EU Right to Repair Law

[StephenG1CMZ]

Apparently the EU Right to Repair Law comes into effect today. Consumers should expect to be able to repair consumer goods such as refrigerators for a decade.

The newspaper I read focused on hardware nuts and bolts, so I am not sure if firmware or software is affected - or calculators rather than "white goods".

Of course, since the uk has now left the EU, the legislation doesn't directly apply here anyway.

It will be interesting to see if it has any effect.

[robve]

(03-02-2021 10:09 PM)StephenG1CMZ Wrote:  Apparently the EU Right to Repair Law comes into effect today. Consumers should expect to be able to repair consumer goods such as refrigerators for a decade.

We had an AEG washing machine in the early 70s. Used almost daily. It never broke down. The drum belt had to be replaced just once. Sold it after over two decades of servicing the family. Perhaps over-engineered, but certainly not engineered to meet a MTTF of a couple of years. Just saying...

- Rob

[Garth Wilson]

(03-02-2021 10:39 PM)robve Wrote:  

(03-02-2021 10:09 PM)StephenG1CMZ Wrote:  Apparently the EU Right to Repair Law comes into effect today. Consumers should expect to be able to repair consumer goods such as refrigerators for a decade.

We had an AEG washing machine in the early 70s. Used almost daily. It never broke down. The drum belt had to be replaced just once. Sold it after over two decades of servicing the family. Perhaps over-engineered, but certainly not engineered to meet a MTTF of a couple of years. Just saying...

My brother-in-law's parents were given a refrigerator for their wedding in the 1930's. 60 years later it was still running fine and had never had any service.

[BillBee]

Anything can be repaired to an extent - its the cost of repair vs, replacement which should be interesting in regards to the new law. I wonder if the manufactures price structure will compensate. If it brings back warranties to a state where they used to be it would be awesome. 5-10 years on a refrigerator - 1-2 years +/- now.

I left a running 40+ year old gas dryer behind when I moved (the buyers wanted it) common repairs only during my time with it. Our hunting camp had a propane fridge from the 60's (maybe the 50's) that was built like a tank.

-Bill

[Albert Chan]

(03-03-2021 12:09 PM)BillBee Wrote:  Anything can be repaired to an extent - its the cost of repair vs, replacement ...

To make things worse, once the "repair phase" kick in, repair frequency shoot up.
On the other hand, replacement cost (product of similar age) goes down.

I am not sure a "right to repair law" can shift this break-even point.

It might even cost more to repair (consumer ultimately pay for the guaranteed spare parts, repair manuals ...)

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello!

(03-03-2021 01:20 PM)Albert Chan Wrote:  I am not sure a "right to repair law" can shift this break-even point.

This law is not about money but about avoiding useless waste. It cannot be that a washing machine (100kg of almost undestroyable metal and plastic parts which could theoretically last for generations, just like the house around it!) has to be thrown into a landfill after five years because some failed electronic piece inside is either totally inacessible for service or made with parts that are no longer available after such a short period. The only reason for total replacement should be technical advance which makes newer products much less water and enegery hungry.

Many years ago in my university years, we had a washing machine from AEG, which was left behind by the previous occupant of the appartment, probably because he could not find anyone willing to help him carry that thing down four stairs. It was already old then and a really big, heavy and loud monster of a machine. The only downside was that it took enormous amounts of water and therefore also needed a lot of electricity to heat that up. Therefore when we moved out we did the same as the guy before us... I wonder if it is still in use. After that we bought one from Miele which was then the most water and energy efficient washing machine on the market. It still works perfectly now, more than 30 years later. It only required servicing once when the pressure sensor that measures the water level had to be replaced, for which the technician required about 15 minutes. This is the kind of product which the European lawmakers had in mind with their new legislation.

Regards
Max

[toml_12953]

(03-02-2021 10:09 PM)StephenG1CMZ Wrote:  Apparently the EU Right to Repair Law comes into effect today. Consumers should expect to be able to repair consumer goods such as refrigerators for a decade.

The newspaper I read focused on hardware nuts and bolts, so I am not sure if firmware or software is affected - or calculators rather than "white goods".

Of course, since the uk has now left the EU, the legislation doesn't directly apply here anyway.

It will be interesting to see if it has any effect.

I'm sure companies like Apple are worried. You can't get much harder to repair than an iPad or other tablet.

[HP67]

(03-02-2021 10:39 PM)robve Wrote:  

(03-02-2021 10:09 PM)StephenG1CMZ Wrote:  Apparently the EU Right to Repair Law comes into effect today. Consumers should expect to be able to repair consumer goods such as refrigerators for a decade.

We had an AEG washing machine in the early 70s. Used almost daily. It never broke down. The drum belt had to be replaced just once. Sold it after over two decades of servicing the family. Perhaps over-engineered, but certainly not engineered to meet a MTTF of a couple of years. Just saying...

- Rob

My grandparents had a refrigerator that sat out in the laundry room for more than 50 years. On a good day it was probably 100 degrees in there and 100% humidity. The thing must have weighed a few hundred pounds. Steel door, steel cabinet. When you took a can of soda out of there it was so cold you burned your hands.

They don't make 'em like they used to. Not calculators and not grandparents.

(03-02-2021 11:38 PM)Garth Wilson Wrote:  My brother-in-law's parents were given a refrigerator for their wedding in the 1930's. 60 years later it was still running fine and had never had any service.

Yep, that's what I'm talking about