A lot of people are asking for the right to repair. Many people believe products should last longer, and therefore when broken, they should be repaired. This requires products to be designed for repair as well as support for repairers of all kinds. The goal of right-to-repair rules, advocates say, is to require companies to make their parts, tools and information available to consumers and repair shops in order to keep devices from ending up in the scrap heap. The surge in interest in right to repair is good news for consumers and environment, but it isn’t great news for those companies keen on planned obsolescence.
Fix, or Toss? The ‘Right to Repair’ Movement Gains Ground article says that in USA both Republicans and Democrats are pursuing laws to make it easier for people to fix cellphones, cars, even hospital ventilators. In Europe, the movement is further along.
Vice article The Right to Repair Movement Is Poised to Explode in 2021 article says that in USA fourteen states are exploring “right to repair” legislation as the movement gains steam. Whether it’s John Deere’s efforts to make tractor repair costly and annoying, Apple’s bullying of independent repair shops, or Sony and Microsoft’s attempt to monopolize game console repair, US corporations have done an incredible job the last few years driving bipartisan public interest in the “right to repair” movement. Last year witnessed monumental progress for right to repair and 2021 is expected to take the effort to an entirely new level.
In addition to the environmental impact of slowing the rate of expanding landfills there are also other benefits. A recent report by US PIRG found that repair monopolization comes with significant costs for American consumers. It also found that American families would save $40 billion ($330 per family) per year if they repaired more products and used them for longer periods. That’s of course
The French repair index: challenges and opportunities article tells that since January 1st 2021, France is the first country in Europe to have implemented a repairability index on 5 categories of electronic devices. While this index is a key milestone for the Right to Repair in Europe, it isn’t without limitations.
280 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can someone tell me why is not working??
Yes, it’s because you haven’t done any troubleshooting it appears. What is it? What does it do? What are the input voltages? What are the output voltages inspect the board closely? Do you see any visual defects or burn marks?
Tomi Engdahl says:
This screen cleaning mistake could cost you hundreds of dollars
There’s a right way and a wrong way to clean the screen on your laptop or smartphone. And the wrong way can wreck your display.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/this-screen-cleaning-mistake-could-cost-you-hundreds-of-dollars/
Is Rubbing Alcohol Safe For LCD Screens?
https://gadgetmates.com/is-rubbing-alcohol-safe-for-lcd-screens
No! Don’t use rubbing alcohol, Windex, Glass Cleaner, or any other ethanol or bleach based cleaner on your desktop computer or laptop’s LCD screen. These can leave permanent marks or “scars” on your screen and especially if done repeatedly, cause damage and clouding to the display. At minimum you’re going to strip away your screen’s glossy surface or matte finish. In the era where screens are a part of our daily lives, from smartphones to computer monitors, maintaining the cleanliness and integrity of LCD screens is essential. But rubbing alcohol is not recommended at all and it’s important to use safer alternatives to prevent irreversible damage.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/03/07/motherboard-revived-with-simplest-1-8v-spi-shifter-ever/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://wololo.net/2023/05/08/crazy-hacks-2-drill-a-hole-in-your-chip-and-find-out/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/03/24/retrotechtacular-right-to-repair-1987/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/mixing-lead-solder-with-lead-free-solder/
https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/solder-bridging-pcb/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.quick-pcba.com/how-to-clean-a-circuit-board/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://manualmachine.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
How To Remove Electronic Components – PART 1 / Soldering Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-un9-ZsSQI
How to remove Electronic components is a neat guide showing common and uncommon methods to remove your soldered devices.
Including examples such as QFP + QFN IC removal and an easy AWESOME method for removing your header connectors. Also featuring various ways to remove Electrolytic capacitors including a really cool easy uncommon method , you will really love this one.
Part way through the video see how you can protect your plastic parts while using a heat gun close by with the cool silver foil tape method.
I have also posted a PART 2 of this video with more great examples of common and unusual removal methods that may help you in the future.
If you wish to see more future releases by Mr SolderFix please be sure to like and subscribe.
Thank you for your time and good luck with all of your soldering projects.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SMD Soldering Tutorial | Guide | Tools | Tecniques | Stencil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYInlAmPnGo&t=584s
Tomi Engdahl says:
iFixit and Lenovo Work Together to Make Laptop Repairability the Standard
https://www.ifixit.com/News/95395/ifixit-and-lenovo-work-together-to-make-laptop-repairability-the-standard-en
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Impossible Repair: Ribbon Cables
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/11/the-impossible-repair-ribbon-cables/
It’s problem which faces many a piece of older equipment, that ribbon cables of the type used on membrane keyboards start to fail as they become older. These cables are extremely difficult to repair as they can’t be soldered to, and since they are usually custom to the device in question. All is not lost though, as [Spare Time Repair] shows us with the cable on a Honeywell heating controller broken by a user attempting to remove the battery with a screwdriver.
Damaged ribbon cable – is it possible to repair?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blzp7SZVbUA
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/13/broken-lens-provides-deep-dive-into-camera-repair/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/14/power-resistance-isnt-futile/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/15/custom-polyurethane-belts-made-easy/
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nBwqiNiJ3Ac
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/ribbon-cable-repair-saves-touch-id/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/how-to-find-replacement-parts-when-model-numbers-dont-match/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Leaked contract: Samsung requires independent repair shops to notify Samsung, share customer data, and “immediately disassemble” devices with aftermarket parts — In exchange for selling them repair parts, Samsung requires independent repair shops to give Samsung the name …
Samsung Requires Independent Repair Shops to Share Customer Data, Snitch on People Who Use Aftermarket Parts, Leaked Contract Shows
https://www.404media.co/samsung-requires-independent-repair-shops-to-share-customer-data-snitch-on-people-who-use-aftermarket-parts-leaked-contract-shows/
The contract requires repair shops to “immediately disassemble” devices that have parts “not purchased from Samsung.”
In exchange for selling them repair parts, Samsung requires independent repair shops to give Samsung the name, contact information, phone identifier, and customer complaint details of everyone who gets their phone repaired at these shops, according to a contract obtained by 404 Media. Stunningly, it also requires these nominally independent shops to “immediately disassemble” any phones that customers have brought them that have been previously repaired with aftermarket or third-party parts and to “immediately notify” Samsung that the customer has used third-party parts.
“Company shall immediately disassemble all products that are created or assembled out of, comprised of, or that contain any Service Parts not purchased from Samsung,” a section of the agreement reads. “And shall immediately notify Samsung in writing of the details and circumstances of any unauthorized use or misappropriation of any Service Part for any purpose other than pursuant to this Agreement. Samsung may terminate this Agreement if these terms are violated.”
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
iFixit and Samsung end their repair partnership after two years; iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens says that “Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale” — iFixit and Samsung are parting ways. … “Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale,” …
iFixit is breaking up with Samsung
/ ‘Samsung’s approach to repairability does not align with our mission,’ says iFixit’s CEO.
https://www.theverge.com/samsung/2024/5/23/24162135/ifixit-end-samsung-repair-parts-deal
iFixit and Samsung are parting ways. Two years after they teamed up on one of the first direct-to-consumer phone repair programs, iFixit CEO and co-founder Kyle Wiens tells The Verge the two companies have failed to renegotiate a contract — and says Samsung is to blame.
“Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale,” Wiens tells me, even though similar deals are going well with Google, Motorola, and HMD.
He believes dropping Samsung shouldn’t actually affect iFixit customers all that much. Instead of being Samsung’s partner on genuine parts and approved repair manuals, iFixit will simply go it alone, the same way it’s always done with Apple’s iPhones.
While Wiens wouldn’t say who technically broke up with whom, he says price is the biggest reason the Samsung deal isn’t working: Samsung’s parts are priced so high, and its phones remain so difficult to repair, that customers just aren’t buying.
Most importantly, Samsung has only ever shipped batteries to iFixit that are preglued to an entire phone screen — making consumers pay over $160 even if they just want to replace a worn-out battery pack. That’s something Samsung doesn’t do with other vendors, according to Wiens. Meanwhile, iFixit’s iPhone and Pixel batteries cost more like $50.
iFixit says the Samsung deal wouldn’t let it help local repair shops, either, because the contract artificially limited iFixit to sell no more than seven parts per customer within a three-month period. “We haven’t been able to get parts moving at the volumes needed to move the environmental needle,” says Wiens.
Last but not least, iFixit simply hasn’t been able to get official parts for the newest Samsung devices
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/locate-faults-with-the-leakseeker-89r/
Have you ever needed to hunt down a short circuit, but you’ve had no idea where it is or how it’s happening? As it turns out, there are tools to help in that regard. Enter the Leakseeker-89R.
The device is able to help hunt down short circuits that measure anywhere from 0 to 300 ohms. The device is typically used with two leads on a given pair of traces, and it has a display made up of red, yellow and green LEDs. As the leads are moved closer or farther from the short circuit, the display changes to indicate if you’re getting hotter or colder. There’s also a third lead that can be used to allow testing under more challenging conditions when there is a large capacitance in-circuit with the traces you’re testing.
Leakseeker-89R
A Handheld 0-300R short detection tool.
https://hackaday.io/project/196200-leakseeker-89r
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brandon Vigliarolo / The Register:
Colorado governor Jared Polis signs a right-to-repair bill that includes a strong ban on parts pairing and takes effect on January 1, 2026 — But the repairability war isn’t over, says iFixit’s Kyle Wiens — A right to repair rule just signed into law in Colorado is earning praise …
Colorado governor signs ‘best in the world’ right-to-repair law
6 comment bubble on white
But the repairability war isn’t over, says iFixit’s Kyle Wiens
https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/29/colorado_governor_signs_best_in/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/12/restoring-a-vintage-cga-card-with-homebrew-hasl/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Essentially your same fundamental EE knowledge, but with expensive tools due to SMD. (hot air reflow, digital microscope, logic analyzer, very high mhz or even ghz capable spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope, various sizes and package types of eeprom reprogrammers for dealing with roms and FPGAs, etc)…its a nightmare
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://sterepairs.medium.com/are-thermal-fuses-part-of-planned-obsolescence-a54d87473712
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.dailydot.com/news/mechanic-officially-been-locked-out-of-computer-systems/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/16387-10-vuotias-teholaeppaeri-takaisin-henkiin
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/07/08/hack-all-the-things-get-all-the-schematics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/07/09/build-your-own-16-mb-30-pin-simms-for-vintage-pcs/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2024/07/09/building-a-cassette-deck-controller-to-save-a-locked-out-car-stereo/
Tomi Engdahl says:
FIVE WAYS TO REPAIR BROKEN PCB TRACES
https://hackaday.com/2024/07/14/five-ways-to-repair-broken-pcb-traces/
When everything used wires, it was easy to splice them or replace them. Not so much with PC boards, but everyone has their favorite method for repairing a broken trace. [Mr. SolderFix] has his five favorite ways, as you can see in the video below.
https://youtu.be/kS1uVBIhBDw?si=POATFDkXyo3Vd7VV
Tomi Engdahl says:
FTC warns PC manufacturers Asrock, Zotac, and Gigabyte that consumers have the right to repair
Those stickers that say “warranty void if removed” are illegal
https://www.techspot.com/news/103669-ftc-warns-pc-manufacturers-consumers-have-right-repair.html