Repair Cafe structure

Ask again in uk.d-i-y and Andrew Gabriel might reply ...

I participate in the occasional radio-club related repair clinic, and give one twice a year in Kutztown, teaching basic diagnostic and repair techniqu es for vintage radios and electronics from the 1920s to approximately the 1

990s. There are some basic rules for the protection of the clinician and t he 'customer'.

a) Do not take money. Do not imply Fee-for-Service. The moment money is tak en, there is an expectation of professionalism and expertise that conveys a level of liability.

b) Make it clear that you are doing this as a hobby, and that you are demo nstrating technique and skills that may be useful to the customer in their future endeavors along the same hobby-related lines.

c) If parts are to be replaced, those parts *must* be obtained and supplied by the customer. Pointing to possible sources is OK, as long as you are a ble to point to more than one.

d) If power must be applied to an item during the process, the source must be isolated, and you must explain to the customer the reasons for it, and a dvise him/her why this is so.

e) Kluge repairs left in place are not acceptable, full stop. For instance, if one jumps out a damaged 'fuse resistor' to determine whether replacing it is worthwhile and the customer does not have the actual replacement - yo u may go as far as to suggest that the item is repairable - but not here, a nd not without the proper parts. Remove the jumper.

Whether or not an organization has "insurance cover', should there be an un fortunate event, the individual tech involved will remain involved whether liable for actual damages or not. And whereas most individuals are sincere and mean no harm, a fire, shock or other occurrence will change even the mo st gentle person.

I will teach technique, and I will show individuals how to make their own b asic repairs such as re-capping, cleaning and similar. I will point them to books, manuals and sources. But in a situation where one is dealing with t he *GENERAL PUBLIC*, I will take nothing for granted.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I think I'll print-off that piece and take it with me. If I have to assess the owner as to technical/elfin-safety competance, I'll have a pre-prepared UK mains plug and bit of lead with very specific posed faults, and get him to point them out.

Usually, each Christmas Season, I give a couple of restored radios to my wi re's church for the silent auction. Each AA5 that crosses my bench will get :

a) A polarized line-cord so that the switched conductor is Hot. This does n ot mitigate against a mis-wired receptacle, but it does help some. b) 105C electrolytic caps and 600 V film caps. c) Wiring with crumbling insulation is replaced. d) Controls are thoroughly cleaned and checked. e) Lamps, if any, are replaced. f) Dials are restrung if marginal in any way

And - this note is enclosed:

This is a transformerless radio. This means that the metal parts of the rad io and chassis may be at line potential (carrying dangerous amounts of curr ent) at any time whether the radio is in operation or not. Accordingly: ? Unplug this radio when not in use. ? Handle the radio only by the knobs and case when in use. Do not touch the chassis or screws under the case. ? Unplug the radio before servicing or changing tubes. ? Do not use this radio in a damp location or around water. ? Do not ground the chassis of this radio. ? If attaching an external antenna, do so only to the proper connection and use insulated wire.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

From:

find tools and materials to help you make any repairs you need. On clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, et cetera. You?ll also find expert volunteers, with repair skills in all kinds of fields."

Looks like 90+% are in the UK.

I contacted a local one and was told that they could not take donations of tools or material because they had no-where to store them. Maybe that does require more resources...

Mike (UK).

This uk charity accepts tools for a number of trades

Writing only for myself, and writing to the vintage electronics (radio/audi o) hobby, repair clinics have been offered by several radio clubs for a num ber of years, with members and their friends, and members of other similar organizations invited. I seem to remember that other similar clubs create s imilar events on occasion.

I know of no other clubs (*PLEASE DO* chime in if I am wrong!) that do what I do at Kutztown where anyone may come with any relevant item for diagnosi s and suggestion. I will test tubes on a high-end tester, match tubes if ne cessary, and even allow hands-on use of the tools with direction. Our club is attempting directly to bring younger people into the hobby, and to enco urage cross-overs from audio to radio and vice-versa. This is one means of doing so.

Warning: Irrelevant Rant

There are several types of vintage electronics buyers - and Kutztown is a c oncentrated universe of all types:

a) The buyer-for-resale - this individual has a very nearly encyclopedic me mory of recent eBay sales for any given item, and tends to hang around peop le unloading their goods in order to sweep up items before they are seen b y anyone else. They are very often rude, very often nasty when their (usual ly low-ball) offer is refused, and downright livid if told to go away. My a nswer to these jokers is "Come back at 1:00 pm on Saturday. If the item is still here, we can talk." Few of these people have the capacity to change a light-bulb, much less do any actual repairs or restoration.

b) Collectors for themselves - these individuals also have a good idea of w hat things are worth, but are looking to fill a void or upgrade what they a lready have. Typically, they are less concerned about operational issues an d more focused on appearance as most serious collectors have some repair sk ills. Some focus only on operational condition as they are skilled in cosme tics. But it is a mix. These people typically are polite and patient. They understand the flies-with-honey concept.

c) Newbies/General Public/Decorators, AKA "New Money" - I lump these togeth er as they seldom "know" what they are looking for or at, tend to dicker on ly half-heartedly on price, and often will buy everything in sight irrespec tive of condition or operation. Or will pay outrageously for something that meets a conceptual need. Newbies, I tend to educate and treat gently. Simi larly, the general public. I want both back - newbies as potential converts to the hobby. The General Public as permanent sources of non-competitive ' new money' to the hobby. Decorators - well. The pros (and, for the record, most are) are very up-front. They are doing a Man-Cave, Period Den or simil ar concept for a client, and THIS radio or THAT item would be very NEAT in THIS application. Yes, they do speak that way. But, would I be willing to.. .. (remove the guts from a Philco AA5 and insert a blue-tooth speaker, col ored lamp, whatever). Then they offer stupid-money to do it. Those with eth ics explain that they get 10% (or more) of whatever they spend in addition to their services so price is, well, you get the picture. Generally, I do a s they ask. Again, I might get them back in the future. And nothing will go to waste.

The questions I am asked at least a dozen times per meet: a) Can you still get tubes? Yes, the easiest part of the entire process. Lo ok behind me - there are 5,000 tubes there just for these sorts of radios. b) What about parts? Most of the parts that fail are capacitors and resisto rs - look around. There are no less than five vendors for these parts here today. c) What about cosmetic items and similar parts? He sells 8 different kinds of Zenith dial pointers, makes dial covers to order. He sells 30 different types of reproduction grille cloth. She is selling knobs, dial faces and co ntrols. He has the capacity to print dial-faces on demand.... d) Are these things safe? At least as safe as the day they were sold. In ma ny cases, safer. And here is how you can make them even safer....

But, circling the long way back to the point - running the repair clinics p uts the concept of repair and restoration right out there for people to obs erve as a possibility that does not involve massive expenses and rocket-sci ence level training or skills. Whatever reduces landfill works for me.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA