- Blog entry posted in 'Uncategorised', June 22, 2009.
actually, not me, since i work for a warranty service center, but i saw the t-shirt and had to post a picture of it. it says "I void warranties" and has a picture of many common screwdriver bits used in consumer electronics. if it's broke and it's still under warranty, get it fixed for free, don't open it to poke around. if it's out of warranty, and you don't have a service plan you paid for, go ahead, poke around all you like, it's already broken and you will a) find something simple like a bad solder connection, b) figure out what component has failed, c) take it to get fixed COD (take my word for it, the repair will cost less if everything is back where it belongs), or d) give up on it and toss it and buy a new one.
there may be no such thing as a free lunch, but a free repair on a warrantied item (or maybe the manufacturer can't figure it out and gives you a new one anyway) is a pretty good deal if you can resist the urge to see what made the thing tick before it broke.
unclejed613, November 25, 2009
i'm adding another item to this category..... "foil fuses". this is a classic. i don't see it as often in consumer electronics as i do with pro audio, but i do still see it. there's an old saying that a $10.00 transistor will protect a $0.05 fuse by blowing first. this saying has some basis in fact. if the $0.05 fuse is blown, chances are about 99.999% that a component in the unit is ALREADY shorted. usually at this point, you have one or two components fried. for somebody with even novice troubleshooting skills, it shouldn't be too difficult to find the components that are bad and replace them, and restore the unit to working condition. however, using a "foil fuse (wrapping the fuse with aluminum foil or jumpering across the fuse holder) and applying power can cause a LOT more fried components, burn traces off the circuit board, or even cause a fire. at this point, the once repairable unit is non-repairable, and if the unit was under warranty, is no longer. if it was under warranty, it is now a paid repair, and usually with the amount of damage foil fuses cause, too expensive to repair economically. it is now a "Ya Break It, Ya Buy It" situation.
