Community Repair Clinic?

[Richard Crowley]

Anyone with experience/advice for a community appliance repair clinic?
A place where people can bring in small appliances/tools for help in diagnosis/repair.

With all the sealed/non-repairable things these days, perhaps this is a dying concept?

[David_AVD]

I've heard of "repair cafes", but don't have any experience with them. Depending on the country there may be issues with working on mains power operated items (regulations, liability, etc) ?

[mengfei]

we still have those back home but now most of them don't do real repair as we did before, really tracking down the root of the problem 

now they just say
- change the whole module
- change the motherboard
- it's cheaper to get a new one
 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/repair-or-replace/msg5165907/#msg5165907

[Poroit]

Do you have Men's Shed in the USA?

https://mensshed.org/about-mens-sheds/mens-sheds-around-the-world/

Maybe you could repairs through something like that.

[nali]

Anyone with experience/advice for a community appliance repair clinic?
A place where people can bring in small appliances/tools for help in diagnosis/repair.

With all the sealed/non-repairable things these days, perhaps this is a dying concept?

Yes, I volunteer at our local Repair Cafe. What did you want to know?

[tggzzz]

Question...
Item X is repaired, and taken away.
Item X fails, and bursts into flames or electrocutes someone.
What happens next?

[Gyro]

Question...
Item X is repaired, and taken away.
Item X fails, and bursts into flames or electrocutes someone.
What happens next?

Yes, that's what has put me off volunteering at the local one. They should have decent public liability insurance, but I don't know how many do?

Edit: That and the worry that I might come across completely inexperienced bodgers, what do I do then?

[nali]

Question...
Item X is repaired, and taken away.
Item X fails, and bursts into flames or electrocutes someone.
What happens next?

Funeral probably...

On a more serious note, people have to sign a waiver before getting stuff repaired. I'm 99% sure the organisiation has its own liability insurance anyway, and our Cafe has a resident PAT tester for mains powered items.

If we think there is a risk (for example old crumbly wiring) we'll just advise and not repair.

[nali]

Edit: That and the worry that I might come across completely inexperienced bodgers, what do I do then?

That's a good question! Fortunately our volunteers are pretty experienced and resourceful bunch so we're pretty sorted. We have overlapping skillsets so tend to work together where possible. If that happened to me I would just say it how it is, let the local organiser know my feelings and not take part.

It's not all electrical/electronic BTW. We have a seamstress team, a bicycle repairer, horologist and a sewing machine specialist although it's a bit random who actually turns up as it's a volunteer service.

[jpanhalt]

Seeing the US flag, my first response was liability.  Just read customer reviews for DIY products on Home Depot, Lowes, or Amazon to get a sense of the level of public incompetence in America. That might not be true in rural areas, but in those areas, the locally owned  hardware store is a resource, if one still exists.

Many years ago (pre-Internet), I had a similar question about DIY auto repair.  Someplace where one could rent a lift, had compressed air, and a few specialized tools.  They still exist in the vicinity of Ft. Cavazos (formally Ft. Hood, TX):
https://cavazos.armymwr.com/programs/sprocket-auto-crafts
I was surprised to find that.

For typical American cities and towns, something like that would have to be volunteer.  That is, I don't see it could ever be a thriving business and one would need a screening process for both the helpers and users.  Security from theft would also be a problem.  Just look at all the locked shelving we now have at retail stores.

Editt: spelling

[madires]

Question...
Item X is repaired, and taken away.
Item X fails, and bursts into flames or electrocutes someone.
What happens next?

Yes, that's what has put me off volunteering at the local one. They should have decent public liability insurance, but I don't know how many do?

Edit: That and the worry that I might come across completely inexperienced bodgers, what do I do then?

For that reason repair cafés over here need to perform a safety check based on VDE 0701/0702 (insulation resistance, PE resistance, touch current, etc) incl. documentation for mains powered devices after the repair. Such a tester costs about EUR 1000 - 1500.

[tggzzz]

Question...
Item X is repaired, and taken away.
Item X fails, and bursts into flames or electrocutes someone.
What happens next?

Yes, that's what has put me off volunteering at the local one. They should have decent public liability insurance, but I don't know how many do?

Edit: That and the worry that I might come across completely inexperienced bodgers, what do I do then?

For that reason repair cafés over here need to perform a safety check based on VDE 0701/0702 (insulation resistance, PE resistance, touch current, etc) incl. documentation for mains powered devices after the repair. Such a tester costs about EUR 1000 - 1500.

That's the minimum necessary, of course. Presumably the test has to be done and recorded by someone who is competent and responsible[1]
But is it sufficient?

[1] deliberately ambiguous!

[madires]

Yep, the safety check requires an electrically skilled person (usually someone with a professional background in electrics/electronics). And the check is sufficient to limit the liability, i.e. anything happening after that is the device owner's responsibilty (or bad luck), unless he can prove that the repair café was grossly negligent or skrewed him on purpose.

[watchmaker]

Here is a link to the one in Peterborough NH.  https://www.maxtmakerspace.org/repair-cafe

Note it states volunteer experts are on hand to help you repair your item.  Still....

I do not participate because of liability concerns.  I may go to the next one and ask some questions.

[Richard Crowley]

Uhhh...  Liability sounds like a major show-stopper.
Unless you can arrange something covered by an existing
institution like a community center or something.