Question for repair pros
Glen G.
During the late '70s and early '80s I held the position of General Manager
at MCM Electronics, and later at Consolidated Electronics. Those of you
who repair consumer electronics for a living will recognize one or both of
those names, I'm sure.
After several years away from the industry, I am thinking of establishing a
firm specializing in Japanese semiconductors, specifically the 2Sxxxxx
transistors and BA, LA, HA, TA, STK, etc integrated circuits. To begin
with I would probably carry somewhere between 20 and 50 different parts --
just the ones which I can provide at a substantial savings.
My question to repair professionals is: what are the Japanese
semiconductor devices you most frequently replace? Any information you can
provide about the most-common high-failure devices would be appreciated.
Please reply to my email address: glena...@aol.com or reply here, if you
prefer.
Thanks, and hope to be saving you some money soon!
Glen Goodwin
ACME Enterprises of Orlando
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margaret mcghee
> Hi --
>
> During the late '70s and early '80s I held the position of General Manager
> at MCM Electronics, and later at Consolidated Electronics. Those of you
> who repair consumer electronics for a living will recognize one or both of
> those names, I'm sure.
>
> After several years away from the industry, I am thinking of establishing a
> firm specializing in Japanese semiconductors, specifically the 2Sxxxxx
> transistors and BA, LA, HA, TA, STK, etc integrated circuits. To begin
> with I would probably carry somewhere between 20 and 50 different parts --
> just the ones which I can provide at a substantial savings.
>
> My question to repair professionals is: what are the Japanese
> semiconductor devices you most frequently replace? Any information you can
> provide about the most-common high-failure devices would be appreciated.
> Please reply to my email address: glena...@aol.com or reply here, if you
> prefer.
Well!, being in the UK and the japs are here as well i would say
that lop/transisors, drivers, regulators, field o/p ic's, chopper
transistors /ic's, opto isolators, decoder ic's, tuners, zener diodes.
rectifiers, capacitors all types.
No offence mate, you have the credentials it seems, but is it not a
bit late in the day to become a semiconductor components supplier,
brown goods prices have dropped to an all time low, the majority of
the people buy budget goods that come in all shapes sizes colours,
some for the price of a day's wage, unless the equipment bought is
expensive some people yes.. may want it repaired but these are in the
minority, what with smd and pcb tracks i can only see with the help of
Jodrell bank, Spare parts can be found at the local skip, "if it is
broken dump it". in my opinion i think i can safely say the art of
servicing left us the previous Century.
Asimov
--- on the topic of "Question for repair pros"
GG> ACME Enterprises of Orlando
BEEP!... BEEP!!
... Acme Corp: Unlimited credit for disadvantaged coyotes.
John Del
>From: "Glen G." glena...@aol.com
>Date: 6/20/03 6:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id:
To begin
>with I would probably carry somewhere between 20 and 50 different parts --
>just the ones which I can provide at a substantial savings.
>
>My question to repair professionals is: what are the Japanese
>semiconductor devices you most frequently replace?
You'll need a lot more than 50 components to keep anyone's attention. When I
order parts, I hate to split orders, so I'll order from a supplier who has
everything.
But the bigger problem is getting OEM devices, not just devices that *look*
OEM. Anyone who makes a living in consumer electronics has been burned by
Chinese forgeries of transistors and ICs in the last couple of years. So now,
despite the cost, I only order semis from companies that used them originally,
such as Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, RCA, etc in factory bags or boxes.
These parts cost more initially, but the cost of doing rechecks is
astronomical.
John
Charles Schuler
National Professional
Service Convention &
Professional Service Trade Show
July 16-19, 2003
John Ascuaga's Nugget Hotel & Casino
Reno, Nevada
http://www.iscet.org/npsc/index.html
Glen G.
Glen
Charles Schuler <charles...@comcast.net> wrote in article
<Ndednfr8CMr...@comcast.com>...
Glen G.
margaret mcghee <marg...@kingoodie.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in article
<4519e27e.03062...@posting.google.com>...
> "Glen G." <glena...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:<01c3377b$f5537ba0$088f4f3f@thegoodw>...
> No offence mate, you have the credentials it seems, but is it not a
> bit late in the day to become a semiconductor components supplier,
> brown goods prices have dropped to an all time low, the majority of
> the people buy budget goods that come in all shapes sizes colours,
> some for the price of a day's wage, unless the equipment bought is
> expensive some people yes.. may want it repaired but these are in the
> minority, what with smd and pcb tracks i can only see with the help of
> Jodrell bank, Spare parts can be found at the local skip, "if it is
> broken dump it". in my opinion i think i can safely say the art of
> servicing left us the previous Century.
Thanks for your reply.
I don't know about the UK, but here in the States there are *lots* of TV
and stereo repair shops in every town.
Glen
Glen G.
<20030621070020...@mb-m29.aol.com>...
Thanks for your reply, John.
> You'll need a lot more than 50 components to keep anyone's attention.
When I
> order parts, I hate to split orders, so I'll order from a supplier who
has
> everything.
Absolutely. However, my experience has been that many shops will pick up a
quantity of a fast-moving number if they can save 25-50% -- even if it's
the only item they order from a particular vendor.
> But the bigger problem is getting OEM devices, not just devices that
*look*
> OEM. Anyone who makes a living in consumer electronics has been burned by
> Chinese forgeries of transistors and ICs in the last couple of years. So
now,
> despite the cost, I only order semis from companies that used them
originally,
> such as Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, RCA, etc in factory bags or
boxes.
> These parts cost more initially, but the cost of doing rechecks is
> astronomical.
This was a problem 20 years ago, too. One day the Feds came into our
warehouse and seized all of the "Sony" SG-613s because they were
counterfeit. Reputable service companies want *genuine* replacement parts,
not Korean or Taiwanese knock-offs, or re-brands.
Thanks again for your input --
Glen
Ray L. Volts
>
>
> I don't know about the UK, but here in the States there are *lots* of TV
> and stereo repair shops in every town.
>
> Glen
>
I must differ with you.
I live in a town of 80,000+ people and there remain only TWO consumer
electronics shops in business. Only ONE of those does camcorder repair and
AFAIK only I still do audio work and even that's only parttime. About 10
years ago, there were half a dozen shops in town.
Several factors have contributed to this decline.
Cheaper and cheaper products not worth repairing...
The throw-away mentality of society in general...
The manufacturers' policies of making life more and more difficult for
independent servicers (refusal to supply schematics, certain parts, test
gear and tools, EVEN to their own authorized service centers)...
All these adversely affect revenue generation and make this kind of business
less and less attractive to be involved in with each passing year.
Sure, HDTV for the masses is just around the corner. Ok, so what does that
mean for servicers? We'll have to invest considerable funds into all new
test equipment for the new standards. This is what test equipment makers
drool over (see Sencore ads).
I admittedly have not yet read up on plasma display technology, but isn't
the nature of the design far more RELIABLE than CRT sets? If so, the shop
sits there with all this nice new equipment and waits for the occasional
plasma HDTV screen to die, all the while watching bills come in but no or
little profits coming in.
And what about 10 years from now, when I expect all recording to be done
optically, probably with no moving parts. The reliability factor of
recording devices will be increased a thousand fold because of this alone.
And if y'all think I'm being overly optimistic (as to the new technology),
keep in mind that engineers had already demonstrated digital protein storage
at the terabyte/cm(2) level, and that was years ago.
I believe all this doesn't bode well at all for consumer electronics
servicing being a viable career choice of the future. Owners of existing
shops and their techs (and parts suppliers) should be rather worried.
Sorry for being so long-winded, but I'm concerned enough that I'm seriously
considering a move to programming, in C++, etc.. I'm not anywhere near
retirement so I have to look where there's likely to be a better long-term
future. It's a pity, though, because I've always enjoyed troubleshooting
hardware.
Regards,
Ray
Frank O'Sheedy
>Thanks Charles -- great advice!
I've got to go with Margaret on this one,in the UK,we seem to be in a
different state of play to the USA.TV's rarely get mended now unless
it's an expensive set,same for VCR's.I make money reparing mostly
monitors and top grade sets.
I have three trade accounts in the UK,take my advice,if I want a
trannie/capacitor/TX or whatever I want it by return post to complete
the job.I don't want the firm to say they will order it from Grundig
or whatever,I can do that,SO you must have a large stock of the most
common but also a small stock of the not so common.
Stock is not the problem,service is the problem,if you can't deliver
by return of post I would not use a firm.From my rather large database
of ten years of faults I know which model is prone to faults of a
certain kind,it may help to contact your intended customers to see
what they may need on a regular basis.For instance I had a large
contract with a fast food chain for servicing microwaves,they only
used Whirlpool so I needed those parts,and only those parts by return
post[to save me stocking up my shop with spares]Sorry for the rather
long post,hope it helps and I wish you well.Frankie@teleTronics{UK]
kc8adu
getting the real thing can be difficult for even reputable dealers.for
instance try to find a original str3335 for a sony tv.
mcm cei mat all have the same remark that is missing a pin and will not
work.hook up the cutoff pin and bang.your biggest problem will be getting
the real thing when it has long been out of production.
"John Del" <ohg...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030621070020...@mb-m29.aol.com...
Glen G.
Frank O'Sheedy <O'She...@freeserve.co.uk> wrote in article
<3ef56c27...@news.freeserve.net>...
David
service shops left in business is overstating the reality.
Most towns and cities have less than 10% the number of servicers left that
were around as late as 1995.
Example in 1995 Fort Wayne had over 20 well known reputable independent
servicers (not store affiliated) that had been in business a long time and
did warranty repairs for many major brands. Most of the local owned stores
that had in house service have gone out of business as well. One of the
last remaining stores is currently under bankruptcy protection.
Today, there are TWO, a 90% decline. Plus a few new fly by night shops that
have opened up and closed up over the last couple of years.
The same goes for any given city or town in the US. The last 7 years has
seen a significant decline in servicers.
Philips for example has cited over 60% of its authorized servicers that were
in business in 1995 are now gone.
Thomson, similar story.
Now, for the last say 5 to 7 years, many (dare say lots) of the failures
that required some semiconductor components required special parts that were
pretty much only available from a manufactures authorized parts outlet. In
which case the entire order would be placed at the one supplier that could
fill 100% of almost all orders.
Then you will have to Guarantee that your parts are not inferior China
knockoffs. We got burned a couple of times from two different suppliers.
We no longer buy ANYTHING from them at all due to the risk.
Between, MCM, NEWARK, Allied Electronics, Digi-Key, Fulton Radio,
Tri-Tronics, Excel Electronics, plus the manufactures that require parts
orders direct for warranty claims, I just cannot see the need for another
parts outlet.
David
Glen G. <glena...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:01c3381f$96aa7140$0a8f4f3f@thegoodw...
Leonard Caillouet
"David" <dkuh...@locl.net.spam> wrote in message
news:3efd...@news.greennet.net...
> I do not know where you live in the USA. But to say there are LOTS of
> service shops left in business is overstating the reality.
Very much so.
> Now, for the last say 5 to 7 years, many (dare say lots) of the failures
> that required some semiconductor components required special parts that
were
> pretty much only available from a manufactures authorized parts outlet.
In
> which case the entire order would be placed at the one supplier that could
> fill 100% of almost all orders.
>
> Then you will have to Guarantee that your parts are not inferior China
> knockoffs. We got burned a couple of times from two different suppliers.
> We no longer buy ANYTHING from them at all due to the risk.
>
> Between, MCM, NEWARK, Allied Electronics, Digi-Key, Fulton Radio,
> Tri-Tronics, Excel Electronics, plus the manufactures that require parts
> orders direct for warranty claims, I just cannot see the need for another
> parts outlet.
I agree 100%. Add to that list Vance Baldwin, Mouser, Herman Panson, Fox,
and a hundred more. As a servicer I have to reduce my costs and keep my
inventory slim to be profitable, while relying on as few suppliers as
possible. I end up using Tritronics most of the time because they have the
inventory to allow me to combine most of my orders. I occassionally use the
others when I cannot get something I need there or when there is a big price
difference, but that difference has to be pretty big to justify another
order to another vendor and the associated freight cost. Also, Tritronics
has never refused a requested return on a defective part from me. They are
not perfect, but considering the ability to search parts on their web site,
their parts research help and technical assistance (Kevin follows the
TechAssist listserve and often provides research immediately), and their
willingness to respond to suggestions and complaints, I find it hard to
justify another vendor. We have to know that we can rely on a vendor to
supply quality parts and stand behind them. It would be a hard market to
compete in and would require a significant investment in inventory and
infrastructure, not to mention finding decent staff.
Leonard Caillouet