Rod said:
The reality is that that isnt done with domestic appliances.
Of course it is - if your making a million of anything, you minimise
costs to the last cent, because 1c by 1,000,000 is REAL money. We can
put a man on the moon - is it so hard to figure out MTBF of electronic
equipment. And if the factory costs millions of dollars to set up
(they do) its in their best interests to keep them running - the costs
of shutting down are prohibitive.
And, good people, if you want a new TV set, there has NEVER been a
better time to buy one. LCD, Plasma are killing the conventional CRT
market - havent you wondered why they are so cheap now? - its
desperation time till new plant comes on stream to make the new
consumer toys....
That aint designing it to fail just outside the warranty.
Oh? - how come PCB pads are barely adequate for the heat dissipation of
the component - as far as I know, thats been taught in engineering
courses for the last 20 years.....ANY tech will immediately start
looking for dry joints as a first thing to do issue...
They werent deliberately designed in. Just lousy design.
I beg to differ. You are saying EVERY manufacturer on the planet has
the identical "bad design" features.....and keeps on making them, model
after model, year after year?.....
Because it makes not sense to spend a high percentage of the cost of
a new VCR repairing an existing one. The new one gets a new warranty.
Yep. Thats why they are no repaired. I though this was why this thread
got started?
And most of that stuff just doesnt fail, most obviously
with plug packs and molded power cords.
Nope, due to the technology.
Idiot. The technology was partly developed to eliminate manual
operation, as well as speed/ease of assembly. Do some research. NASA
figured this out in the 1960's....a huge proportion of failures were
due to poor human made solder joints - the short term cure was HRHS
certification of operators, the evolution was rigidly controlled
machine operation....
And they hardly ever need to be repaired too.
Erk. Then whats the problem? - why are we having this discussion? - if
its so reliable, surely servicing isn't an issue?
And those arent designed to fail just outside the warranty.
But they do. 3 to 5 years from a modern domestic ANYTHING is good value
now....or has your experience been different from the rest of us? -
The reality is that costs a lot less to stamp out another in the
asian factory than it can ever cost to have a first world tech fix it.
Erk (again) yes, well, thats why things dont get repaired - so cheap to
buy new ones - pity about the quality issues....
And they are dirt cheap now.
That I will concede. And is not the quality the same as all the other
disposable products? And for those people out there proudly running
their Bridgeport or Monarch in their basement, they came from once
prosperous factories that got decimated by cheap modern crap. How else
could you afford them?
Its happened in my trade too - there is SO MUCH high quality test
equipment out there now, stuff I could not afford even 10 years ago.
Now I can - the companies that used it are no more, or its so cheap to
replace a "black box" that they don't need to maintain service
engineers and test gear. And in telecoms, I will grudgingly concede
that there is redundancy - but when BIG network fault happens, theres
a mad scramble to find enough techs to go out and fix it.....((because
the accountants says the new stuff is so reliable, (they read the
glossy brochures, sorta like IT people) why do we need to pay staff in
case it MIGHT break down?))
Good, you got one right.
And so do almost everything else too.
Even that is arguable, an operation like that should have decent redundancy.
Rubbish. Any machine thats down is losing money (ask the accountants -
they run things these days) - and there is virtually NO REDUNDANCY,
even in hospital situations - next time you visit someone in hospital,
look at the calibration tag on the machines (IV drips are a favourite)-
see how long since its been serviced. Have a look around the back - see
how much dust/muck is jammed into the air filter element on the cooling
fan....(ECG's are good for this.....
BTW - I think "redundancy" has been replaced by one of those marvelous
new management speak phrases - "Just In Time" - the premise that the
supply chain functions perfectly to avoid ANY down time.
Multiple redundancy is a thing we HOPE they put in nuclear power
stations, and aeroplanes -and even thats being pushed. Civil aviation
here - most commercial airliners have 3 generators, time was if one
failed, the plane was pulled from service. Not now - it waits till the
next "scheduled service"....(costs money to take it out of service for
"unnecessary repairs"...and besides, the thing will fly on 1
generator....)
Anyway, I just fixed a 20 yo VCR for a customer - worn plastic gears
not meshing. Cure - fit washer on shaft to raise gear teeth to unworn
portion.
And I will keep on doing things like this, and you will keep on buying
new consumer crap - whose the winner?
Andrew VK3BFA.
Thats it, no more from me - I am trying not to RANT....(and failing)