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 got rid of all my equipment, but you can never stay away from something you love, so I’m working very slowly to get 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 they do not explore.

Location: Beloit, Wisconsin.

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 of 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 a repair technician’s time. 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 (text is my preferred way to contact 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 damaged screens of any kind. I do not know anyone who would. Please donate those TVs to a repair shop for parts.

I will accept unwanted items that have some potential. I do not buy unwanted items. Anything offered to me to keep is 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 new ones and donate the damaged items to a repair shop for parts. Example: A video I put on YouTube about an Emerson 32-inch TV that shuts down due to a faulty 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. I do not buy unwanted items. Anything offered to me to keep is 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 own a specific piece of equipment to test the item. 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 (through-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 on older items will need to be replaced.

Repair time:

Due to the number of items in the shop at any given time and the time required to troubleshoot and repair each item, an exact turnaround time is not always available. If parts need to be ordered, it could take 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 to decide who should repair the unit, I could provide an approximate two- to three-week timeframe. 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 to work again, I will take on the challenge and do what I can with the available parts.
If you have watched YouTube videos 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.

UPDATE: (I do not charge to look at items.) Due to the time required to troubleshoot and how busy life is, I currently require a $60 non-refundable upfront payment to review your product. If you want me to repair the product after I find out what is wrong, that $60 goes toward the repair cost. *Depending on the circumstances, there still may be an extra labor charge on top of that. Important! The customer is responsible for any parts ordered during the diagnostic period.

The labor fee for any basic repair is $60. Example: The total cost of the basic repair item will include: $60 for labor, all parts, and shipping.

The labor fee for TVs: small to 40 inches: $60; 40 to 65 inches: $100; 65 inches 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 seeking external electronics repair or assembly is negotiable.

The labor fee for very small/minimal work (for example, quick soldering of a wire) will be determined at the time of repair (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 arrives home, and water is accidentally spilled on it, frying the power supply and the components 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 repair it, give the technician some respect when 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 their pocket and a 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 the main points. These videos will show how the item performed when I received it, which components I replaced to get it working again, and the finished working item. These videos will not be posted immediately. My YouTube channel name is Electronics Editor, and the link is here. Absolutely no customer personal information will appear 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 (text is my preferred way to contact me).

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