[OT] Where to get stuff fixed?

[phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org]

> Thomas Milne wrote:
>> Kind of an outdated concept, I know, but does anyone know of a place
>> for fixing electronic stuff, ie. not just replacing parts, but
>> actually able to fix them?
>>
>> I have a multimedia drive that's a few years old, and it works great
>> but the connector on the back where the power supply plugs in is
>> dodgy, you have to position the plug _just so_ for it to work. It
>> probably just needs soldering or something.
>>
>> Can anyone recommend a place they've used?
>>
>>
> With the cost of equipment these days, repairs often don't make sense.
> It will cost a significant amount (possibly exceeding purchase price)
> for a repair shop to just open the box.  Then they'll have to find what
> may be a proprietary part etc.  If it is just a bad solder connection,
> anyone who's handy with a soldering iron and use to working on
> electronic equipment could do it.  On the other hand, if it's a bad
> connector, then it may be better just to toss that drive, unless you can
> find a replacement connector at a reasonable price.
>
> --
If you can solder, it's usually worth cracking open the case (if you can
figure out how!) to see if it's a simple repair.

Also, one of my tech colleagues at Ryerson described pulling a flat streen
video display out of the garbage. He replaced the 'poofy capacitors' (the
ones that are obviously swollen) and a fuse, and the thing sprang to life.
The toughest part, apparently, was figuring out how to open the case. The
same tech repair wizard has fixed a number of motherboards with the same
approach - it's often the capacitors that fail.

It's quite satisfying to keep something like that out of the waste stream.

Peter


-- 
Peter Hiscocks
Syscomp Electronic Design Limited, Toronto
http://www.syscompdesign.com
USB Oscilloscope and Waveform Generator
647-839-0325

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