BBC Breakfast - Mending stuff - Page 2

Andy_with_a_screwdriver · 9th January 2019, 16:24

Heard the same thing on Jeremy Vine Radio programme today.
Somebody helped Jeremy repair a kettle which had a loose wire, pushed a spade terminal back on and away they went.

As luck would have my washing machine packed up today

blew a fuse and tripped the rcd. More investigation required to sort it. Maybe the heater element which hopefully won't be too bad to change.

I'll see how the parts costs compare to https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/househ...63881-pdt.html
Which I think answers the question why nothing is repaired.

grivas · 9th January 2019, 17:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyN01

Anyone else watching (watched) the item about repairing broken electronic stuff rather than throwing it away?

Apparently new items aren't lasting as long as they used to......

And parts are difficult/impossible to obtain - manufacturers seem to be "restricting" supply along with little or no service information and sealed units that cannot be accessed.

Shock, horror, apparently it's not environmentally friendly to make new stuff rather then mend older stuff....

Sound familiar?

Andy.

It is generally true, that consumer electronics are not as well made as they were in years gone by, this is down to poor quality components made in countries where labour rates are low, as well as the actual manufacturing processes are poor, QC is poor, quality and standards for raw materials are poor etc etc.
You only have to look at equipment made in Japan several decades ago to get a good idea of how good these stuff really is, e.g. cameras, Hi-fi equipment, automotive components are a few such examples, I have a Pioneer cassette deck, built in April 4th 1976!, cost then the equivalent of nearly a half years salary! It was very well still, needs a little service, I have the service manual for it, NOT just the user manual, the components used and the quality of the board soldering is truly extraordinary.
So the moral of the story, buy the best you can afford, and look after it, and we should ALL be more demanding of what we want, that way we are less likely to become victims of the many manufacturers of rubbish, and more importantly, we need to encourage and protect our home grown industries, rather than embracing the world of shop keeping.

MSS · 9th January 2019, 17:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by grivas

It is generally true, that consumer electronics are not as well made as they were in years gone by, this is down to poor quality components made in countries where labour rates are low, as well as the actual manufacturing processes are poor, QC is poor, quality and standards for raw materials are poor etc etc.
You only have to look at equipment made in Japan several decades ago to get a good idea of how good these stuff really is, e.g. cameras, Hi-fi equipment, automotive components are a few such examples, I have a Pioneer cassette deck, built in April 4th 1976!, cost then the equivalent of nearly a half years salary! It was very well still, needs a little service, I have the service manual for it, NOT just the user manual, the components used and the quality of the board soldering is truly extraordinary.
So the moral of the story, buy the best you can afford, and look after it, and we should ALL be more demanding of what we want, that way we are less likely to become victims of the many manufacturers of rubbish, and more importantly, we need to encourage and protect our home grown industries, rather than embracing the world of shop keeping.

I agree. Unfortunately, the majority these days buy on price rather than quality and longevity.

neilbaker86 · 9th January 2019, 19:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by mss

I agree. Unfortunately, the majority these days buy on price rather than quality and longevity.

Correct, given the choice consumers choose low prices over anything else.

Speaking as a service technician myself, who has been repairing professional electronics items for the last 15 years, it does somewhat anoy me how the market has gone, I have seen so many businesses go to the wall because the market simply isn't there anymore for repairing goods.

Businesses who churn out new models every 12 months, that have twice as many features as the old one for a third less price (or the same price, which due to inflation is less in real terms) just kills the business model off. Not to mention the complexity of products in the modern world. Everything is just one large PCB with integrated circuits with no service information available. There is basically very little you can do with it, especially when it was glued together in the third world for the cost of a bowl of rice.

Unfortunately until consumers start demanding higher quality, serviceable items this issue will continue. It may be cheap to buy these items, but the cost is still bourne somewhere, usually by the terrible environmental damage we are causing when the stuff ends up on a rubbish pile somewhere.

Comfortably Numb · 9th January 2019, 21:50

I wonder what would happen if all unrepairable items had to be returned to their manufacturers for them to dispose of, properly? Or if we could take all our unrecyclable packaging back to the supermarket where we bought it? They would soon start making everything sustainable, cut down on unnecessary waste, and recycle end of life products. Modern mass produced PCBs are loaded with components and soldered robotically at a rate, accuracy and size impossible for humans to emulate. Back in the early days of automation, we were promised that the result would be that we would need to work fewer hours, less arduously, to buy more consistent and superior products. We have ended up costing ourselves out of the manufacturing in many fields, and in a rush to buy cheaper, usually foreign goods, from countries where we have no knowledge or say in how things are made, we are now working harder each year to replace things that fail, most consumers have no knowledge or ability to repair them, (even if they are repairable). I suspect most of us on here are older generation, we do have an idea of how to fix things, and use that to our own benefit with our cars, which are mostly repairable. I still reckon that around the year 2,000, many car manufacturers began to realise their cars were lasting too long in hands like ours - they had made them too well, and we were able to maintain them ourselves. So now our cars are more complex, with more gadgets, more electronics, AND MORE SENSORS FOR EVERYTHING - so sensitive to the slightest fault, that they put your car into limp mode, flash warning lights at you, and make sure you take it back to the main dealer who has the right, licensed diagnostics to be able to fix the 'problem' for you, - at a price.

coab · 10th January 2019, 05:40

Ive have a plasma 43" TV for approx 10 years now and all of a sudden it kept switching off. I was told by everyone I knew "throw it mate its not worth repairing" etc. Took it to an Indian chap I knew who does exactly this and repaired the TV plus changed a sound board and charged me £40 and gave me a 3 month warranty. Got the TV back and the sound was never this good when new!

MSS · 10th January 2019, 07:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by coab

Ive have a plasma 43" TV for approx 10 years now and all of a sudden it kept switching off. I was told by everyone I knew "throw it mate its not worth repairing" etc. Took it to an Indian chap I knew who does exactly this and repaired the TV plus changed a sound board and charged me £40 and gave me a 3 month warranty. Got the TV back and the sound was never this good when new!

There's an old saying that an Indian can keep a machine running longer than anyone.

I know from first-hand experience!

gadget1960 · 10th January 2019, 08:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by mss

There's an old saying that an Indian can keep a machine running longer than anyone.

I know from first-hand experience!

This is totally true, I've been to India (Mumbai) and the levels of ingenuity shown by ordinary folk just trying to keep their business going simply staggers me.
Probably bourn out of necessity ... re-cycling is a way of life, these people do not have the luxury of being born into a 'throw away society', in India .. EVERYTHING is fixable.

MissMoppet · 10th January 2019, 09:17

Funny how all this malarky has arisen because . . . the much maligned EU . . . has decided to make a stand. Can anyone imagine No. 10 trying to change things? Maybe we should not . . .

Darcydog · 10th January 2019, 09:21

Years ago I bought a Mamyia SLR camera because they introduced a model that you could chose spot or average light metering via the flick of a switch. There was a debate at the time as to which was best and so having a good brand camera with both options seemed sensible.

Unfortunately there was an issue after a lot of use where a hair thick wire would separate from the mirror due to the mirror flicking up and down again as the shutter was pressed.

So after five years this happened and I only had average metering.

Then I went to Nairobi, Kenya and a fellow enthusiast recommended a repair shop which I took along to. A very knowledgeable and professional Asian gentleman said he would have a look at it.

24 hours later fully repaired and working fine. Cost was negligible and I still have the camera as an “ornament” in my office - and it still has the little sticker inside with the date of repair and signature of repaired.

In the U.K. the advice had been that this problem was irreparable.

10th January 2019, 09:17	#19
MissMoppet Posted a thing or two R 75 Tourer diesel Conny 2002, V6 Conny saloon petrol 2003 Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Taunton Posts: 1,129 Thanks: 212 Thanked 406 Times in 223 Posts	Funny how all this malarky has arisen because . . . the much maligned EU . . . has decided to make a stand. Can anyone imagine No. 10 trying to change things? Maybe we should not . . . __________________ Rover 75 Tourer Conny 2002 remapped 160 auto, R75 V6 2.5L auto Connoisseur 2003

9th January 2019, 16:24	#11
Andy_with_a_screwdriver Gets stuck in Rover 75 Tourer CDTi Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Plymouth Posts: 692 Thanks: 141 Thanked 153 Times in 117 Posts	Heard the same thing on Jeremy Vine Radio programme today. Somebody helped Jeremy repair a kettle which had a loose wire, pushed a spade terminal back on and away they went. As luck would have my washing machine packed up today blew a fuse and tripped the rcd. More investigation required to sort it. Maybe the heater element which hopefully won't be too bad to change. I'll see how the parts costs compare to https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/househ...63881-pdt.html Which I think answers the question why nothing is repaired.

9th January 2019, 21:50	#15
Comfortably Numb Posted a thing or two Rover 75 Saloon Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Penrith Posts: 1,336 Thanks: 165 Thanked 303 Times in 241 Posts	I wonder what would happen if all unrepairable items had to be returned to their manufacturers for them to dispose of, properly? Or if we could take all our unrecyclable packaging back to the supermarket where we bought it? They would soon start making everything sustainable, cut down on unnecessary waste, and recycle end of life products. Modern mass produced PCBs are loaded with components and soldered robotically at a rate, accuracy and size impossible for humans to emulate. Back in the early days of automation, we were promised that the result would be that we would need to work fewer hours, less arduously, to buy more consistent and superior products. We have ended up costing ourselves out of the manufacturing in many fields, and in a rush to buy cheaper, usually foreign goods, from countries where we have no knowledge or say in how things are made, we are now working harder each year to replace things that fail, most consumers have no knowledge or ability to repair them, (even if they are repairable). I suspect most of us on here are older generation, we do have an idea of how to fix things, and use that to our own benefit with our cars, which are mostly repairable. I still reckon that around the year 2,000, many car manufacturers began to realise their cars were lasting too long in hands like ours - they had made them too well, and we were able to maintain them ourselves. So now our cars are more complex, with more gadgets, more electronics, AND MORE SENSORS FOR EVERYTHING - so sensitive to the slightest fault, that they put your car into limp mode, flash warning lights at you, and make sure you take it back to the main dealer who has the right, licensed diagnostics to be able to fix the 'problem' for you, - at a price.

10th January 2019, 05:40	#16
coab This is my second home 2007 57 GOLF GTi EDITION 30 DSG Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Newport Shropshire and Coventry. Posts: 5,138 Thanks: 2,424 Thanked 1,452 Times in 852 Posts	Ive have a plasma 43" TV for approx 10 years now and all of a sudden it kept switching off. I was told by everyone I knew "throw it mate its not worth repairing" etc. Took it to an Indian chap I knew who does exactly this and repaired the TV plus changed a sound board and charged me £40 and gave me a 3 month warranty. Got the TV back and the sound was never this good when new!

10th January 2019, 09:21	#20
Darcydog This is my second home Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 5,428 Thanks: 3,123 Thanked 3,170 Times in 2,096 Posts	Years ago I bought a Mamyia SLR camera because they introduced a model that you could chose spot or average light metering via the flick of a switch. There was a debate at the time as to which was best and so having a good brand camera with both options seemed sensible. Unfortunately there was an issue after a lot of use where a hair thick wire would separate from the mirror due to the mirror flicking up and down again as the shutter was pressed. So after five years this happened and I only had average metering. Then I went to Nairobi, Kenya and a fellow enthusiast recommended a repair shop which I took along to. A very knowledgeable and professional Asian gentleman said he would have a look at it. 24 hours later fully repaired and working fine. Cost was negligible and I still have the camera as an “ornament” in my office - and it still has the little sticker inside with the date of repair and signature of repaired. In the U.K. the advice had been that this problem was irreparable.