Fix it rather than flinging it in land-fill?

[.Lethal]

TVs these days often come with large warranty's. Some of the parts to replace broken TV's cost in the hundreds (motherboard for example). If the TV is a good few years old its likely going to cost more to repair than it's value.

Regarding why only in tooting, because these events have to start somewhere. It's certainly a good initiative for fixing basic/minor things.

I certainly don't see tons of almost new TVs at my landfill, as usual some of you are making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

[stockhausen]

TVs these days often come with large warranty's. Some of the parts to replace broken TV's cost in the hundreds (motherboard for example). If the TV is a good few years old its likely going to cost more to repair than it's value.
. . .

I entirely agree about the cost of components, one only needs to look at how willing Insurers are to write-off cars that should in an ideal world be repairable.

However, I am quite convinced that it should often be possible to repair domestic electronic devices for less than the cost of throwing them away and buying another. This is even more of a pressing issue as we see the planet submerge under a mountain of unwanted plastic and metal.

I have frequently, after testing, sorted out a friend's PC or Laptop where the HDD, PSU, mouse or keyboard is failing or has failed and have from time to time told people to go out and buy a replacement monitor. If they are just browsing the Internet, receiving and sending emails or doing banking they don't need the very latest kit.

 

[stockhausen]

it's a lovely thought, but unlikely do succeed in the face of rampant capitalism.

From time to time, people take unwanted packaging back to local supermarkets and dump them there. Sadly that doesn't seem to do the trick.

However, I believe that some (advanced, caring and considerate) countries are contemplating making companies pay the cost of recycling their product - that might be a start - make it more expensive to "build in" obsolescence?

 

[Greebo]

TVs these days often come with large warranty's. Some of the parts to replace broken TV's cost in the hundreds (motherboard for example). If the TV is a good few years old its likely going to cost more to repair than it's value.

Regarding why only in tooting, because these events have to start somewhere. It's certainly a good initiative for fixing basic/minor things.

I certainly don't see tons of almost new TVs at my landfill, as usual some of you are making a mountain out of a molehill.

Only cause they set them at that price. Some apple components cost more than just buying a brand new replacement. Clearly the component doesnt cost more otherwise apple would be making a loss on each one.

Same with a dell laptop my gf owned a few years ago. It was well within my skill level to fix but Dell wanted more money for the motherboard than what they wanted for a new laptop which was faster. Mental.

 

[Greebo]

TVs these days often come with large warranty's. Some of the parts to replace broken TV's cost in the hundreds (motherboard for example). If the TV is a good few years old its likely going to cost more to repair than it's value.

Regarding why only in tooting, because these events have to start somewhere. It's certainly a good initiative for fixing basic/minor things.

I certainly don't see tons of almost new TVs at my landfill, as usual some of you are making a mountain out of a molehill.

Thats because TVs dont go to landfill....................

But my point still stands. There were lots of tvs at my local recycling centre which were all working (they had a generator and used to power them up so you pick) and lotsof people bought them as second TVs for cheap money.

Of course the weren't "almost new" but they worked. Once they weren't allowed to sell them anymore they would go off to be broken down and the components recycled which is a waste.

All the hundreds of bikes they sold each year now just get thrown into the scrap metal skip and will be crushed.

I see it a lot more with wealthier people who cant be bothered to advertise and sell their working old items. My mum still has a top of the range dishwasher 20 years on that my old boss gave me and it was 10 years old when they replaced it because they were having a new kitchen fitted. I once saw wealthy neighbours had got a new kitchen and their top of the range, range cooker, american fridge, dishwasher, extractor,microwave were all just left outside for the bin men to take. You cant tell me every single one of them were faulty?

 

[wesimmo]

I recently swapped the motor out on my washing machine as I'm trying to reduce waste.

£80 and a couple of hours and I didn't have to chuck it out and saved me cash.

The problem is they manufacture stuff so that I can't be fixed easily. There should be some sort of legislation that certain products have to be easy to fix by using modular parts that are accessible.

 

[Orionaut]

I see it a lot more with wealthier people who cant be bothered to advertise and sell their working old items. My mum still has a top of the range dishwasher 20 years on that my old boss gave me and it was 10 years old when they replaced it because they were having a new kitchen fitted. I once saw wealthy neighbours had got a new kitchen and their top of the range, range cooker, american fridge, dishwasher, extractor,microwave were all just left outside for the bin men to take. You cant tell me every single one of them were faulty?

The problem with e-baying stuff is that you end up with random strangers of unknown provenance coming around and eying up your home.

A good alternative however is to take it to an auction house. You wont make much, but at least you will know it isn't just being thrown away

 

[Vern1961]

Accessibility is the key. I just had to take a 15 month old exercise bike to the tip as the magnetics and resistance were clunking and on the way out. I could access the front to oil the pedal crank (didn't help) but the back where the main mechanism is located is a sealed unit. So that's a £230 piece of scrap now replaced by another Made In China Reebok branded model, which will no doubt go the same way.

The other factor is the cost of repairs, if you can't do it yourself. These days any sort of callout is probably £100 before they even get out the van. We had a washing machine repaired under warranty a few years back and the engineer was quite open about the fact parts and labour would come to over £300, nearly what the machine cost it.

Some can be offset by trying to buy quality products - a (different to above) John Lewis branded washing machine is in its 10th year. A Henry vacuum is now about 6 years old and a Bosch lawnmower around 8 years old. But sooner or later they will go wrong and it would be a pointless exercise trying to repair!¬

 

[adolf hamster]

From time to time, people take unwanted packaging back to local supermarkets and dump them there. Sadly that doesn't seem to do the trick.

However, I believe that some (advanced, caring and considerate) countries are contemplating making companies pay the cost of recycling their product - that might be a start - make it more expensive to "build in" obsolescence?

problem is it's not guaranteed that ease of recycling will mean ease of repair, probably better to approach it from a lifecycle perspective; a ratio of how long the product can realistically be made to last against how hard it is to recycle.

because lets face it the plastic interior of a car is going to be better overall than a plastic yoghurt pot.

 

[Greebo]

The problem with e-baying stuff is that you end up with random strangers of unknown provenance coming around and eying up your home.

A good alternative however is to take it to an auction house. You wont make much, but at least you will know it isn't just being thrown away

Yeah thats why the neighbours just left all their highend kitchen appliances outside, they didnt want the hassle and strangers coming to the house to collect. But its not good for the planet is the point. Loads of useful working stuff goes for recycling/landfill never mind the broken stuff we are discussing here.

One of the outside doors in my house is a £1 purchase from the local tip back when they could sell stuff.

 

[EssexBoy]

I used to work for a private owned recycling centre that the locals used and i got 2 x imacs (2009 models) 4 x Dell U2410'S 2 x LP2475W and a nice Onkyo receiver and apart from one of the imac having the hdd removed by the original owner they all worked fine.Some people just like to dump older goods and can not be bothered to sell it on.

 

[stockhausen]

. . . probably better to approach it from a lifecycle perspective; a ratio of how long the product can realistically be made to last against how hard it is to recycle. . . .

But that is such a 20th Century approach from the time before people were forced to recognise the looming pollution / rubbish problem.

There was a time (I believe) not so long ago when people seriously convinced themselves that we could continue to "dump" our rubbish in Asia whilst importing their cheap consumer products; they now (optimistically) want us to stack up or bury our rubbish locally while continuing to buy their "disposable" consumer goods.

 

[Greebo]

I used to work for a private owned recycling centre that the locals used and i got 2 x imacs (2009 models) 4 x Dell U2410'S 2 x LP2475W and a nice Onkyo receiver and apart from one of the imac having the hdd removed by the original owner they all worked fine.Some people just like to dump older goods and can not be bothered to sell it on.

Yeah which was why I was annoyed when they stopped the staff selling the stuff at our local council owned depots. It has to be the best form of recycling full stop to sell an item and let somebody use it. So what if the staff made £300 - £400 cash on the side every week.

 

[Safetytrousers]

Watching as I do several USA based tech channels on YouTube I have several times heard about the 'right to repair' legislative struggle going on in the USA. Being that the tech channels often tinker with gear they are keenly aware of this push.

 

[Hades]

Yeah which was why I was annoyed when they stopped the staff selling the stuff at our local council owned depots. It has to be the best form of recycling full stop to sell an item and let somebody use it. So what if the staff made £300 - £400 cash on the side every week.

At my local dump (or recycling centre as they call it) they opened a shop. Now the council gets the money for anything donated.

Sadly they keep charging for an increasing number of things so people don't bother taking DIY materials, tyres. oils, etc. They just dump it in the forest, down quite roads, etc. It ultimately costs the council even more to clear up fly tipping that if they had taken the stuff for free in the first place.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Now this idea of "Repair events" sounds inspired - and obvious - why just Tooting?.

How often does one see modern TVs and PCs dumped at alleged "recycling" centres? Most of these devices are substantially modular and surely they can often be repaired?

i tend to sell my tv's and pc's before they fail. so they get re-used by someone else.

in fact i have about 12 listings on ebay right now for stuff i no longer need.

i sold my 1080 gpu after black friday. i sold my old cpu when i bought the new one.

if something breaks i will consider fixes if it's wortwhile. as for tv's if it's a main board and you can get one cheap off ebay it's worth a shot. however most of the time it's impossible or far too costly to fix. either because parts are unavailable or so expensive you are better off buying new.

i tend to buy all my tv's new with 5-6 year warranties.

so if it fails outwith warranty. chances are it was discontinued at least 5 years ago and parts are scarce as they change every year.

also within 5+ years tv's change so much you are better off getting a new one.

it's not like a car where you have spent tens of thousands buying it for the brake caliper to sieze. rather than spending tens of thousands on a new car it makes sense to spend £300 getting the caliper changed out.

if my kettle or toaster broke tomorrow it would be binned and a brand new one bought for like a tenner.

more expensive items i would have a go at fixing before buying new.

 

[.Lethal]

Only cause they set them at that price. Some apple components cost more than just buying a brand new replacement. Clearly the component doesnt cost more otherwise apple would be making a loss on each one.

Same with a dell laptop my gf owned a few years ago. It was well within my skill level to fix but Dell wanted more money for the motherboard than what they wanted for a new laptop which was faster. Mental.

No not really, you need to factor labour, usually from a third party which also costs money.

 

[stockhausen]

At my local dump (or recycling centre as they call it) they opened a shop. Now the council gets the money for anything donated.

Sadly they keep charging for an increasing number of things so people don't bother taking DIY materials, tyres. oils, etc. They just dump it in the forest, down quite roads, etc. It ultimately costs the council even more to clear up fly tipping that if they had taken the stuff for free in the first place.

I take it you mean that the Council sell what they can (which is understandable and laudable) but charge people for things they can't sell. As a result of this people resort to fly-tipping. I entirely agree that the latter is crazy

However, I believe that if people dump stuff (e.g. mattresses, tyres and paint) on private land (typically farmland), the council are not responsible for removing it - also crazy.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Thats because TVs dont go to landfill....................

But my point still stands. There were lots of tvs at my local recycling centre which were all working (they had a generator and used to power them up so you pick) and lotsof people bought them as second TVs for cheap money.

Of course the weren't "almost new" but they worked. Once they weren't allowed to sell them anymore they would go off to be broken down and the components recycled which is a waste.

All the hundreds of bikes they sold each year now just get thrown into the scrap metal skip and will be crushed.

I see it a lot more with wealthier people who cant be bothered to advertise and sell their working old items. My mum still has a top of the range dishwasher 20 years on that my old boss gave me and it was 10 years old when they replaced it because they were having a new kitchen fitted. I once saw wealthy neighbours had got a new kitchen and their top of the range, range cooker, american fridge, dishwasher, extractor,microwave were all just left outside for the bin men to take. You cant tell me every single one of them were faulty?

i know plenty of wealthy people and they use gumtree.

there will be people from all walks of life who are either ignorant or brain dead or too lazy to sell on stuff. it's not about having too much money to not care. i follow a very affluent woman on ebay who sells stuff that is crazy expensive on there after she is done with it. you are talking £20K cartier jeweleery, etc at substantial discounts.

 

[unwashed potato!]

i think the idea isn't that great unless you're really trying to reduce the cost as much as possible.

i run a cleaning company and sometimes things break. Oven doors for instance, maybe a shelf in a fridge, a hinge off something. We will fix these, but the cost can end up being almost as much as just buying new. If i owned the items and was the one that broke them i'd definelty not be paying to fix them to end up with an old item that cost close enough to purchasing new, plus add into it the time to fix. sometimes for sure it's interesting to learn how things work and fix things, i remember fixing the red ring of death on the xbox 360 and enjoyed the process, however to "save money" it's often not enough to make it worth while