Repair café

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Projects
The coffee break.jpg
Participants
Skills
Status Active
Niche Other
Purpose Education

If it's broke, fix it™

Many members of Techinc are happy to help figure out what's wrong with your object - phone, computer, bicycle, car, clothes, etc - and fix it, so that you can keep using it, save some money, and prevent some waste. Anyone is welcome to participate, hackers or not, technologically inclined or otherwise. Come say hello, fix your stuff, and learn a little bit about how your stuff works.

Be nice. This initiative is run by volunteers who are offering to help you with something you would ordinarily pay for, for free, because we find this kind of thing fun. Anyone found to be not nice will be asked to leave.

How to get your thing repaired

You can ask for help by describing the object you wish to fix, and what is wrong with it, in an email to the Techinc discuss mailing list at discuss@techinc.nl. Members who might be able to help will reply to narrow down the details and arrange a time to meet at the space to work on the problem. If you don't get any answers, we got your email, but no one is able to help - asking repeatedly is not advised. Feel free to drop by at our social evenings to introduce yourself and get some advice.

Disclaimer

Repairing things, particularly as non-experts, always carries the risk of not finding a solution, or even making the problem worse. You might end up having to buy a replacement anyway. But at least we can try to fix it!

Resources

Good resources:

  • iFixit: Lots of resources and guides for repairing electronics

Tools wanted

There are plenty of tools in the space, but it may be useful to pick up some more. Here's a wishlist:

  • Smartphone screen removal kit
  • Tiny screwdrivers + various weird security bits

Help wanted

  • ddevault wants to learn how to use the sewing machines for clothes repairs

List of repaired things

Log of successful repair attempts for swapping tips and inspiring ideas about what can be fixed up:

  • Samsung Galaxy S5 USB port and screen replacement
  • Drew's bike
  • Laptop keyboard replaced and data recovered from failing hard drive