Maker Pro
Maker Pro

The Neighbourhood Technician.

K

Ken S. Tucker

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm sure many of us in this group have interesting
stories to tell, I have dozens.
Seems as soon as neighbours find out you have
serious equiptment and part supplies they figure
you can fix anything electronic,
(80% I fix for $20), but....

1) A local yokel has a large collection of 8-track
country tapes, but no tape player and finds a $5
unit at a flea market. He dumps it on me, 1 hr
later it's working ok and I charge him $20.
The yokel bach's, "how can you charge me $20
for something that's only worth $5 !!", so I ended
up with an 8-track that I played "Don't look Ethel"
etc. for awhile.

2) Friend brings in a VHS unit, I open it, the damn
pulleys are all hairy. The fella explains his cat sits
on the unit for years and years.
How much would you charge to sort out cat hair
in a VHS unit...5 hrs, and $100 on the cheap,
the unit is worth $50 new.

I've got lot's more, hoping to hear some from the
rest of this clan.
Ken
ET (Electronic Technician) at large.
 
J

Jim Stewart

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ken said:
I'm sure many of us in this group have interesting
stories to tell, I have dozens.
Seems as soon as neighbours find out you have
serious equiptment and part supplies they figure
you can fix anything electronic,
(80% I fix for $20), but....

1) A local yokel has a large collection of 8-track
country tapes, but no tape player and finds a $5
unit at a flea market. He dumps it on me, 1 hr
later it's working ok and I charge him $20.
The yokel bach's, "how can you charge me $20
for something that's only worth $5 !!", so I ended
up with an 8-track that I played "Don't look Ethel"
etc. for awhile.

2) Friend brings in a VHS unit, I open it, the damn
pulleys are all hairy. The fella explains his cat sits
on the unit for years and years.
How much would you charge to sort out cat hair
in a VHS unit...5 hrs, and $100 on the cheap,
the unit is worth $50 new.

I've got lot's more, hoping to hear some from the
rest of this clan.
Ken
ET (Electronic Technician) at large.

I do lots of repairs for the neighbors.
Had a rash of garage door opener adjustments/
reprogrammings this summer. I never charge
money. If I like the neighbor and think I
can do the job with minimal risk and fallout,
I just do it for free. Otherwise I say that
I only work on industrial equipment.
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
I do lots of repairs for the neighbors.
Had a rash of garage door opener adjustments/
reprogrammings this summer. I never charge
money. If I like the neighbor and think I
can do the job with minimal risk and fallout,
I just do it for free. Otherwise I say that
I only work on industrial equipment.

I've stopped telling neighbors I'm an electrical engineer. Telling
them I "design chips" seems to keep them from asking for repairs.

Some even think "chips" are potato chips ;-)

In years past I was plagued with repair requests.

...Jim Thompson
 
P

Polymorph

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm sure many of us in this group have interesting
stories to tell, I have dozens.
Seems as soon as neighbours find out you have
serious equiptment and part supplies they figure
you can fix anything electronic,
(80% I fix for $20), but....

1) A local yokel has a large collection of 8-track
country tapes, but no tape player and finds a $5
unit at a flea market. He dumps it on me, 1 hr
later it's working ok and I charge him $20.
The yokel bach's, "how can you charge me $20
for something that's only worth $5 !!", so I ended
up with an 8-track that I played "Don't look Ethel"
etc. for awhile.

Ugh. That's why I always charge an estimate fee. And try to give them
some idea of the range of what it may cost before they even give me
the estimate fee, so they don't think the estimate fee is all it will
cost.
2) Friend brings in a VHS unit, I open it, the damn
pulleys are all hairy. The fella explains his cat sits
on the unit for years and years.
How much would you charge to sort out cat hair
in a VHS unit...5 hrs, and $100 on the cheap,
the unit is worth $50 new.

How good a friend? Do you feel like working for peanuts? Can he -find-
a new VHS recorder?

I used to give estimates for free, and I was deluged with everyone's
$1 garage sale find. A TV they'd have happily paid $50 for working,
they won't pay $25 to fix because it "only cost me a dollar!"

So for a while I bought those dollar TVs at garage sales, fixed them,
and sold them for $50 to $100. This was a few years ago, so think in
1980/90 dollars. Plus I was living in a depressed area, selling a few
TVs, VCRs, and stereos would pay my rent.

Now I'm back to unemployed with no degree or certifications. All the
one man TV shops are gone, and the HR departments in big companies
know snot about the job, so all they believe are pieces of paper. Time
to go to school...

Steve Greenfield
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
I do lots of repairs for the neighbors.
Had a rash of garage door opener adjustments/
reprogrammings this summer. I never charge
money. If I like the neighbor and think I
can do the job with minimal risk and fallout,
I just do it for free. Otherwise I say that
I only work on industrial equipment.
I agree. I ONLY do that kind of thing for free. Like the friend who
brought a walkie-talkie type gadget by the night before he was leaving
early AM to travel all over the African continent. I fixed up the
(badly designed) control that had a lifted pad, reinforced it with
epoxy and off he went.

Recently there was the Rowenta steamer that quit for SWMBO.. The
$#%(%$*% French "engineers" had put a 5:1 plastic (polycarbonate)
cantilevered post attached to a rocker handle to operate a (quite
nice) microswitch. Naturally the thing breaks off after a few hundred
operations... after I found the appropriate tamper-free bits (the
hardest part) I pulled it out, drilled a 1.5mm hole at the right
angle, put a cut-off finishing nail in there, and filled the back of
the rocker with expoxy (hmm.. a theme here- epoxy the duct tape of
electronics). Better than new now.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
J

J.A. Legris

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm sure many of us in this group have interesting
stories to tell, I have dozens.
Seems as soon as neighbours find out you have
serious equiptment and part supplies they figure
you can fix anything electronic,
(80% I fix for $20), but....

1) A local yokel has a large collection of 8-track
country tapes, but no tape player and finds a $5
unit at a flea market. He dumps it on me, 1 hr
later it's working ok and I charge him $20.
The yokel bach's, "how can you charge me $20
for something that's only worth $5 !!", so I ended
up with an 8-track that I played "Don't look Ethel"
etc. for awhile.

2) Friend brings in a VHS unit, I open it, the damn
pulleys are all hairy. The fella explains his cat sits
on the unit for years and years.
How much would you charge to sort out cat hair
in a VHS unit...5 hrs, and $100 on the cheap,
the unit is worth $50 new.

I've got lot's more, hoping to hear some from the
rest of this clan.
Ken
ET (Electronic Technician) at large.

I decline all repair requests, except those from the old couple across
the street who won't live long enough to see the coming environmental
total-collapse (overpopulation, overconsumption, you know). But some
people dump their junk on me anyway so I just put it aside until the
cheapskate has the guts to come and ask for it back. I never get
second requests. That's what the psychologists call single-trial
learning.
 
B

Bob

Jan 1, 1970
0
I decline all repair requests, except those from the old couple across
the street who won't live long enough to see the coming environmental
total-collapse (overpopulation, overconsumption, you know). But some
people dump their junk on me anyway so I just put it aside until the
cheapskate has the guts to come and ask for it back. I never get
second requests. That's what the psychologists call single-trial
learning.

I used to tell neighbors " you can't afford my consulting rates" and
offer to do a cursory inspection/recommendation as a favor. As soon as
you charge even a dollar, it's a professional business transaction and
people think they have a right to a guarantee, service etc. These days
I tell people I play piano in a whorehouse.

Bob
 
M

mpm

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm sure many of us in this group have interesting
stories to tell, I have dozens.
Seems as soon as neighbours find out you have
serious equiptment and part supplies they figure
you can fix anything electronic,
(80% I fix for $20), but....

1) A local yokel has a large collection of 8-track
country tapes, but no tape player and finds a $5
unit at a flea market. He dumps it on me, 1 hr
later it's working ok and I charge him $20.
The yokel bach's, "how can you charge me $20
for something that's only worth $5 !!", so I ended
up with an 8-track that I played "Don't look Ethel"
etc. for awhile.

2) Friend brings in a VHS unit, I open it, the damn
pulleys are all hairy. The fella explains his cat sits
on the unit for years and years.
How much would you charge to sort out cat hair
in a VHS unit...5 hrs, and $100 on the cheap,
the unit is worth $50 new.

I've got lot's more, hoping to hear some from the
rest of this clan.
Ken
ET (Electronic Technician) at large.

I envy all of you, that you even have time to consider fixing someone
else's stuff.

Sure, I take the occasional request (hey, I can fix anything !!)
But generally, only from close friends, or people down on their luck,
etc...

What I need to do though it put some of my own stuff towards the front
of the line now and then.
Let's see: 1 Nikon Speedlight, a pair of Kenwood two-way radios, the
3.5" floppy that died in my main PC, oh, and then there's the AUX
input on my mobile XM receiver....

....that last one is the most annoying.

-mpm
 
M

mpm

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm sure many of us in this group have interesting
stories to tell, I have dozens.
Seems as soon as neighbours find out you have
serious equiptment and part supplies they figure
you can fix anything electronic,
(80% I fix for $20), but....

1) A local yokel has a large collection of 8-track
country tapes, but no tape player and finds a $5
unit at a flea market. He dumps it on me, 1 hr
later it's working ok and I charge him $20.
The yokel bach's, "how can you charge me $20
for something that's only worth $5 !!", so I ended
up with an 8-track that I played "Don't look Ethel"
etc. for awhile.

2) Friend brings in a VHS unit, I open it, the damn
pulleys are all hairy. The fella explains his cat sits
on the unit for years and years.
How much would you charge to sort out cat hair
in a VHS unit...5 hrs, and $100 on the cheap,
the unit is worth $50 new.

I've got lot's more, hoping to hear some from the
rest of this clan.
Ken
ET (Electronic Technician) at large.

Someone should design/build an 8-track to MP3 converter, just for the
nolvelty of it.
It could even sport one of those 7-way memory card slots (SD, XD,
CompactFlash, etc...)

-mpm
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Spehro said:
I agree. I ONLY do that kind of thing for free. Like the friend who
brought a walkie-talkie type gadget by the night before he was leaving
early AM to travel all over the African continent. I fixed up the
(badly designed) control that had a lifted pad, reinforced it with
epoxy and off he went.

Recently there was the Rowenta steamer that quit for SWMBO.. The
$#%(%$*% French "engineers" had put a 5:1 plastic (polycarbonate)
cantilevered post attached to a rocker handle to operate a (quite
nice) microswitch. Naturally the thing breaks off after a few hundred
operations... after I found the appropriate tamper-free bits (the
hardest part) I pulled it out, drilled a 1.5mm hole at the right
angle, put a cut-off finishing nail in there, and filled the back of
the rocker with expoxy (hmm.. a theme here- epoxy the duct tape of
electronics). Better than new now.

Rowenta used to be an old German company founded in the late 1800's, not
French. Actually now it's American because Sunbeam bought them in 1963.
The irons are AFAIK now all made in China.
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Spehro said:
This product was purchased in the US, made in FRANCE, only 1-2 years
ago. However if I should be cursing German or American engineers, so
be it.

http://www.amazon.com/Rowenta-DG-980-Expert-Steam-Generator/dp/B00008ZPN6

Too bad there was such an obvious design flaw, the rest of the unit
seems solid. On the web I find that other people have had similar
problems, in some cases returning it under warranty several times
(obviously they just replaced the same poorly designed part with a new
one).

Well, they do have a French subsidiary. And another one in Austria. And ...

IMHO German plastics parts aren't always up to snuff while the rest of
the merchandise may be quite good. Same issue here with our Kettler ping
pong table. The domestic one lasted about one season and then collapsed
(!). The Kettler cost 2.5 times but is now in year eight and the playing
surface is nearly indestructible. However, various plastic parts have
popped, the wheels are lousy etc. Not crucially important stuff but they
could have done better.
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
Rowenta used to be an old German company founded in the late 1800's, not
French. Actually now it's American because Sunbeam bought them in 1963.
The irons are AFAIK now all made in China.

This product was purchased in the US, made in FRANCE, only 1-2 years
ago. However if I should be cursing German or American engineers, so
be it.

http://www.amazon.com/Rowenta-DG-980-Expert-Steam-Generator/dp/B00008ZPN6

Too bad there was such an obvious design flaw, the rest of the unit
seems solid. On the web I find that other people have had similar
problems, in some cases returning it under warranty several times
(obviously they just replaced the same poorly designed part with a new
one).


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
E

Ecnerwal

Jan 1, 1970
0
Spehro Pefhany said:
Anyway, the problem was not the mold nor was it the material (I know
quite well how do diagnose faulty polycarbonate moldings-- there was
no splay or other telltale signs of improper processing or
contaminated material). The part was as perfect as they come. It was a
design flaw. They properly radiused the projection, and it didn't
break at the corners, rather just beyond. I think someone just took a
FEA and didn't add proper safety factors to it, and it wasn't properly
tested. If the part was 50% thicker or had some little ribs added to
it, it probably would never have broken.

Which might be considered improper design, in some consumer product
circles - "if it doesn't break, they won't buy a new one". Then the
design becomes a matter of estimating how many times it will be used
while still in warrantee, adding whatever fudge factor, but not too much
fudge factor, and hope that the customer is dumb enough to buy the same
brand the next time (or a different "Brand" owned by the same "faceless
corporate giant".) Reliability is not a selling point, though a past
reputation for reliability may be trotted out for advertising - but it
won't be maintained, in most companies these days.

While it's simpler to blame incompetence, some of the crap I see in
products these days really does seem deliberate. It could still be
incompetence, or malfeasance (consider the recent discussion of bad
capacitors, which commonly result in "buy a new computer" as the
solution - since the failures happen out of warrantee, mostly, it
certainly functions like planned obsolescence).
 
J

Jamie

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ken said:
I'm sure many of us in this group have interesting
stories to tell, I have dozens.
Seems as soon as neighbours find out you have
serious equiptment and part supplies they figure
you can fix anything electronic,
(80% I fix for $20), but....

1) A local yokel has a large collection of 8-track
country tapes, but no tape player and finds a $5
unit at a flea market. He dumps it on me, 1 hr
later it's working ok and I charge him $20.
The yokel bach's, "how can you charge me $20
for something that's only worth $5 !!", so I ended
up with an 8-track that I played "Don't look Ethel"
etc. for awhile.

2) Friend brings in a VHS unit, I open it, the damn
pulleys are all hairy. The fella explains his cat sits
on the unit for years and years.
How much would you charge to sort out cat hair
in a VHS unit...5 hrs, and $100 on the cheap,
the unit is worth $50 new.

I've got lot's more, hoping to hear some from the
rest of this clan.
Ken
ET (Electronic Technician) at large.
Which is how I stopped my so called friends of flea markets and tag
sale finders from bringing over the junk that no one else wanted.
After, charging them a bench fee and then giving them the death
price of repair. That normally stopped the majority that didn't know
what they were picking up.
I also got various units on my bench that made visits there before
from new proud owners just to tell them what I wanted for diagnostic
fee's and tell them to throw it out.
This was common when CB's and illegal equipment for CB's were
all over the place.
I had more amplifiers, CB's, ham radios used as CB's come in
for the same repairs many times.
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Spehro said:
Have to disagree with you there. IME Germans are the best moldmakers
in the world.

Moldmakers, yes. Plastics quality is a mixed bag. The stuff on our ping
pong table was plain inferior. Top of the line brand but poor material
choices by their engineers. Why is it that a Mercedes bumper or turn
signal bezel lasts many decades and this stuff crumbles after 2-3 years?

Anyway, the problem was not the mold nor was it the material (I know
quite well how do diagnose faulty polycarbonate moldings-- there was
no splay or other telltale signs of improper processing or
contaminated material). The part was as perfect as they come. It was a
design flaw. They properly radiused the projection, and it didn't
break at the corners, rather just beyond. I think someone just took a
FEA and didn't add proper safety factors to it, and it wasn't properly
tested. If the part was 50% thicker or had some little ribs added to
it, it probably would never have broken.

http://server2.hostingplex.com/~zstoretr/Rowenta.jpg

Seriously, I'd write an email to them and if no answer another to the
CEO. That has nearly always netted attention in my case. Once it
unfortunately went a bit too far (a guy got fired because of it).
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
Well, they do have a French subsidiary. And another one in Austria. And ...

IMHO German plastics parts aren't always up to snuff while the rest of
the merchandise may be quite good. Same issue here with our Kettler ping
pong table. The domestic one lasted about one season and then collapsed
(!). The Kettler cost 2.5 times but is now in year eight and the playing
surface is nearly indestructible. However, various plastic parts have
popped, the wheels are lousy etc. Not crucially important stuff but they
could have done better.

Have to disagree with you there. IME Germans are the best moldmakers
in the world.

Anyway, the problem was not the mold nor was it the material (I know
quite well how do diagnose faulty polycarbonate moldings-- there was
no splay or other telltale signs of improper processing or
contaminated material). The part was as perfect as they come. It was a
design flaw. They properly radiused the projection, and it didn't
break at the corners, rather just beyond. I think someone just took a
FEA and didn't add proper safety factors to it, and it wasn't properly
tested. If the part was 50% thicker or had some little ribs added to
it, it probably would never have broken.

http://server2.hostingplex.com/~zstoretr/Rowenta.jpg


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ecnerwal said:
Which might be considered improper design, in some consumer product
circles - "if it doesn't break, they won't buy a new one". Then the
design becomes a matter of estimating how many times it will be used
while still in warrantee, adding whatever fudge factor, but not too much
fudge factor, and hope that the customer is dumb enough to buy the same
brand the next time (or a different "Brand" owned by the same "faceless
corporate giant".) Reliability is not a selling point, though a past
reputation for reliability may be trotted out for advertising - but it
won't be maintained, in most companies these days.

While it's simpler to blame incompetence, some of the crap I see in
products these days really does seem deliberate. It could still be
incompetence, or malfeasance (consider the recent discussion of bad
capacitors, which commonly result in "buy a new computer" as the
solution - since the failures happen out of warrantee, mostly, it
certainly functions like planned obsolescence).

That is short-sighted of a company, only feasible if the big brass plans
to high-tail it in a few years and is reckless.

There are certain cars brands and other product brands I simply will not
consider anymore for the rest of my live. Such are big bucks decisions
and hardcore lost sales. How many times have you heard someone giving
advice like "Don't ever buy ..."? People listen to the advice of friends
a lot more than companies realize, so there is a serious multiplier
effect. Then there is the multiplier*multiplier effect: "Oh, don't do
that! George advised me a couple weeks ago never to buy ..."
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'm sure many of us in this group have interesting
stories to tell, I have dozens.
Seems as soon as neighbours find out you have
serious equiptment and part supplies they figure
you can fix anything electronic,
(80% I fix for $20), but....

1) A local yokel has a large collection of 8-track
country tapes, but no tape player and finds a $5
unit at a flea market. He dumps it on me, 1 hr
later it's working ok and I charge him $20.
The yokel bach's, "how can you charge me $20
for something that's only worth $5 !!", so I ended
up with an 8-track that I played "Don't look Ethel"
etc. for awhile.

2) Friend brings in a VHS unit, I open it, the damn
pulleys are all hairy. The fella explains his cat sits
on the unit for years and years.
How much would you charge to sort out cat hair
in a VHS unit...5 hrs, and $100 on the cheap,
the unit is worth $50 new.

I've got lot's more, hoping to hear some from the
rest of this clan.
Ken
ET (Electronic Technician) at large.


I'd charge $20.00 just to put it in the trash bin. :p

D from BC
 
K

Ken S. Tucker

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'd charge $20.00 just to put it in the trash bin. :p
D from BC

Yeah, lol, a friend was moving his portable 20" color
TV and dropped it on is back and cracked the PCB
on the CRT. I took a chance and fly-wired over the
cracks, amazingly it worked fine after that.
The real buggers are those 20% of faults that need
a damn manual, the manuals are $75 so I quit them.
Ken in BC
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
Yeah, lol, a friend was moving his portable 20" color
TV and dropped it on is back and cracked the PCB
on the CRT. I took a chance and fly-wired over the
cracks, amazingly it worked fine after that.
The real buggers are those 20% of faults that need
a damn manual, the manuals are $75 so I quit them.
Ken in BC

In the past, I suspect most of the junk I've fixed, people didn't keep
it...They don't trust the repair or lose confidence in the product. So
they sell it and then buy new stuff.

By the way..
Aside from charging $20.00 to put their junk in your trash bin....You
could also charge an additional $20.00 consultation fee on why it
shouldn't be fixed and how the money can be better put to use on a new
and better product. :)



D from BC
 
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