DIY vs Professional Repair

[lcaillo]

There are many good reasons to attempt a DIY repair. Since the earliest days of radio and television, many hobbyiests and enthusiasts have built and repaired their own equipment. These folks have, IMO, always been important to the electronics industry and are often driving and supporting innovation. Most are early adopters of technology and establish a demand for better performing and better value equipment. In my view, there should be adequate information available for these folks, indeed anyone who choses to try it, to repair their equipment. It is with this view that I provide information to DIYers with respect to electronics repair.

I have, however, received a great deal of criticism among repair professionals who reject this view. Many feel that as manufacturers make it harder to get parts and make service support and information harder to get, we cannot afford to give away trade secrets. My response to this is that there is no way to give away the skills that make a good technician successful. Information is a big part of what we need, but it is only a tool to be applied with the skill of the experienced tech. If it can be applied without that skill, then let it be so. If our skills are not valuable in the marketplace, then we have no reason to expect to stay in business. The facts are that there have always been DIYers and information is more available than ever to them because of the internet. Most DIYers are not going to come to us for service anyway, but the majority of consumers who are going to pursue repairs will.

For those of you who DIY and wish to get information, I provide a great deal of it. What I am happy to provide is information regarding symptom-repair relationships that should be trivial to an experienced technician. I am also willing to relate information regarding how products work or are designed. What I will not do is try to teach people online with step by step troubleshooting, do additional research for things for which I do not have immediate access nor in memory, nor provide advice when it seems that one is beyond his/her skill level in solving a problem. I will not provide service manuals, service bulletins, nor schematics that are copyrighted or restricted in distribution by manufacturers with which I am affiliated. If information is freely available on the internet I may point you to it, but I will not violate contracts with vendors.

The bottom line is that the advice that I give online is very time consuming and I get a lot of flak from both techs who don't like what I do and consumers who think that I should be an online tutorial for troubleshooting their product. It is simply not possible to please everyone. I post here at HTS more than anywhere else, because folks here seem to be reasonable in their expectations and appreciative of what I can do. I am really grateful to all of the kind thanks that have been posted here and the complete lack of vitriole when I tell people that they are at the limit of what they should attempt to do. For those that are not happy with me on either side, I can happlily say, "go somewhere else."

When you do ask for help, please do so with as much information in your posts as possible, such as model number, detailed symptoms, all testing and checks that have been done, and any history of the problem. Please post in a public forum rather than a private message or email. I don't mind getting them, but I will only answer questions that others might find useful publicly. If you have some private matter that is appropriately handled that way, send me a PM or email and I will respond. Otherwise, keep it where others can benefit from the discussion.

Always remember that there is a lot more to many repairs than just connecting the dots between the symptom and the fix. When that is all there is, then it is appropriate to DIY. When it requires skills and equipment that you don't have, find a good professional. That can be a challenge in itself these days, but there are ways to do so.

Thanks again for those who have been so gracious with their public thanks and praise.