Self-Repair Manifesto

Mmmm, fix it goodness.

I'd spotted this earlier on there I fixed it (I think) thanks for the link to a very clean source of it.

Jeff the other other one.

Y'er welcome. I printed a few for my palatial office.

I like the line "Repair teaches Engineering", but would prefer my own "Learn by Destroying".

I backtracked the iFixit version from the credits near the bottom:

My repair warranty:

There hasn't been much progress in improving the quality of the customers since I wrote this 16 years ago: Support, Santa Cruz Style or Where Do These People Come From?

Jeff (If this stuff worked, you wouldn't need me) L.

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

On Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:10:43 -0800, Jeff Liebermann put finger to keyboard and composed:

Thanks very much for posting these links. I'm glad there are others who think as I do. BTW, I'm posting this on a 12 year old, socket 7, Windows 98 machine.

- Franc Zabkar

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Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

Wrong on so many counts that it is laughable. SMT devices require new techniques. ONE example of many similar events. About a year ago I obtained a 'dead' 50" plasma TV. Plug it in, it tries to turn on, then the red light on the front panel starts flashing 2 short, 1 long. Download the service manual (free from Elektrotanya.com), it's flashing error 12; problem with the 12V supply. Read the service manual. 12V error may be due to a problem with the audio amp or with the DC-DC converter. Disconnect the audio amp, no change. Read more of the service manual. Overloading the 12V supply by the DC-DC converter may be due to shorted mosfets. In that case, replace both the mosfets and the controller, all are SMD parts. (The DC-DC- converter is part of the Small Signal Board, available online for under $100).

Order the parts from Digikey, for a total cost of less than $10, including shipping. Use Chipquick and a soldering iron to remove the old parts, solder braid to remove the old solder and Chipquick, install the new parts. Reassemble the TV, cross my fingers, plug it in. It turns on and works perfectly. Just for luck I verify all power supply voltages and update it to the latest firmware.

The biggest problem was moving the 100 lb + monster around.

I've said this repeatedly, new technology requires new techniques. The people who claim it's unrepairable either have a vested interest in selling a new one or are incompetent.

PlainBill

I wonder if the dead TV was free, and if you hadn't been able to download a pirated service manual for free, if you would have been willing to pay $60-$100 for a service manual. Essentially, you got lucky with the availability of the service documentation.

Nearly anything man-made can be repaired.

New technology requires new equipment to be able to service it.. I see micro-sized SMT components that are barely visible, and I wouldn't care to handle repairs involving these components without the proper tools and a very good microscope.

I have a B&L stereo zoom microscope, head worn stereo loupes (Eschenback and others) and various video cameras that would be helpful in viewing the micro stuff, but even these tools don't make repair jobs on the newer micro stuff simple.

I have hot air and typical soldering/desoldering equipment, and professional (above average hobbiest/enthusiast) troubleshooting equipment, and I still don't have any desire to repair any of this cheaply made, newer technology equipment.

I admit that if someone were to give me an out-of-warranty, free, expensive piece of equipment, I'd be curious enough to spend a little time troubleshooting just to satisfy my curiosity.

I prefer to buy quality older equipment that can be repaired (large CRT stuff excluded), instead of microprocessor-based, firmware operated stuff that's generally much more difficult to repair, even if any documentation/online-hack info is available.

-- Cheers, WB .............

The issue of personal injury liability isn't addressed. Lots of DIY types don't understand the safety aspects of line operated equipment.

Any time I get a used piece of equipment, I examine it for signs of disassembly and repairs. One sign of a not-so-bright DIY type, is large burrs on the phillips case screws.

When manufacturers make service documentation available for line operated equipment, they don't know that only trained professional service/repair people will properly interpret the service info. They include disclaimers, but that my not be a bullet-proof legal position. Something as simple as placing a long screw where a short screw belongs, can compromise the safety of a properly designed, line-isolated hot chassis.

Put simply, unsupervised, untrained DIY-types shouldn't be repairing line-operated equipment.

Any experienced equipment servicer should know that it only takes very little current to interrupt normal heart rhythm.

When someone buys a piece of equipment that has been repaired improperly, it's a smear on the manufacturer's reputation. If I were a manufacturer, I wouldn't want improperly repaired pieces of my products available as used (unauthorized refurbished) equipment, injuring or pissing off a lot of consumers. An improperly repaired/modified charging circuit causes a battery to explode and/or catch fire, for example.

I imagine that the best way to stop throw-away product manufacturing would be to stop buying it. I don't like that nearly all of the cheaply made products are ending up in landfills, any more than anyone else. Apparently many consumers don't realize that buying this cheap crap costs them twice, the first time to go to the store and the purchase, then a second time to dispose of it. Careers in management of waste should be abundant for years into the future.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania actually accepts municipal (and probably industrial) waste to be hauled into PA from as many as 15 other states (maybe more, now). Since PA is bordered by only 6 states, this would mean that states beyond the bordering states are hauling waste long distances to dump waste into PA landfills.. that's a lot of fuel, whether the waste is moved by truck (most likey transportation) or railway.

According to statistics, Americans generated nearly 230 million tons of municipal solid waste in 1999 (when many stores didn't sell practically all made in China goods). Of the 230M tons, it's stated that 28% was recycled, and 15% incinerated.

I wonder what the term "recycled" actually means in report statistics. Maybe some of the plastic products were used in synthetic lumber products, possibly.. or just sent to a recycler that may have just disposed of the materials later.

-- Cheers, WB .............

Yes, but it might not be worth fixing, especially if a replacement is low cost. I constantly run into problems spending inordinate amounts of time fixing some trivial device. Sure, it can be fixed, but I can't build a business on such repairs. Expensive and exotic hardware is about all I can make a profit on. For example, it takes me about 4 billable hours to clean up and upgrade a virus infected computer. At $75/hr, it's almost more economical to purchase a newer and faster machine, than to fix the old one. So, in order to keep from losing the customer, I have to heavily discount my time and do it for less than posted rate. Otherwise, they run to their favorite discounter and just start over with a new machine. Same with some low end entertainment electronics. It's even worse with hardware. I can easily fix a typical PC power supply for a few dollars in parts and about 1.2 billable hours. However, who's going to pay me $100 to fix a $25 power supply?

What's needed is some assistance from the manufacturer. Schematics, test points, easily available parts, troubeshooting info, easy access, diagnostics, etc will all reduce the amount of time I burn fixing something, which translates to a lower cost repair.

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

I call those Zombies. They're ugly, slowly shuffle through the office, and are quite brainless. I have a 486DX2/66 running SCO Unix

3.2v4.2, but that's only because it refuses to die, and I'm too lazy to replace it with a more modern Linux server. I also have a collection of quite usable 1970's and 1980's vintage test equipment:

but only because the stuff works and I find not compelling reason to upgrade. (Yes, that's a Nixie tube counter on top of the spectrum analyzer). What you don't see in the photo is a rather large pile of broken test equipment waiting for me to get inspired to fix. The good news is that most test equipment is made to be repaired (except for some TMS series Tek scopes where I bought before I researched).

Anyway, this isn't about retro enthusiast, hobbyist repairmen, or tightwads (like me). It's about manufacturers not creating artificial obstacles to repair for those that want to keep their toys running.

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

Some more good sites, mostly test equipment:

http://128.238.9.201/~kurt/manuals/manuals/

Motorola tried that in Federal Court back in 2005. Despite the law firm they hired, and the scape goat they tried to crucify, they failed.

Had they won, imagine the ramifications. Nobody BUT the manufacturer would be authorized to repair items and there would be no third party parts or accessories for sale.

Imagine being hauled into Federal Court on a charge of counterfeiting because you added different radio to your vehicle. Because it is "no longer factory spec."

Frightening to say the least.

Jeff

No, the TV was not free. I have enough confidence in my skills that I was willing to pay the seller's asking price for it. I'm not sure where you came up with that $60-$100 price for a service manual; My experience was that $10 was a more typical price, although one major manufacturer sent them out free upon letterhead request. Your assertion that I got lucky is pure bullshit - I KNEW the service manual was available. But that is beside the point, many service manuals are available at litte or no cost. Other equipment (LCD monitors, for example) is simple enough that a service manual isn't necessary.

I agree, a hot air station would make the rework easier, so what? The fact is that a $15 kit of SolderQuik will substitute for your fancy hot air system.

All told, you have proved my point. SMT does not make repair impossible; I know it makes repair easier. Certainly it was easier to replace the three SMT ICs than it would have been to replace the larger through-hole devices.

Further, you have verified my other belief. It's not the cost of the equipment that makes the difference, it's the brains of the person using it.

PlainBill

Very true. I've got one on the bench behind me. It's a Thinkpad R30. The original problem was trivial - the CMOS battery was dead. The fumble fingered fool who tried to replace it popped the battery holder off the main board. (Poor design - it should have been glued in place). Now it gets more difficult - the entire top of the case must be pulled to allow clearance for a soldering iron. Once that has been accomplished a couple of touches with a soldering iron and the holder is back in place. Only two more problems. The same fumble fingered fool has managed to mangle both USB ports. One is broken free from the motherboard. Fortunately, the present owner doesn't care. As it is, he's going to cringe at the bill.

PlainBill

And a few more:

Complaining to manufacturers about the lack of service manuals may be useful. Bragging about the big bucks invested in test equipment, and whining about how unrepairable hardware is may be satisfying to the ego. The above links certainly helped me, so I added a few. Thanks, Jeff and JW.

PlainBill

Or, you could have purchased a replacement on eBay for about $100.

That's about 1.2 hrs of labor for me. Tearing apart a laptop, doing minimal repair (usually a broken power jack), putting it back together, and doing the necessary testing, usually burns at least 2.0 hrs. It might be cheaper to buy the un-mangled laptop off eBay, than to repair the damage. It might also be a good time for an upgrade as the Thinkpad R30 is a really slow machine.

IBM did it better than most manufacturers. While they used a wide variety of screw lengths, they're marked on the case and detailed in the documentation. For the R30:

While there are no schematics, at least they explain how to tear it apart and put it back together.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

I think you're dreaming of $10 service manuals for plasma TVs in the year

2010.

You got lucky in being able to obtain a service manual, from whatever source. Maybe you'll realize it was luck, when you see another golden opportunity, but no service literature is available.

I know when service literature isn't available, a project turns into a research project.. and I believe many others have BTDT too.

There were test equipment manufacturers that would send a free schematic for obsolete equipment years ago.. but even BK Precision, Beckman and numerous others wouldn't even send a owner/user guide for free, and that was going back quite a few years.

I was in the repair/service industry for years, and I know what dealing with the public is like, and it's not worth the aggravation, for any price, especially now when consumer goods manufacturers don't support their products.

Apparently, you get bent out of shape easily. I was only saying that I won't work on the cheap new crap, despite having a good deal of test and repair equipment, because I prefer not to. The equipment is for my own use, since I won't do repairs for anyone other than a few close friends. But I'll tell them to throw away their $40 VCR, because I'm not interested in using up my time on such things. So what if I do own several pieces of hot air equipment? It's just for my convenience, so I don't need to improvise a method to remove a part, not that I would be lost without it.. I've improvised in the past, and having better equipment definitely beats improvising.. again, BTDT.

You didn't really make a point about those tiny, micro-sized SMT components that populate most boards now.. ICs aren't difficult to see or replace.

I also said I prefer to buy older stuff, because it is more easily repairable, and I do maintain my own stuff. Marantz, Sony, and others, don't send free service manuals, although there are very affordable third party suppliers.. eBay sellers that have used or scanned manuals, (whether legally or not.. I don't know).

Teac Aerospace Division, purchased by Goodrich, doesn't supply service manuals, or any systems related literature. I don't think I'd even be able to find an agent or service center to buy spare parts from. There are a multitude of other manufacturers, which don't make cheap consumer goods, that don't sell or provide product documentation to any outside agents.

But you're correct.. all that one needs to repair anything electronic, is a soldering iron and the exceptional sense which you possess.

-- Cheers, WB .............

No. I'm a compulsive repairman. Everything I see needs to be fixed. If I can't fix it, it needs to be re-engineered. Everything can be designed or built better. Spending my time on such efforts is not particular profitable, but neither are most other hobbies. If I wanted to get rich quick, it wouldn't be in the repair biz (unless I was fixing something really expensive and exotic).

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

It would be helpful if you would explain where I was contradicting myself. I don't see it.

I take the ewaste and recyling problem seriously, but in this newsgroup, I'm largely preaching to those that already believe. However, in all honesty, I had never bothered to consider repair as an alternative to recycling, primarily because the cost of repair of often far more than the cost of recycling.

Last week, I went to the local recycler to unload some eJunk and drag home some more. On top of the pile was a nearly new HP DeskJet 8500 all-in-one printer, that looked like it had been removed from the shipping box, run perhaps once or twice, and then tossed. It's been recently replaced by the 8600. The owner probably wanted the latest greatest and just tossed it. I left it because I have no customer that needs an injet printer.

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Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

Isn't that a wireless/ethernet/USB model?

--
For the last time:  I am not a mad scientist!  I m just a very ticked
off scientist!!!

One reason people toss out working inkjet printers is that a new one costs only a little more than the replacement ink.