The right to repair is being taken serious in the USA

[Uncle Fester]

...well if you finally have a decent US president who not only talks but does and signs an executive order to crack down on companies who practice these unfair restrictions for third party and private repair work.



Question is if the Asian companies will follow when they find out that people might now prefer to purchase repairable devices and appliances with longevity and stop suffocating in landfill.

I call out to shame companies like Samsung, who's practice is to sell appliances with no spare parts available just only a few years later, which I have personally experienced too many times in their refrigeration and A/C sector.


As Australia doesn't manufacture anything(significant) this movement does not seem so important but our legislation could do something to promote the availability of spare parts with less restrictions and taxes or even subsidies, like remove the GST for import of spare parts, because when it comes to landfill and our lack of re-use/ recycle attitude we could be the worst offenders in the civilised world.

Because our local council has banned kerbside collections, where people used to locate items to fix or reuse, we now have to bring all our rubbish to the next town because our landfill is overloaded so we are now charged more rates for that.
20 years ago there was a more 'lefty' oriented council that actually had a shop at the tip for things they considered that could still be used and also a a recycled building materials depot where you could find really great old hard wood that no termite would touch and on top of that was a metal recycle shop where you could bring or buy all kinds useful materials for the creative mindset.
This is all long gone and the only way for people to get rid of their bulky goods is to pay a fee even if you deliver it yourself. I think it is $250 per trailer for old building materials.

That is how efficient the bureaucratic rot in our council has become.

[lsemmens]

The tip shops were great, I think that they've all gone by the by because of the litigious society in which we now find ourselves. You can't fix stupid! Time was when there were no warning labels on anything and then stupidity took care of itself!

[enf]

...well if you finally have a decent US president who not only talks but does and signs an executive order to crack down on companies who practice these unfair restrictions for third party and private repair work.
.....................................

The no doze must have briefly kicked in.....

Do you think the vast majority of people are capable of any repair or even care?

Waaaaay too many are like this....(courtesy of OSIRUS in the joke thread)



I will admit it IS a solution.....

[fromaron]

when they find out that people might now prefer to purchase repairable devices and appliances with longevity and stop suffocating in landfill.

People will always chase cheaper price and always hope they are lucky to buy something good which never is going to fail.

For ages everyone is complaining about things manufactured in China as something of no quality and no spare parts available but stubbornly go ahead and buy the same sheet year after year.

People like stepping on the same garden rake every time they go to the garden.

Minority of people might benefit though.

[VroomVroom]

I call out to shame companies like Samsung, who's practice is to sell appliances with no spare parts available just only a few years later, which I have personally experienced too many times in their refrigeration and A/C sector.

I concur , our Samsung 6.5kg washing machine just karked it. Bought in mid 2017 so not very old. We were assured by the salesman that Samdung had fixed the catching fire issue with this new model so we bought one. Within 12 months and under warranty the front panel cover peeled off revealing the PCB underneath. They said it was because we were washing with hot water .....DUR its a washing machine capable of washing with hot water !!! thats why it has buttons on the front which you can select !!! So anyway now down the track it has some sort of clutch issue when spinning , making grinding noises. Only clutch i could find for sale anywhere was over $300 , half the price of new , even if i fit it myself. Im not buying Samdung again. just a bunch of shonky products

[lsemmens]

We used to buy Hoover washers as they were solid and reliable until they changed the design of the door latch (front loader) which then became a very weak point (replaced latch under warranty three times, they gave us our money back in the end. Our current machine is IIRC (couldn't be bothered going to look) is an LG which has served us well so far for about 10 years (maybe more).

[enf]

My wife had two rules for washing machines. Buy American and buy a model with a dial control. No buttons. We bought a MAYTAG that lasted over 30 years through six kids, four of whom were female and caned the f*cking thing. Solid metal construction. Never had an issue until it got dropped during a move and the balance went a bit off....

[Uncle Fester]

.... buy a model with a dial control. No buttons.

I still own a 25 year old microwave that has a dial control, which I have fixed a couple of times.

The latest scam of the industry are touch (screen) controls on every appliance now. Of course if a touch screen gets a cracking knock in the haste of the moment, that's the end of it.
Neighbour asked if I could fix his touch control stove he bought less than 4 years ago. After a quick look I just told him to get one with dials.
Those simmer stats break the whole time too but at least I can replace them with generic parts, but not an unavailable control board that is only designed for that one model.

And when our much used 17 y/o Chef convection oven failed it costed me $25 for a generic heating element and dial thermostat. This oven has a separate grill compartment which you can't even buy anymore or only at hideous cost. When I offered my wife to purchase a new fancy looking one albeit with only internal grill, she screamed at me FIX IT !!!

I managed to find an air fryer (as my wife requested for Xmas) from Tefal that actually still has a dial to control it.
I checked their web site and their former model has a 10 year repairability guarantee on it with the assessment of the current model still pending. So something is moving with that movement, despite the negative comments above.
I do believe that people can change and even if it is only about saving the planet which is a big movement world wide lately.

For me it is and always will be mainly about repairability though.

[admin]

...well if you finally have a decent US president

####, I almost stopped reading at that point He's always on the ball.
Here he is in action

[Uncle Fester]

You can't leave it alone can you.

Well you asked for it, here is/was your idol in action

[admin]

Hmmm....my idol ? I must have missed the bit in this thread where I was praising presidents. Can't leave it alone ? If you make a dumb statement, what do you expect ?


I suppose, you can only make gaffes if you can actually speak. That rules out old dribbler who is polling really well at the moment at 22% (maybe he did speak ?), though not as bad as Harris at 12%.

[Uncle Fester]

Can't leave it alone ? If you make a dumb statement, what do you expect ?

There is nothing dumb in my statement about a president doing actually something good for a change.

FWIW I am also somewhat verbally challenged, so I must also be a total nutcase.

[hoe]

The right to repair movement is primarily focused on manufacturers locking down the electronics in machinery and vehicles.

The agricultural sector in the USA is the driving force behind it, closely followed by the car repair/modification industries.

The farmers are pissed off with buying very expensive machinery and having to wait weeks for a company tech to come on site and diagnose faults, particularly in warranty situations.

Any quality diagnostic computer /software will diagnose any machinery as long as it uses standard protocols and has a standard interface.

The obd2 interface and canbus protocols were developed to allow this, but manufacturers didn't take long to realise that this was going to lose them control over after sales service and maintenance.

Only the other day I sorted a new land cruiser problem that Toyota couldn't fix as their diagnostic computer hadnt been updated for the latest ecu in the cruiser.

Cruiser had been fitted with another ecu and been deleted and remapped. This was causing problems and the original ecu had been refitted .

This needed to be reinitialised into the system, but Toyota couldn't do it.
It was in limp mode and mechanic had been trying to sort it for a month.

All it took was Toyota software on my autel tablet and a j2534 interface.

Basic elm type interfaces won't do any sort of high level programming.

I recommend a j2534 and an obd link mx+. With these you will have the best chance of success.....

usages.kangaroos.sound

[Uncle Fester]

Thanks Hoe for bringing this thread back on track

Thanks to Canbus and an OBD2 cable from Ebay I could 'extended' the range on my PHEV.
Mitsubishi denies to this day that there is a fault in the battery management system showing a premature drop of state of health.
Some nifty guys on a forum and third party drivers brought back it's expected over 90% SoH giving me over 20% more EV range.

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I concur , our Samsung 6.5kg washing machine just karked it. Bought in mid 2017 so not very old. We were assured by the salesman that Samdung had fixed the catching fire issue with this new model so we bought one. Within 12 months and under warranty the front panel cover peeled off revealing the PCB underneath. They said it was because we were washing with hot water .....DUR its a washing machine capable of washing with hot water !!! thats why it has buttons on the front which you can select !!! So anyway now down the track it has some sort of clutch issue when spinning , making grinding noises. Only clutch i could find for sale anywhere was over $300 , half the price of new , even if i fit it myself. Im not buying Samdung again. just a bunch of shonky products

We had an LG dishwasher that was constantly requiring repair , fortunately there was so much wrong with it that the first tech shotgunned the repair with all new modules and left me the old ones. It was a fire hazard in that the wiring at the hinge would wear out, and the control module would overheat at the relay solder points. Finally the drain hose failed, it was made of cheesium, and it leaked water into my sunken living room. I was so glad to get rid of it. Got 50 USD for the carcass.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

[fandtm666]

the same is in the process here in australia

[enf]

the same is in the process here in australia

Interesting...

Despite my support of this, I maintain it won't make a lickspit of difference. Most people have know idea how to repair anything. Our youth have never had to, are not taught to, and so will show no interest.

The products required won't be built because there will be no mass market for them. Sadly, it's the society that we have created...

[Reschs]

I think you are missing the point of this whole Right to Repair.

It is to make manufactures provide service manuals and spare parts to ANY service people.
Not just their official repairer.

This resonates with me as a certain Australian Company will not supply me with a circuit diagram despite that they do not repair them.
I can repair most of them but, a circuit would mean I fix many more.

One version is obsolete.

[enf]

I think you are missing the point of this whole Right to Repair.

It is to make manufactures provide service manuals and spare parts to ANY service people.
Not just their official repairer.

This resonates with me as a certain Australian Company will not supply me with a circuit diagram despite that they do not repair them.
I can repair most of them but, a circuit would mean I fix many more.

One version is obsolete.

No, I get it...

My point is "whats in it for them?" And the answer to that will determine whether they build things in the first place.