Electronics Repair |

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Do you need a piece of electronic equipment to work again?

I’ll try to fix anything if you want me to, and I have for most of my life. If anything, it’ll be an experience for me. I love to troubleshoot and repair pretty much anything, within reason.
A little history: I quit repairing electronics for a long time, and I got rid of all my equipment, but you can never stay away from something you love, so I’m very slowly working on getting back into it.

There are electronics in just about everything. All your home appliances: Fridge, microwave, coffee maker, blender, stove, washer, dryer, water heater, furnace, etc. Also in your vehicle, boats, other watercraft, lawnmowers, hand tools, toys, even your doorbell, etc. I’ve had my hand in the repair of just about everything a person could have in their life. Most things are repairable, and some are not, but everything deserves at least a look. A person will not learn if he/she does not explore.

Location: Beloit, Wisconsin.

Mail-in repair items are currently not accepted at this time.

Jump to any section:

Equipment I do not repair at this time.
Items to reconsider fixing before using my service.
A little about me.
Most common failures for electronics.
Repair time.
Refurbishing older items.
Payment.
Warranty.
Be considerate to technicians.
From me to you.

IMPORTANT !!! All items must be free of any insects before I will accept them into my shop. Do whatever it takes to ensure this. I WILL refuse any item that has insects.

Do not waste the time of a repair technician. Always be thorough and honest about how an item became damaged, i.e., the item was dropped, it has water damage, a lightning strike, I jammed a screwdriver into the circuit board (OK, this one’s a little far-fetched; I hope!), etc. The phrase “I don’t know, it just stopped working,” is not a good explanation for why an item quit working. Give as much detail as possible. It’s hard enough sometimes to try to find the defective components. Do not send the tech on a wild goose chase. After all, time is money in most cases.

Note: All repairs are done at my home, you must contact me before dropping off any item. I am not responsible for any items left at my doorstep. You can contact me here, or if you already know my phone number, text me (a text is my preferred way of contacting me).

Equipment I do not repair at this time (list may change at any time):

Cell Phones (many places already do this)
Tablets (many places already do this)
Tube Televisions (CRT)
Special note about flat-screen TVs: I repair TVs, but due to the price of a new screen, I DO NOT repair broken, cracked, or damage of any kind to TV screens. I do not know anyone that would. Please donate those TVs to a repair shop for parts.

I will accept unwanted items to do as I will. I do not buy unwanted items. Anything offered to me to keep is only done for free.

Items to reconsider fixing before using my service (list may change at any time):

Note: Some of these items can be very inexpensive to buy new. It is probably better to replace them with a new one and donate the damaged item to a repair shop for parts. A video I put on YouTube about an Emerson 32-inch TV that shuts down because of a bad LED strip had a repair cost of about $85.00 (see size cost in the payment section). It depends on what’s wrong.

TVs (some up to 40 to 50 inches.)
CD Players
DVD Players
VCR’s (because it’s a VCR! Lol…)
Water-damaged items (in most cases the item can be repaired, but all components not replaced may/will fail in the future. These units will have no warranty after repair). Please note that a water-damaged item has no guarantees on how long it will continue to work properly.

I will accept unwanted items to do as I will. I do not buy unwanted items. Anything offered to me to keep is only done for free.

A little about me:

I have been repairing/tinkering with electronics most of my life; mainly in my spare time, but I have also worked with it in a professional setting, with and without schematics (service manuals). Due to many factors, there will be times when I cannot repair an item.
Examples:

Chip-on-board components (specific surface mount components. See an example here. I am in no way affiliated with this linked site).
Parts not available.
Service manuals not available.
Damaged beyond repair.
Water damage.
Dropped equipment (this tends to crack the circuit boards, but in most cases, the item can be repaired).
It’s a VCR (Do they still make these? Lol).
I do not have a specific piece of equipment to test the item (Over time this should not be the case, but as I am just starting my own repair business, this may become an issue. It will be my loss, not the customer’s.) Test equipment can be expensive and takes time to acquire. I apologize in advance.

Most common failures for electronics (not a complete list):

TIP: Save your battery-operated items: remove the batteries if they will not be used for long periods.

Bad solder joints (thru-hole components become unsoldered from the circuit board; cracks around component leads (legs)).
Bad/leaky electrolytic capacitors (top of the capacitor becomes domed/split due to heat/electrically leaky).
Bad paper capacitors (very, old electronic items).
Bad ground connection (loose grounding screws; usually holding down circuit boards).
Connectors contact failure (over time connections tend to fail due to environmental issues).
Human error (mistakenly, changing something in the settings without knowing).
Dropped.
Items with rubber belts (examples: VCRs, tape decks, CD players, DVD players, etc.) I can almost guarantee that the belts will need to be replaced in older items.

Repair time:

Due to the number of items in the shop at any time, and the amount of time it takes to troubleshoot and repair each item, an exact turn-around time is not always available. If parts need to be ordered; depending on what the part is, it could take from a few days to a few weeks or longer. That is not under my control, sorry. At this time, I do not stock parts. In the future, depending on the number of customers, I will start to stock frequently used parts. If an estimated time is needed, so you can decide whom to repair the unit, I could give an approximate two to three-week period. It depends. It sometimes could take a day or two. I am providing this service, part-time to customers. Some people do this type of work as a side job, after their full-time day jobs.

Refurbishing older items (before the ’60s or ’70s let’s say):

This falls under a higher labor fee. If there is an item a customer loves and wants it to work again, I will take on the challenge and do what I can with the parts that are available for the item.
If you have watched videos on YouTube about repairing older items, it can be done, but it takes a lot of time and sometimes a lot of money.

Payment:

I only accept cash.

I do not charge to look at items.

The labor fee for any basic repair is $50. Example: The total cost of the basic repair item will include: $50 for labor, all parts cost plus shipping.

The labor fee for TVs: small to 40-inches $50, above 40-inches to below 65-inches $100, and 65-inch and above $300.

The labor fee for refurbishing items will be set on a case-by-case basis.

Special note for companies: The labor fee for companies interested in outside electronics repair or assembly is negotiable.

The labor fee for very small/minimal work (For example: quick solder of a wire) will be determined at repair time (most likely free).

Warranty:

I am easygoing and want to see people enjoy doing business with me. We will work things out to get you, the customer, to return home with a working item and a smile on your face.
If the item fails within a reasonable amount of time, let us say about 90 days, (IMPORTANT !!!) because of a repair that I performed (only the parts that I put into the item), there is no charge to re-repair the item. Any other parts and labor will be the customer’s responsibility.
Example: I fix some capacitors in the power supply of an item, and it works fine when it leaves my shop. The item gets home, and water is accidentally spilled on the item, frying the power supply and the components that I had just replaced, this next repair would be at the customer’s cost completely.

Note: Electronics repair technicians can tell when something has water damage.

Be considerate to technicians:

If an item has been sitting around at your location for a long time with no rush to get it repaired, give the technician some respect when it comes time for him/her while it is at their location. Unless it is an item that is needed immediately AND is set at a higher value repair fee, do not ask about the progress of the item every other day (exaggerated time). No technician will purposely let an item sit; that is money out of his/her pocket and potential loss of business.

From me to you,

I look forward to working with you and hope to become your go-to person for all your repair needs. Don’t forget to tell a friend.

I plan to share short videos of each repair on YouTube if anyone is interested in seeing the main points of the repair. These videos will show things like, how the item performed when I received it, what components I replaced to make the item work again, and the working finished item. These videos will not be posted immediately. My YouTube channel name is Electronics Editor, and a link is here. Absolutely no personal information from the customers will be in these videos.

Note: All repairs are done at my home, you must contact me before dropping off any item. I am not responsible for any items left at my doorstep. You can contact me here, or if you already know my phone number, text me (a text is my preferred way of contacting me).

*Any or all of these writings may be changed at any time without notice.