as well.
You can also use your hot air station for heating heat shrink tubing and softening plastics for bending Really useful tool.
Fraser -
I am not subscribed now. Do not want to commend much on the channel either :-) , the most useful video yo me is the walk through on his gears. I bought a similar air cleaner (China brand) and it is worthty investment, and shall be getting another one soon. But I still cannot find a value-for-money sweep frequency ultrasound cleaner (already loaded with 4 30L fixed frequency ultrasonic cleaners).
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My view now is that Louis is :
Personable
Ethical
Skilled diagnostic technician
Smart
Very clever business man
In short, he is a really nice guy once you get past the initial shock of some of his slightly brash videos.
I agree. I've learned quite a bit from the few of his videos I've watched. I see the brashness as just part of the interesting persona necessary for any successful youtube content producer.
Good job Louis. -
@ Cubdriver
Buy a decent hot air station. You will not regret it. I have not looked back since getting one. Just bought a hot air pencil for really delicate work as well.
You can also use your hot air station for heating heat shrink tubing and softening plastics for bending Really useful tool.
Fraser
Fraser -
I almost pulled the trigger on the Weller one he reviewed & seemed impressed by after watching the video a month or so ago. It's up there on the list for when I have some extra cash burning a hole in my pocket. My credit card does not like my taste in tools.
-Pat -
you can never have too much flux
Falls into the same category as being too rich or too thin.
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I always thought in NY, time = money and that a 5 to 10 minute video would cover it instead of a one hour video i personally can not watch entirely to the end.
However his results are impressive and I salute him for that.
I do wonder if he could have a business if there was no grey circuit out there with schematics and components, i hate companies that keep those back. In the 80s 90s you could just buy all technical reference manuals no problem. Good old times. -
This guy actually has some interesting rants. Cool dude - reminds me of my old friends. He must be from Chicago or NY? Blah!
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This guy actually has some interesting rants. Cool dude - reminds me of my old friends. He must be from Chicago or NY? Blah!
+1. I am a subscriber and enjoy his from-the-trenches stories and general perspective on life. He has an episode about bullying if you want to better understand his background. Seems to me as a fine and realistic young man that found his way to independence in a tough and competitive market.
Plenty of F and S bombs though. Is it a New York thing or a personal trait? -
I also enjoy his videos.This guy actually has some interesting rants. Cool dude - reminds me of my old friends. He must be from Chicago or NY? Blah!
+1. I am a subscriber and enjoy his from-the-trenches stories and general perspective on life. He has an episode about bullying if you want to better understand his background. Seems to me as a fine and realistic young man that found his way to independence in a tough and competitive market.
Plenty of F and S bombs though. Is it a New York thing or a personal trait?
"Is it a New York thing or a personal trait?" - Actually both. -
Same here. I found about Louis through this thread and really enjoy his rants... I haven't yet dived too much into the repair videos (been away from the bench due to life happening...) but I can appreciate the knowledge sharing.
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With regard to the video run times, I believe Louis has explained this in at least one of his videos. He tends to record them as live streams, warts and all. Post capture editing and encoding can be a time consuming process as I feel sure Dave can attest. Louis is interested in getting his experiences onto YT as quickly as possible. He has a life to live after all.
It is very easy for a viewer to decide whether they want to follow every minute of a video so as not to miss anything, or to fast forwards through less interesting bits. That is what the fast forward facility is for after all.
I am impressed that Louis shares his real world experiences on YT. In such a competitive market, lesser persons would want to keep their knowledge and their processes firmly under wraps. Kudos to Louis for sharing.
And of course there will be people who do not like his techniques etc....... That is no bad thing as it stimulates discussion and the sharing of knowledge on great forums such as this.
It's all good in my book and I personally thank Louis for taking the time to upload his videos and share his life experiences.
As to the language content, I do avoid watching the videos with my wife present but as a real world tech, of 27 years service, such language is not uncommon in the workplace, and I take no offence what so ever. Having visited New York I know that slightly colourful language is not unusual at all.
Fraser
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Just posting to say I agree with all the various positive comments above, solid tech advice and entertaining rants.... keep it coming.
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Because of this post - I went and watched/listened to some of his rants. This one is long winded, but good.
I know nothing about repairing mac books/ipads/iphones - but I get the feeling that you could start a business just from watching his videos. That's crazy! Seems like a lot of trial and error, and reflowing. Oh and water damage on a complex board - that can't be fun. Yuck. I can't find that work attractive at all.
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Here's the letter!
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Fluid damage appears to be quite a common issue with laptops. Louis has set himself up as a tech who can and will tackle the repair jobs that others either cannot, or do not want to repair. He even tackled a PCB that had been urinated on by a cat......... Yuk ! The corrosion was understandably extensive.
I have worked on water damaged CCTV cameras that 'drowned' in a tropical typhoon. I found that they were beyond economic repair because any component that was connected to the power rails had corroded away through electrolytic action. The cameras were submerged in water overnight but power remained on ! Repairing fluid damaged and corroded PCBs is no fun and not without the risk of repairs bouncing due to undiscovered further corrosion.
With regard to gaining the skills needed to mimic Louis through watching his videos....... Yes and no....... Louis created the videos and his training courses to enable others to do their own in house repairs rather than sending the boards out to repair centres who may, or may not, do a good job. Hence my comment about Louis being generous in sharing his knowledge. BUT, and it's a big BUT, anyone who wishes to emulate Louis and his fast repairs needs to understand basic electronics in order to interpret the symptoms and schematics. They also need to have a steady hand and adequate soldering skills. The size of the components on these PCBs is quite scary for those unused to working on such. Louis also has the advantage of experience and that is worth its weight in gold. He knows what fluid damage can do to a PCB and which components he can risk leaving in place, and those that must be replaced to prevent another failure soon after return to the customer. A classic case is his knowledge that you need a gentle ultrasonic clean to remove the fluid contamination from under BGA chips. Just washing in IPA is apparently not enough.
I have found the videos that Louis produces both informative and entertaining. I only equipped for SMT repair a few years ago and now wonder what I was so worried about. With the right tools and some skills, it is easier than through hole working.
As I said though...... Louis has chosen a niche market, namely Apple laptops that are fluid damaged, and as such he has a solid customer base as others cannot or will not repair such damage. Impressive.
It is also interesting to hear Louis talking about the change in the financial equation relating to the repair of iPhones, and how there is no longer a decent profit worth pursuing. He also states that life is getting harder with the laptops and, when it no longer makes business sense, he will apply his knowledge to a different repair service. With the revelations relating to the iPhone 6 Error 53, one has to wonder whether Apple are going to effectively booby trap their products to prevent people like Loius repairing the kit. One way to put third party repair centres out of business is to provide OEM repair at a lower price than small third party repair centres can afford. A classic example is iPhone 6 screen replacement. As Loius says, Apple have reduced their repair cost to $109 and you keep your warranty etc. This is less than half the price they used to charge. For a third party repair centre, buying the screen through respectable sources costs almost $100 ! There is simply no profit for them to extract from the repair. In fact they would make a loss.
Interesting times and I wish Louis well for the future.
Fraser -
For those interested in iPad or iPhone repair there is another channel that may be of interest....
iPad Rehab
The lady presenting the channel is known to Louis and was a stay at home mom who decided she would learn how to repair Apple products. I make no comment on the quality of the Channel as I have yet to watch a few videos before forming an opinion.
Fraser -
One thing I noticed in Louis's videos is that he doesn't use static control. No wrist strap, no anti static mat, etc.