11–20 of 67 posts
There are several of these repair cafes around town where I live. My old Braun blender from the 70s that I got from my grandma got repaired in one of these. I sent an email with brand, model and photo when I registered, the guy got some spare parts on eBay just in time for the day and I managed to repair the blender under the guy’s guidance. Paid for the spare part (5 bucks) plus left 10 bucks as small donation. My b…
I don't understand how this works, so maybe someone can enlighten me. You pay 50 euro in exchange for some banners/logos to start a repair cafe, but they don't help you repair? I would have thought the starter kit would have supplies or something. What would you do when someone comes in with a toaster to repair? Do you just go on Youtube to figure it out together?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I posted it a few days ago, it only just got reupped unfortunately!
Next year maybe post it in the week before and with a direct link to the repair week (2019) instead of the more general repaircafe.org It seems there is growing sentiment for keeping hardware repairable (while manufacturers more and more want to prevent that). Part of HN will certainly appreciate this initiative.
People like Miele on the other hand, spend a great deal on reliable design but then their goods can cost 3x more than others and lots of people don't want their goods to last forver, they want to upgrade to something that looks modern and trendy.
Different business models!
How is this anything but unnessary branding? Am I missing something, the website is all marketing, no message, no repair tech.
my neighbors are consistently throwing away perfectly fine electronics where 90% of the problems are a blown electrolytic capacitor
there is a place in our apartment complex where we place electronic rubbish and just two days ago i noticed a tablet with a destroyed screen
i popped it open and everything inside looked pristine so i bought a new screen for some ~20$ and am now waiting on it to arrive
i've fixed a toaster oven with a busted resistor, 50in plasma tv with a blown capacitor i now use as a monitor for my laptop when working at home, a blender with a broken container and blown capacitor.. an older blender model that actually has a standard thread size so i am able to use mason jars as a, what i think is superior, container
i think repair should be taught in schools, a la 'home ec', educationally its a three`for : repair, basic ee, basic applied maths
when i was living in squats in london part of the squat culture was to slowly accrue enough bike parts in the hope that you could one day open your squat doors as a bike repair cafe
i have thought quite often something similar for basic everyday electronics would be great for educational and environmental concerns
there is so much unneccessary eWaste, even if something is beyond simple component swap repair it can itself be used to source parts for other fixable devices
the idea that we toss away a salvageable device, or even its sometimes hundreds of functioning discreet components, because of a single blown capacitor, frayed wire or dislodged headphone jack is upsetting
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Next year maybe post it in the week before and with a direct link to the repair week (2019) instead of the more general repaircafe.org It seems there is growing sentiment for keeping hardware repairable (while manufacturers more and more want to prevent that). Part of HN will certainly appreciate this initiative.
I'm not sure the idea of manufacturers wanting things to fail is as reliable as it sounds (it is a common assumption). Having worked in manufacturing, it was generally a case of not wanting something to cost any more than it needed to when competing with other companies/countries so you didn't spend what you needed to in order to get a better motor/circuit design etc. People like Miele on the other hand, spend a grea…
I was refering to a trend where manufacturers actively prevent any other party (user or otherwise) from doing repairs. See for example this discussion about Apple: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18154371
I don't understand how this works, so maybe someone can enlighten me. You pay 50 euro in exchange for some banners/logos to start a repair cafe, but they don't help you repair? I would have thought the starter kit would have supplies or something. What would you do when someone comes in with a toaster to repair? Do you just go on Youtube to figure it out together?
You need to already have or find a network of "experts" to staff the cafe but there are loads of people out there. You can schedule different sorts of repairs on different days but a lot of electrical goods only require some basic faulting-finding and then spares from the internet.
There are several of these repair cafes around town where I live. My old Braun blender from the 70s that I got from my grandma got repaired in one of these. I sent an email with brand, model and photo when I registered, the guy got some spare parts on eBay just in time for the day and I managed to repair the blender under the guy’s guidance. Paid for the spare part (5 bucks) plus left 10 bucks as small donation. My b…
Where abouts do you live? Germany?
i've fantasised about something like this before my neighbors are consistently throwing away perfectly fine electronics where 90% of the problems are a blown electrolytic capacitor there is a place in our apartment complex where we place electronic rubbish and just two days ago i noticed a tablet with a destroyed screen i popped it open and everything inside looked pristine so i bought a new screen for some ~20$ and…
Note that taking someone's rubbish without permission is considered theft in the UK (there is precedent). If you sell it it's even worse because it's handling stolen goods.