Promising to repair consumer electronics for family and friends

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Avoid, if at all possible.


If you are an electronics hobbyist, never promise to repair consumer electronics, and never accept requests from family and relatives.


Consumer electronics is not repairable. It:


Has built-in Obsolescence.


Is built to fail after a pre-determined amount of time.


Paid technicians (who do it for a living) fix by means of troubleshooting manuals, flow diagrams, computerized diagnostics, and module replacement.


Example of consumer photo camera board: Uses flex board for cheapest cost, has no PCB parts legend, has microscopic parts. Units returned for repair are fixed by cleaning, module replacement, fuse testing with provided location map (which you do not have).


Consumer TVs fixed by inserting a USB flash memory stick, and switching to a backup IC sub-block.


And regarding those people who will take advantage of you once they find out you can repair stuff: You are going to be the loser if you accept consumer electronics for repair. If they could afford the gadget in the first place, they can afford to repair or replace it, without your help. They are just too lazy to do it themselves, and are looking to save some money off of your labor. You will be the loser who kills his own time, and you will never afford to buy a gadget like that yourself.