Right to repair article in WSJ

Jeff Liebermann prodded the keyboard with:

The electronics industry isn't the only one that is doing this. The Singer sewing machine company was doing exactly the same thing in the late 1800 early 1900. So is the motor industry, aided by legislation ! Though I can appreciate some of the safety aspects. There is hardly any manufacturer that isn't into this in some way or other.

The old Sams "Photo Fact" repair manuals were sure helpful to me back in the tube electronics days. They were always so detailed.

Some of the main problems with electronics today are:

1. The removal of lead from many components causes them to fail faster.
2. The switch to "lead-free" solder has caused more equipment failures due to tin whiskers.
3. Surface mount components prevent most average people from repairing their own equipment.
4. Manufacturers deliberately NOT issuing schematics or service/parts manuals.

I have helped many people in the video arcade game & pinball machine collecting hobby by writing several monitor repair guides (for CRT monitors) and I wrote most of the pinwiki section on repairing the home model pinball machines.

I also have answered questions on fixya.com

Actually they're lucky I don't have alot of ambition. Also don't really hav e the connections either but the way I see it, to get the government(s) to force better quality electronics as well as support for repairs it would pr obably be best to take the environmental approach.

Unless it's Rand Paul, I think we can expect a democrat administration, or Sanders who is pretty close. Such an administration along with close enough to control of congress, could possibly foment some sort of legislation. I do believe California had some law to do with parts for electronic equipmen t. So many years if it cost over a hundred bucks or something like that. I am not going to ask what happened to that law, I already know, lobbyists to ok care of that law.

Really, the impact of this junk with no parts is not just hurting the repai r industry, it is emptying our banks and filling our landfills. Hell, the r epair industry is dead. The last TV repair I did was on my Mother's Toshibe 32" CRT. The tube is still strong so it is not going to be replaced unless it becomes unrepairable. Last one was Sony 36XBR400 that needed one of the MCZ driver ICs. Ran that until the tube died and actually traded off the c hassis to where I used to work because the other guy FUBARed up the two sid ed board.

Personally, I do not feed the gadgetry industry because I simply don't need much. I got a cheap twenty buck phone, my laptop is getting really old, th ink I bought it in 2008. It runs fine. My "server" runs XP. Neither one of these are getting a software upgrade except maybe to Linux. And stereo equi pment ? I am getting to the point with "older is better" that I might switc h to tubes. not really though, I don't consider "tube sound" any better. th e last tube amps I had seemed like they tried to sound solid state. They re produced turntable rumble really nice... I never expected that.

Thing with the economy is that the money is going to the wrong people. The US does not produce anything mass market except wheat. Meantime we import a hell of alot of food. We mainly export wheat, try living on heat. Hell, we can't even get a decent deal on sugar because of the shit they pulled in S outh and Central America.

So since all this money is leaving the country, let's have it leave a littl e slower. If we cannot build it, actually, maybe we just do not need it. I know my vintage Pioneer wasn't built here, but that money is long gone. I w ill eventually put another battery in my 2.4 GHz phone. My pistol was made in 1911.

And cars ? I really do not drive much ad don't have a car. My eyesight is n ot good but if I got back into the thick I might consider a car. I just wou ldn't drive alot, like at night, in the rain and like that. (it also hinder s me at work) But if I hit the lottery whatever car I buy might well have i gnition points. The problem is those types of cars are targets for theft, b igtime because they're all classics now. It certainly will NOT be running a ny version of Windows. I guess I would have to buy something new, an anti-t heft system. And protecting those old cars is not trivial.

Bottom line, e really need to start fighting back. If the government won't help like they're supposed to, then we cripple the wallet. Everyone get the $20 phone and surf at home on an old ass PC. Drive the same car until it w ill not drive anymore and then buy used. Slow the economy and make it known WHY.

The problem with that plan is that in this country there is not solidarity. We will never be able to boycott anything and that means the landfills get bigger and the pile of money gets smaller. But fear not, eventually all th e money will be gone and what needs to happen will need no planning, there simply won't be any money. Sure, what will be laughingly called the middle class will be about 10 % of the population.

That is not much of a market.

The article doesn't mention all the common industry practices that impede repair possibilities.

When warranties are required by law or customer demand, small items can be discarded and replacements provided. It saves on shipping, I suppose, but it's VERY annoying to find a remote control with its lifetime battery cemented inside (and the manufacturer ceased operation sometime last decade). Or my Apple mouse that has a bad switch,but it's plastic-welded together. Repair is 'unnecessary - just replace'. Bah!

When warranties are served by swapping subassemblies, some really ODD decisions are made as to what options are available. I've seen a case where a socketed fuse could only be replaced by swapping the power supply. Other times, subassemblies left out cables or brackets or shields that couldn't be found as separate parts at all. Some tired engineer, finishing up the design, goofed the parts list. Or, failed to specify what the subassembly includes. It never gets corrected.

An 'extended standard warranty' of five years on cars, is a guarantee that only the dealerships will know the inner workings of that model, when it hits six years of age. This hurts independent repair operations.

Internal part numbers: a part my refrigerator needed, was easily available by its component-manufacturer part number, but permanently out-of-stock by the refrigerator-manufacturer part number. The parts shop has no way of supplying it except by refrigerator-manufacturer part number, because they're the AUTHORIZED distributor and can't trust a search on the internet... This is OK for independent repair operations, it just hurts the affiliates.

Fairy connectors: China passed laws when the number of incompatible cellphone charging adaptors got too outrageous. Connectors break a LOT. This mainly causes obsolescence because the manufacturers aren't good at supplying compatible chargers to their old gizmos. I see the price, and never want to buy that brand again...

Well, in many cases, a fuse is to prevent fire, AFTER a major component has failed in a switching supply. Usually, more than one component is popped in that case, so it is unlikely the average joe would have any luck repairing it. And, you REALLY don't want to tempt people who might try to put in a bigger fuse! Why the fuse was socketed, I don't know. But, my experience with switching supplies is that the fuse REALLY RARELY blows due to surge fatigue, it is usually after major failure.

Jon