As most of you have probably noticed, the electronics repair industry is
sinking faster than the Titanic. The speed is alarming - even within the
last several months, I've seen a sharp drop in what few repairs and sales I
had remaining. People just aren't getting anything fixed, or buying anything
used. I think it's not only the low price of new appliances, but a desire
for constant change that is driving this trend. Also, I think people buy new
units with full knowledge that they won't last long. Why? Because they hate
commitment. Think about it. If people don't want to commit to a marriage,
religion, or even an automobile, then why would they want the same TV in
their living room for 10 or 15 years? Our society is seriously messed up!
My question is, do any of you guys see things turning around? The reason I
ask is because I really want to leave the industry and go find something
else. I will probably dump most of my inventory in the spring. Among my
inventory is a stock of many OEM remotes - I'm considering trying to sell
these now before they're completely worthless.
I don't think that imposing disposal fees is the solution - that would
just increase the problem of illegal dumping. The only thing that will work
is introducing legal requirements on the quality - or at least the price -
of new electronics. Which will never happen of course.
Our society is going to pay dearly for its foolishness someday, and I for
one won't have the least bit of sympathy for it. I just regret that my love
for and talent with electronics has led me down this dead-end road.

"Chris F." wrote in message
...
As most of you have probably noticed, the electronics repair industry is
sinking faster than the Titanic. The speed is alarming - even within the
last several months, I've seen a sharp drop in what few repairs and sales
I
had remaining. People just aren't getting anything fixed, or buying
anything
used. I think it's not only the low price of new appliances, but a desire
for constant change that is driving this trend. Also, I think people buy
new
units with full knowledge that they won't last long. Why? Because they
hate
commitment. Think about it. If people don't want to commit to a marriage,
religion, or even an automobile, then why would they want the same TV in
their living room for 10 or 15 years? Our society is seriously messed up!
My question is, do any of you guys see things turning around? The reason
I
ask is because I really want to leave the industry and go find something
else. I will probably dump most of my inventory in the spring. Among my
inventory is a stock of many OEM remotes - I'm considering trying to sell
these now before they're completely worthless.
I don't think that imposing disposal fees is the solution - that would
just increase the problem of illegal dumping. The only thing that will
work
is introducing legal requirements on the quality - or at least the price -
of new electronics. Which will never happen of course.
Our society is going to pay dearly for its foolishness someday, and I for
one won't have the least bit of sympathy for it. I just regret that my
love
for and talent with electronics has led me down this dead-end road.


I seem to hear and see a lot of comments along these lines these days. I
have been in this business man and boy for over 30 years, and have seen this
sort of doom gloom and despondency on many occasions. For the last 15 years,
I have run my own little repair business, and have, on the whole done very
well out of it, and continue to do so. I currently have as much work as I
either want, or can cope with.

The key is to have a positive attitude, and diversify when times are hard.
If you are a properly qualified electronics engineer, you should be able to
turn your hand to virtually any piece of electronics that comes across your
bench for repair. There are endless opportunities for engineers who know
what they're doing. Stop thinking TV / VCR / HiFi. Start thinking outside
the box. Car audio, boiler control boards, washing machine control boards,
engine management systems, vending machine controllers, group equipment,
disco equipment, disco lighting equipment - the list is endless. Get some
cards printed, get off your arse, and go find the work !!

It will be picking up again soon, anyway, as the western world slides into
the next recession. People will start to have their tellies and videos
repaired again, rather than buying new.

Go to bed tonight, have a good sleep, and get up again in the morning ready
to go. If you still feel that there is no future to the world, and even if
there is, that there's no place in it for you, then by all means, sell your
remotes on e-Bay, slope off up the corner, and pack it all in for good. I'm
sure you'll be happier working for someone else ...

Arfa

Have a sharp microwave that just bit the dust - magnetron apparently -
cost of a sharp replacement on line was $112 - price of a new microwave
was 150. Found a no name replacement for $55. Still dont' think I
will go that route.

Now think about this - with the price of the parts so darn high and the
new unit prices so low - how are you going to squeeze a living out of
that?

Many people including myself don't trust repair places - been ripped
off too many times. When I lived in Mpls, a local tv station did an
expose of appliance rip off's - they set up a woman's kitchen with
hidden cameras - had an tech make a microwave not work - easy fix -
fuse I think - guy comes to look at the microwave - house frau
disappears - he takes his screwdriver and breaks the interlock and then
urinates in the sink. Could not believe it - the local station ran it
- ## out his johnson - just was he was zipping up - in walks one of the
local news anchors with a camera crew - "Why did you urinate in Mrs X's
sink"? His response - guess you caught me.

The name of the place was Big John's - happened to be riding bikes past
the place a few weeks later and asked if they charged extra for P******
in sinks.

Find something else to do - got any big hospitals around - their Bio
Med guys always have a bizillion things to repair outside their shop
doors - don't know if it is even possible but that is a growth market.

It will be picking up again soon, anyway, as the western world slides into
the next recession. People will start to have their tellies and videos
repaired again, rather than buying new.

You may be right, but it just seems pointless to keep tons of inventory
sitting around for years, with the hope that someday it will be useful
again. If things haven't turned around by spring, I'll be forced to scrap
most of my stuff (CRT's, fixable sets, etc) whether I want to or not.
Hardened rubber parts, dried-up electrolytics, and moisture-induced
corrosion are just some of the results of long-term storage.
Someone else pointed out the high price of replacement parts. It almost
seems as if parts distributors are jacking up the prices, as a way to
compensate for falling sales. Where's the logic in that? Does anyone
actually pay $100+ for the parts to fix a $75 TV?

Sounds like you need to be in another business.

Those who are successful learn to adapt, work on things that pay, find a
niche that is profitable, and/or learn how to manage a business. The repair
business is tough these days and changing, like the rest of the world. If
you cannot figure it out it makes more room for those who can. You can bet
they are not counting on making a living repairing small ticket items that
are more economical to replace. You can also bet that they run lean on
inventory and don't end up with a lot of parts that they have to dump.

There is an alternative. The government could subsidize us like they do
farmers who have excess production capacity for the market. That is pretty
much what you are suggesting, isn't it?

Leonard

"Chris F." wrote in message
...
As most of you have probably noticed, the electronics repair industry is
sinking faster than the Titanic. The speed is alarming - even within the
last several months, I've seen a sharp drop in what few repairs and sales
I
had remaining. People just aren't getting anything fixed, or buying
anything
used. I think it's not only the low price of new appliances, but a desire
for constant change that is driving this trend. Also, I think people buy
new
units with full knowledge that they won't last long. Why? Because they
hate
commitment. Think about it. If people don't want to commit to a marriage,
religion, or even an automobile, then why would they want the same TV in
their living room for 10 or 15 years? Our society is seriously messed up!
My question is, do any of you guys see things turning around? The reason
I
ask is because I really want to leave the industry and go find something
else. I will probably dump most of my inventory in the spring. Among my
inventory is a stock of many OEM remotes - I'm considering trying to sell
these now before they're completely worthless.
I don't think that imposing disposal fees is the solution - that would
just increase the problem of illegal dumping. The only thing that will
work
is introducing legal requirements on the quality - or at least the price -
of new electronics. Which will never happen of course.
Our society is going to pay dearly for its foolishness someday, and I for
one won't have the least bit of sympathy for it. I just regret that my
love
for and talent with electronics has led me down this dead-end road.

"Chris F." wrote in message
...
As most of you have probably noticed, the electronics repair industry is
sinking faster than the Titanic. The speed is alarming - even within the
last several months, I've seen a sharp drop in what few repairs and sales
I
had remaining. People just aren't getting anything fixed, or buying
anything
used. I think it's not only the low price of new appliances, but a desire
for constant change that is driving this trend. Also, I think people buy
new
units with full knowledge that they won't last long. Why? Because they
hate
commitment. Think about it. If people don't want to commit to a marriage,
religion, or even an automobile, then why would they want the same TV in
their living room for 10 or 15 years? Our society is seriously messed up!
My question is, do any of you guys see things turning around? The reason
I
ask is because I really want to leave the industry and go find something
else. I will probably dump most of my inventory in the spring. Among my
inventory is a stock of many OEM remotes - I'm considering trying to sell
these now before they're completely worthless.
I don't think that imposing disposal fees is the solution - that would
just increase the problem of illegal dumping. The only thing that will
work
is introducing legal requirements on the quality - or at least the price -
of new electronics. Which will never happen of course.
Our society is going to pay dearly for its foolishness someday, and I for
one won't have the least bit of sympathy for it. I just regret that my
love
for and talent with electronics has led me down this dead-end road.



I've just repaired someone's 40 yearold heirloom.
A music centre owned by his deceased father.
Personally I will look at and repair the majority of most things
except TVs and PCs, TVs because I respect my back too much
and I prefer component level repair which is almost unheard of with PCs.
I find one area of increase is musucians' electronic kit repair.
The older the better for me as less custom ICs, firmware etc.

--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/

Repairing guitar amps is fun but the customers are sometimes like
audiophiles (PITA).

On 22 Sep 2005 04:29:08 -0700, "carneyke"
wrote:

Repairing guitar amps is fun but the customers are sometimes like
audiophiles (PITA).

Well...there is a difference in distortion characteristics between
solid state and tubes, and distortion is desirable for many guitar
players, and tube distortion in general is more agreeable to the ear.

Tom

Only in some areas . I found out some makers are not stockng parts for
over 2 years . A couple examples are plasma tv sets with badly burned
main power boards , bad enough to not be able to fix it .
I am sure more products will go this way too .
Take new small camcorders . These are very hard to work on unless you
are set up for it .. then digital cameras ..forget it .
These type things take up to much time to simpy get apart .

A fairly large to medium town with only 1 repair shop can do ok .
I see only newer electronics where i work and almost everythng is
getting hard to fix these days .

He's dead Jim!

No mircle is bringing it back to life.

With no guarentee a product will even work
in 2 to 5 years why would anyone fix it.

It used to be a tech would last 10 to 20
years. Now your lucky if you get 1 to 3
years out of a consumer electronic technology.

Records, Beta, VHS, 8-track, even compact
cassettes. All lasted for long enough without
playability changes to make it worthwhile to
repair.

I now own 4 DVD players. Not because I need or
want 4. All of them work fine. The only reason
I have that many is because DVD's I record will
not play on two of them. The only reason I keep
the other two is because they at least still
play pre-recorded DVD's. But, all of them will
become junk once HDTV takes over. So why fix
any of them. Since all my DVD's will soon take
their place in storage with the records,
8-tracks, beta tapes, and VHS tapes in the
basement. I should add compact cassettes to
that list as well but one of older cars still
has a cassette player. The other two have CD
players and Sirius.

My boat on the other hand does two things that
no amount of new tech will change. It's a
1973 model and it still floats and pulls
waterskiers. So repair is worth it since it
will still provide the basic function I
orginally bought it for.

The same cannot be said for my turntable. No
matter what I do it will never play CD's.

mwm

I think the key is to find "high value" meaning "high replacement cost"
items.

That used to be radios. Then it was TV's. PC's for a short time.
Hospitals always spend way more for their new equipment than it is worth.

Look around you. What costs the most?

wrote:

Now think about this - with the price of the parts so darn high and the
new unit prices so low - how are you going to squeeze a living out of
that?

I agree totally - found this in another NG:

http://users.pelikaista.net/~onkko/ruuvi_halvalla.JPG


--
---- Ville Aakko - tel. +358503376817

"Wildcard" wrote in message
...
He's dead Jim!

No mircle is bringing it back to life.

With no guarentee a product will even work
in 2 to 5 years why would anyone fix it.

It used to be a tech would last 10 to 20
years. Now your lucky if you get 1 to 3
years out of a consumer electronic technology.

Records, Beta, VHS, 8-track, even compact
cassettes. All lasted for long enough without
playability changes to make it worthwhile to
repair.

I now own 4 DVD players. Not because I need or
want 4. All of them work fine. The only reason
I have that many is because DVD's I record will
not play on two of them. The only reason I keep
the other two is because they at least still
play pre-recorded DVD's. But, all of them will
become junk once HDTV takes over. So why fix
any of them. Since all my DVD's will soon take
their place in storage with the records,
8-tracks, beta tapes, and VHS tapes in the
basement. I should add compact cassettes to
that list as well but one of older cars still
has a cassette player. The other two have CD
players and Sirius.

My boat on the other hand does two things that
no amount of new tech will change. It's a
1973 model and it still floats and pulls
waterskiers. So repair is worth it since it
will still provide the basic function I
orginally bought it for.

The same cannot be said for my turntable. No
matter what I do it will never play CD's.

mwm

That must be it then ...

I thought that my little repair business was doing all right, but from what
everyone here has said, it can't have been. So today, I phoned all of the
companies that supply me with repairs, and told them that I won't need their
stinking work any more, because it doesn't pay me enough money, and even if
they do send me something that's in manufacturer's warranty, I don't want to
fix it, on principle, because it will be obsolete junk for the poor owner in
12 months anyway, and I can't have it on my conscience. I'm getting the hang
now of what a waste of time my repair life is. Took me 2 hours to phone all
those people.

Tomorrow, I shall tell my wife and kids, and then probably commit suicide.
Thank you, THANK YOU everyone in the group, for showing me, and probably all
the others I know who thought they were doing ok in the electronics repair
business, how stupidly wrong we were ...

Arfa

"Tom MacIntyre" bravely wrote to "All" (22 Sep 05 21:19:14)
--- on the heady topic of " Is there any hope for the repair industry?"

TM From: Tom MacIntyre
TM Xref: core-easynews sci.electronics.repair:342850


TM On 22 Sep 2005 04:29:08 -0700, "carneyke"
TM wrote:

Repairing guitar amps is fun but the customers are sometimes like
audiophiles (PITA).

TM Well...there is a difference in distortion characteristics between
TM solid state and tubes, and distortion is desirable for many guitar
TM players, and tube distortion in general is more agreeable to the ear.

Tom,

It's not only agreeable but "desirable!" However, it must be the
right type of distortion and tubes have always had that. Until
transistors came along there was no such thing as shredder metal
because tubes can't be made to sound like a Little Big Muff.

A*s*i*m*o*v

.... Just a little force field zap.

Arfa Daily wrote:


That must be it then ...

I thought that my little repair business was doing all right, but from what
everyone here has said, it can't have been. So today, I phoned all of the
companies that supply me with repairs, and told them that I won't need their
stinking work any more, because it doesn't pay me enough money, and even if
they do send me something that's in manufacturer's warranty, I don't want to
fix it, on principle, because it will be obsolete junk for the poor owner in
12 months anyway, and I can't have it on my conscience. I'm getting the hang
now of what a waste of time my repair life is. Took me 2 hours to phone all
those people.

Tomorrow, I shall tell my wife and kids, and then probably commit suicide.
Thank you, THANK YOU everyone in the group, for showing me, and probably all
the others I know who thought they were doing ok in the electronics repair
business, how stupidly wrong we were ...

Arfa

That seems a bit extreme. I was thinking
more along the lines of retraining. In
something like repairing industrial
electronics.

Environmental testing labs are a good one.
Companies paying 130,000 + for a piece of
test equipment making them a gross of 20,000
or more a month don't bat a eye at spending a
few grand to repair it. Especially, if you can
do it in 24 hours or less. It is a very
pleasant change from a customer who hesitates
at spending 100 on the 6 year old tv.

mwm