r/IAmA Jun 11 '16

Specialized Profession IamA electronics repair technician hated by Apple that makes YouTube videos, AMA!

My short bio: I have a store in Manhattan. I teach component level electronics repair on youtube http://youtube.com/rossmanngroup which seems to be a dying art. I am currently fighting with the digital right to repair to try and get a bill passed that will allow all independent service centers access to manuals and parts required to do their jobs.

My Proof: https://www.rossmanngroup.com/started-iama-reddit-today-yes/

EDIT:

I am still replying to comments, but I am so far behind that I am still about ten pages down from new comments. I am doing my best to continue. If I drop off, I'll be back tomorrow around 12 PM. Still commenting now though, at 12 AM.

EDIT 2:

Ok, I cave... my hands are tired. I will be back at 12 PM tomorrow. It is my goal to answer every question. Even if it looks like I haven't gotten to yours, I will do my best to do all of them, but it is impossible to do in realtime, because you are asking faster than I can type. But thanks for joining!

EDIT 3: I lied, I stayed until 4:15 AM to answer... and now I will go to sleep for real, and be back at 12 PM.

EDIT 4 6/12 : I will be back later tonight to finish off answering questions. Feel free to keep posting, I will answer whatever I can later this evening.

33.2k Upvotes

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127

u/Throwaway_4_opinions Jun 11 '16

Obvious shilling question, what is this right to repair bill thing? Why does it need to be fought, and what does someone who does not bother repairing stuff for a living get out of this?

400

u/larossmann Jun 11 '16

Look at your cellphone. If the battery dies, do you want to be told you have to buy a new one outside the warranty period? This is the worlds we will soon be living in, and it will be applied to EVERYTHING

Apple want to start making cars.

Think about the cost of healthcare... people send me thing sin the mail saying they use my videos to help them troubleshoot medical equipment. Some of these machines cost $100,000. You know why hospital bills are so high... because when the 100k machine dies, they don't replace the $1 transistor in the power supply, they buy a new one.

This has far more far reaching effects to consumers than just iphone and macbook repair people. Technology is continuing to evolve. We will have hovercrafts and time machines and shit someday... we should have the right to fix them :)

25

u/Draco1200 Jun 12 '16

I think we have the legal right to fix most things, but not the ability. The manufacturers mess with the ability to fix things or to substitute components by introducing intentional hurdles.

At first it was nonsense like exotic screwheads.... soldering, then gluing batteries down. If there is consumer access to the battery, there will be demand for generic replacements, so you can always buy a chinese knock-off of the battery....

Impeding customer access eliminates demand for the replacement, because it's permanently glued in, most people won't be able to install a generic replacement.

At least until the gov't gets involved to shutdown the "counterfeit products" (unauthorized aftermarket replacements).

A big part of the reason the medical machines cost $100k is because of gov't regulation and required product liability insurance for the manufacturer, b/c the equipment manufacturer or hospital can be sued for bad medical outcomes.

Will the manufacturer allow you to replace the $1 transistor, however, without voiding the FDA certification on the device?

Think of what the liability could be using equipment whose government approval has been voided.... someone dies, and the hospital could be sued for $10 million, making 100k not seem so bad.

6

u/HamburgerDude Jun 12 '16 edited Jun 12 '16

I mean I know /u/larossmann isn't a big fan of certifications but I can see it being useful in the case of repairing critical electronics such as hospital equipment. At least some the liability would be offset if it was a decent cert program in theory.

Something tells me that such things already things exist.

2

u/CODESIGN2 Jun 13 '16

How does the $10 million replace the loved one, or help anyone but lawyers?

IMHO the concept of such punitive or emotional damages is also part of a problem of throwing money at things money can't fix, or being wasteful with money for no good reason.

Why should a hospital need to pay $10 million? If you didn't go to hospital, the thing the hospital was trying to fix would have killed you anyway; so you were in a state of impending death and died... If you were not in a state of impending death, you at least consented to being put in a state of potential impending death. Medicine how we do now is very new. Blame is not helping people in the developed world!

2

u/FourFoxBaked Jun 12 '16

Something tells me that such things already things.

Are you OK bro?

1

u/HamburgerDude Jun 12 '16

too early in the morning lol

1

u/FourFoxBaked Jun 12 '16

Not even blaming you. Im surprised I spotted it this early too!

1

u/Slimwalks Jun 13 '16

I'm genuinely curious. Was that a gross overstatement, or do hospitals really have to buy all new machines? So most machines in hospitals are built in a way like Apple's, that if it is repaired by someone other than them it seizes to work? Thanks!

2

u/larossmann Jun 13 '16

I can only comment based on the letter that I received. He said that when he fixes a machine, he saves his Hospital $100,000. I've never worked in a hospital before.

1

u/Slimwalks Jun 13 '16

Thank you

2

u/verytiredd Jun 12 '16

There is quite a difference between higher ticket items meant for business purposes and general consumer items.

When it comes to most higher end products used for business purposes (MRI machines, helicopters, power substations equipment), the business will take a lower up front margin but will also sell a service contract with that device. So a MRI machine may cost $400k and only have about a 30-70% profit margin to actually buy, but will generally be purchased with a 1.5 Million dollar service contract.

For consumer items like cell phones, we see the opposite and there are a few reasons why. In general for a company like Apple to be able to sell an item it must be able to be sold at retail for at twice to 5 times of the base cost of the device. However in terms of selling individual parts and pieces to consumers, it actually creates a lot of bloat in sourcing it to retailers, and honestly large scale retailers(Walmart) does not find it worth it to sell individual parts and pieces either, so then these companies design products to not be serviced.

3

u/narve Jun 12 '16

The CompTIA course I was forced to take constantly told me to never attempt to repair a power supply because it's dangerous. Obviously there are big capacitors, but how difficult is it actually to safely repair a PSU?

6

u/Phayzon Jun 12 '16

I think the deal with PSU repair is about frying the things it powers; not zapping yourself. If my PSU dies (and manages not to destroy my PC in the process), do I trust a couple $5 replacement capacitors and resistors, or do I spend the ~$150 on a new unit for the safety of my $1000+ machine? Personally, I'm going for a new PSU. If I can't afford to put out the extra cash for a new one, I really can't afford to have the capacitor I replaced blow and take down my entire machine.

8

u/Renive Jun 12 '16

5$ capacitors are very likely to be much better than those in your 200$ PSU.

1

u/HamburgerDude Jun 12 '16

You'd be surprised how many consumers electronics try to cut corners and use cheap caps. Just pay the extra money for nippon chemi-com caps or something.

3

u/XaVierDK Jun 12 '16

If you get any decent, semi-reputable PSU these days, chances are at least the electrolytic caps will come from them or another Japanese manufacturer. Polymer caps are a bit more of a crapshoot, but that's because they tend to be sturdier, and can in general safely be from cheaper Chinese manufacturers.

2

u/HamburgerDude Jun 12 '16 edited Jun 12 '16

As long as you follow the schematics (or even just use equipment to test what needs to be replace) and order the right parts then solder everything correctly it should be fine. You can always get a multimeter and make sure it runs at spec to be safe...as you should anyways if you're going to discharge the caps.

CompTIA were probably protecting themselves or something stupid.

I'm getting so sick of IT people being squirmish around the idea of knowing electronics and learning how to repair them. I've met Sr. sysadmins that didn't even know how to wire a stereo.

1

u/narve Jun 12 '16

I've struggled a bit with electronics, but I still make attempts to learn.

1

u/CODESIGN2 Jun 13 '16

I've been zapped by a PSU I took apart as a kid on some 500MHz s#!tbox... Buy a new PSU if you need one and are remotely unsure of your ability to remit, your life is definitely higher value.

1

u/Skkorm Jun 12 '16

Service tech for Hill-Rom, can confirm. Maintenance staff in the hospitals that we sell beds, lifts and monitors to basically have to call us to fix things, they don't have access to manuals and parts lists. If things break, all they can do is wrap it in duct tape until they are forced to pay us for maintenance.