Author Topic: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations  (Read 2767 times)

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Offline KG7AMVTopic starter

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This has been a battle for a While.

The California Attorney General Investigation into Hakko for Violations of SB244 #RighttoRepair has started. I have been assured this is a matter of statewide significance. I Cannot wait for their reply I hope it will be better then the Better Business Bureau Reply's linked below. I expect the Oregon Attorney General to follow when Oregon's right to repair laws become effective Jan 1 2025. 

California SB244
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB244

11-19-2024 California AG Letter to me, I cannot wait to see Hakko's reply to the Attorney General I hope it is better then the reply they gave to the Better Business Bureau claiming "industrial" LOL links below.


I hope whatever they are hiding is worth it the penalties are rather harsh.

42488.3. (a) (1) A city, a county, a city and county, or the state may bring an action in superior court to impose civil liability on a person or entity that knowingly violated this chapter, or reasonably should have known that it violated this chapter, in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day for the first violation of this chapter, two thousand dollars ($2,000) per day for the second violation, and five thousand dollars ($5,000) per day for the third and subsequent violations.

Phone Call With Hakko VP Chris Stuber they know they Must Comply. "reasonably should have known"
https://youtu.be/AinjDSQnKlg

This is the "Malicious Compliance" Non-Repair Manual Hakko Provided. 
https://youtu.be/NPWd-xQcGzw
https://www.stevenrhine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/FM-203-Repair-Manual.pdf

Rossmanns Videos
Hakko Takes the L Aug 2021
https://youtu.be/q9G3_CHtusk

Hakko When Right to Repair Laws Take Effect, Part 1
https://youtu.be/652ibqTeYc0

Hakko's Better Business Bureau Complaint Right to Repair Denial Letter From Hakko 08-16-2024
https://www.stevenrhine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Hakko-BBB-Right-to-Repair-Denial-Letter-08-16-2024.pdf

Hakko's Better Business Bureau Right to Repair Denial Letter From Hakko09-24-2024
https://www.stevenrhine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Hakko-BBB-Right-to-Repair-Denial-Letter-09-24-2024.pdf

Web Archive of Hakko right to repair support statement they removed form their site. https://kb.hakkousa.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20240704185112/https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=292088857923&w=muWIB3HaNrYrRd03ZmcUJ037pvKjaw3b
« Last Edit: November 20, 2024, 08:22:53 am by KG7AMV »
 
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Offline coromonadalix

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ok  i'm not good at this

But here in Canada we can order parts relatively easy ?   we extended the life of many Hakko products ??  unless many things have changed and i'm not aware ?

But sure the "right to repair" ...   I'm all for it
 

Offline KG7AMVTopic starter

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ok  i'm not good at this

But here in Canada we can order parts relatively easy ?   we extended the life of many Hakko products ??  unless many things have changed and i'm not aware ?

But sure the "right to repair" ...   I'm all for it


Documentation, Tools, & Parts. That's all we ask for.

(2) “Documentation” means any electronic or appliance product manual, diagram, reporting output, service code description, schematic, or similar information that is provided by a manufacturer to an authorized repair provider, or that is for use by the manufacturer if the manufacturer does not have any authorized repair providers, for purposes of effecting the services of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the electronic or appliance product.

(7) “Tool” means any software program, hardware implement, or other apparatus made available by a manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product to an authorized repair provider for the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the product, including software or other mechanisms that provision, program, pair a part, provide or calibrate functionality, or perform any other function required to repair the product or part back to fully functional condition, including any updates.

Offline Haenk

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Honestly, I think their "repair" is essentially swapping out complete parts.
No larger company does component level repair, that's just too expensive. 2 hours of testing, repairing, testing again for a part that only costs 20 bucks in production is not going to happen.
So they are not legally required to offer schematics and a component level repair guide. (At least that's my understanding.)
However I would very much welcome this level of documentation, but I'm not sure if this even exists.
 

Online Ian.M

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Blame US congress critters with no technical knowlage for the fairly toothless 'right to repair laws'   I doubt that more than one in a hundred have ever picked up a soldering iron!   From the point of view of an EEE technician doing component level repair, we need to be able to buy any custom PCB mounted parts used (e.g control pots or encoders, and pre-programmed MCUs or programmable logic) from the OEM or an approved supplier, at a price that makes  compontent level repair viable vs board swapping.  A schematic is always nice to have but most of us are used to working without one.

Of course if the board swap is cheap enough - component level repair doesn't make any sense.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2024, 01:16:01 pm by Ian.M »
 

Offline KG7AMVTopic starter

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Honestly, I think their "repair" is essentially swapping out complete parts.
No larger company does component level repair, that's just too expensive. 2 hours of testing, repairing, testing again for a part that only costs 20 bucks in production is not going to happen.

Yea,  that is fair and reasonable part.

(D) If a manufacturer does not use an authorized repair provider, “fair and reasonable terms” means at a price that reflects the actual cost to the manufacturer to prepare and deliver the part, tool, or documentation, exclusive of any research and development costs incurred.

So they are not legally required to offer schematics and a component level repair guide. (At least that's my understanding.)
However I would very much welcome this level of documentation, but I'm not sure if this even exists.

They are required to make available Schematics, And the manufacture has schematics that almost guaranteed they designed and made the thing! If they did not should be disclosed who did so they can be obtained.
 
There is no requirement for them to make a component level repair guide Just provide the documentation/tools listed.
 


Offline tszaboo

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Does right to repair apply in a B2B enviroment?
 

Offline KG7AMVTopic starter

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Blame US congress critters with no technical knowlage for the fairly toothless 'right to repair laws'   I doubt that more than one in a hundred have ever picked up a soldering iron!   From the point of view of an EEE technician doing component level repair, we need to be able to buy any custom PCB mounted parts used (e.g control pots or encoders, and pre-programmed MCUs or programmable logic) from the OEM or an approved supplier, at a price that makes  compontent level repair viable vs board swapping.  A schematic is always nice to have but most of us are used to working without one.

Of course if the board swap is cheap enough - component level repair doesn't make any sense.

Yea, I am very used to working without schematics but only on items that are worth a good sum of money, Schematics and a BOM help reduce the diagnostics time significantly increasing likelihood of repairing lower value items within a reasonable amount of time.

Most right to repair laws have a fair and reasonable parts provision to prevent the $100 item $95.00 part lol. A Recent anti repair example, MFG That will be $85.00 for a $5.00 MCU but there is a $150 min order LOL! Can I get the firmware I can program the MCU "NO" that is Anti Repair.

California Fair and reasonable is below, seems to be the Model Legislation.

I spoke out against B and C requiring Manufactures to provide it at no cost maybe a reasonable charge $20 for schematics etc. But the people I spoke to knew all to well the MFG's would be charging outrageous subscriptions, or unreasonable amounts like the example above.   

(4) “Fair and reasonable terms” means each of the following, as applicable:

(A) At costs and terms that are equivalent to the most favorable costs and terms under which the manufacturer offers the part, tool, or documentation to an authorized repair provider, accounting for any discount, rebate, convenient and timely means of delivery, means of enabling fully restored and updated functionality, rights of use, or other incentive or preference the manufacturer offers to an authorized repair provider.

(B) For documentation, including any relevant updates, that the documentation is made available at no charge, except that, when the documentation is requested in physical printed form, a charge may be included for the reasonable actual costs of preparing and sending the copy.

(C) For tools, that the tools are made available by the manufacturer at no charge and without imposing impediments to access or use of the tools to diagnose, maintain, or repair and enable full functionality of the product, or in a manner that impairs the efficient and cost-effective performance of any such diagnosis, maintenance, or repair, except that, when a tool is requested in physical form, a charge may be included for the reasonable, actual costs of preparing and sending the tool.

(D) If a manufacturer does not use an authorized repair provider, “fair and reasonable terms” means at a price that reflects the actual cost to the manufacturer to prepare and deliver the part, tool, or documentation, exclusive of any research and development costs incurred.

Offline Smoky

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I have two Li-ion Dewalt impact drivers that stopped working over the past few years so I opened them up to see if there was something obvious that had broken.

The entire switch/PCB assembly is potted in white epoxy material.

There is no way to fix it.

The replacement switch/PCB assembly costs $85 US.

A new tool without the battery is $105 US.
 

Offline KG7AMVTopic starter

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I have two Li-ion Dewalt impact drivers that stopped working over the past few years so I opened them up to see if there was something obvious that had broken.

The entire switch/PCB assembly is potted in white epoxy material.

There is no way to fix it.

The replacement switch/PCB assembly costs $85 US.

A new tool without the battery is $105 US.

Yea, they do it to prevent repair.

Offline floobydust

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2024, 06:05:11 pm »
Going after Hakko- it's seems like a bullshit political tactic, from a consumer cost point of view.
Ain't nobody crying over their busted Hakko, which is actually quite rare due to their high quality.

Go after the big fish that are gouging households instead of catering to Mr. Big Corp.
Appliance manufacturers and their repair costs are terrible. We need access to the diagnostic codes.
People can't afford a couple grand for a new washer or dryer or stove because Mr. Ripoff Repair Co. wants 1/3 the  price of the entire machine just to look at it.

That's just one example.
 
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Online abeyer

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2024, 06:37:09 pm »
They are required to make available Schematics, And the manufacture has schematics that almost guaranteed they designed and made the thing! If they did not should be disclosed who did so they can be obtained.
 
There is no requirement for them to make a component level repair guide Just provide the documentation/tools listed.

I'm not certain that's true... I think they have a reasonable argument that they may have schematics, but if they don't do any component level repair and just replace boards, then the schematics aren't used "for purposes of effecting the services of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair."

They'd clearly have to provide whatever testpoints, procedures, diagnostic criteria, etc... they use to make the decision to replace a board, but I'm not certain the way the law is written they'd be required to provide a schematic in that case, even if they had one.
 
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Online abeyer

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2024, 06:39:13 pm »
Going after Hakko- it's seems like a bullshit political tactic, from a consumer cost point of view.
Ain't nobody crying over their busted Hakko, which is actually quite rare due to their high quality.

Go after the big fish that are gouging households instead of catering to Mr. Big Corp.
Appliance manufacturers and their repair costs are terrible. We need access to the diagnostic codes.
People can't afford a couple grand for a new washer or dryer or stove because Mr. Ripoff Repair Co. wants 1/3 the  price of the entire machine just to look at it.

It could also be a legal tactic... going after a small to mid-sized company that you expect to fight you in court rather than settle, but that doesn't have a massive bankroll and army of lawyers, is a less expensive way to get precedent on the court's interpretation of the law. That can save money in the long run if you have that when you go after the big fish.
 

Offline KG7AMVTopic starter

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #13 on: November 20, 2024, 10:24:57 pm »
I had many conversations with The VP Chris Stuber, they have schematics and firmware they just don't want to release them.   

Offline floobydust

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #14 on: November 21, 2024, 02:11:06 am »
OK I understand. Sorry I missed that it's your lab. Maybe an NDA or something would alleviate their "fears"? But whaaaa lawyers cost money whaaa excuse.
I'm assuming they think you're going to steal their technology and make million $. That is the main excuse they use because they want to sell new, and not support fixing old. Just being obstinate. I see many companies adopt this stance.
Then I would file complaints because I think owners have the right to repair, regardless of excuse/reason not to.
Gov't, lawyers, exec's don't know what object code firmware or a schematic is, compared to a source or CAD file.

There are entire buildings full of people dedicated to doing reverse-engineering in shenzhen. I forgot their hourly rate. TV showed on a particular floor they also copy famous paintings, clothes etc. The scale of it was a jaw dropper.
Anything is fair game to be copied, tech stolen.  Probably already has been done, if the products are of any value to that nation.
 

Online amyk

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #15 on: November 21, 2024, 02:33:10 am »
Is this the level of detail they're expecting? https://dalincom.ru/datasheet/HAKKO_936_schematic.pdf

I think we should turn "right to repair" into "right to reverse-engineer", which means exempting from the DMCA anything necessary.
 

Offline AndyC_772

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #16 on: November 21, 2024, 07:49:55 am »
Yea, they do it to prevent repair.

They do it to prevent damage from water ingress, shock and vibration, which are part of the normal operating environment for a professional tool.

I'm all in favour of stuff being repairable, but not at the expense of things being less reliable in the first place. Potting electronics in a tool like an impact wrench is just good practice, there's nothing sinister or intentionally anti-repair about it.

As for the cost of replacement, yes, it's expensive compared to the price of a whole new tool - but given the relative quantities in which new tools are sold vs individual parts, it's probably not a huge mark-up when all overheads are taken into account.
 
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Offline voltsandjolts

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #17 on: November 21, 2024, 08:50:21 am »
Potting electronics in a tool like an impact wrench is just good practice, there's nothing sinister or intentionally anti-repair about it.

There is often the choice available to use a soft silicone (removable) potting compound or hard epoxy type. Yet the latter is far more common ::)
 

Offline 5U4GB

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #18 on: November 21, 2024, 10:39:21 am »
Yea, they do it to prevent repair.

More likely they do it because an impact driver is a miniature jackhammer and if they didn't pot the electronics they'd last about fifteen minutes into first use.

I can't believe I'm actually defending the manufacturers here but not everything they do is malicious.  Looking through the Hakko PDF it looks like a standard repair manual for their techs to use, here's how to take it apart, here's how to replace the subassemblies, here's how to put it together again and test it.  Full schematics for repair haven't been published for many devices since the days of valve/tube and discrete-transistor devices, once things progressed beyond that point it was just "identify the faulty module and swap it out".

And for Hakko specifically, it can't be that hard to reverse-engineer the circuit given the number of fake Hakkos all over Aliexpress, it looks like half of China has the schematics already.
 
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Offline Smoky

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #19 on: November 21, 2024, 08:23:32 pm »
About the Dewalt impact driver and the way that they used a hard epoxy potting material. When the driver is used, the vibration is transferred to each individual component on that PCB directly due to the hardness of the epoxy.

I would think a silicone based potting material would absorb/deaden the vibration somewhat better before it reached the individual components on the board.

I guess the only way to find out as to why they used epoxy is to ask them.
 

Offline Stray Electron

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #20 on: November 21, 2024, 08:50:54 pm »
I have two Li-ion Dewalt impact drivers that stopped working over the past few years so I opened them up to see if there was something obvious that had broken.

The entire switch/PCB assembly is potted in white epoxy material.

There is no way to fix it.

The replacement switch/PCB assembly costs $85 US.

A new tool without the battery is $105 US.

   I've opened up and repaired dozens of wall warts and other devices that clearly stated "Do Not Open, No User Replaceable Parts Inside" (or word to that affect) and found that the only fault was that a standard glass fuse was blown!  Normally, the wall warts aren't available from the manufacturers so that means that the entire device is intended to be discarded and replaced.

   There's no excuse, other than greed, for this type of BS from equipment manufacturers.   Environmental issues alone should dictate that manufacturers provide at least a minimal amount of support (schematics?) and cease misleading customers into discarding easily repairable electronics devices and filling land fills with them.
 
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Offline 5U4GB

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #21 on: November 21, 2024, 10:14:18 pm »
I guess the only way to find out as to why they used epoxy is to ask them.

I would guess because, apart from epoxy have better moisture resistance and other things that a previous poster mentioned, it's also a helluva lot cheaper than silicone potting compound.
 

Online aeg

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #22 on: November 22, 2024, 12:34:57 am »
   I've opened up and repaired dozens of wall warts and other devices that clearly stated "Do Not Open, No User Replaceable Parts Inside" (or word to that affect) and found that the only fault was that a standard glass fuse was blown!

The "no user-serviceable parts inside" verbiage is a UL requirement. An internal fuse can have exposed hazardous voltages, so it is not user-serviceable. It can be replaced by a trained technician such as yourself, because you are expected to know to unplug it first; the average Joe on the street isn't.
 

Offline KG7AMVTopic starter

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #23 on: November 22, 2024, 01:18:32 am »
One would believe that a soldering station manufacture would support the repair of their equipment. One of the excuses they gave was techs dont have the skill do go component level repairs hahaha cannot make this stuff up.. I will try and go thru my recordings some day and get the clip.

Anyways, I am sure the law firm of Squire Patton Boggs will be making some good money off this. at at lest Hakko's attorney Dennis Oyakawa will have a good year.

Hakko's Attorney
https://www.squirepattonboggs.com/en/professionals/o/oyakawa-denis-h

Offline KG7AMVTopic starter

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Re: Hakko Investigated By Californa Attorney General Right to Repair Violations
« Reply #24 on: November 25, 2024, 08:51:09 pm »
I filed the FOIA to the AG for a copy of the letter sent to Hakko.


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