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New EU law requires devices to be repairable - Every phone, television or washing machine you buy in Europe must be easier to repair starting tomorrow. That’s when the European Right to Repair Act tak (www.nporadio1.nl)
submitted 2 months ago* by to c/technology@lemmy.world
282 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The products covered by the obligation to repair currently include:

  • washing machines and washer-dryers
  • dishwashers
  • refrigerators
  • electronic displays
  • welding equipment
  • servers and data storage products
  • mobile phones, cordless phones and tablets
  • tumble dryers 
  • e-bikes and e-scooters batteries (from 18 February 2027)
  • local space heaters
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[–] 40 points 2 months ago (22 children)

Water kettle stopped working, has fucking temper proof triangle head screws so can't even open it without having to buy a special screwdriver bit. name and shame : kitchenaid

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  • [–] 11 points 2 months ago (4 children)

    I can go one further, if you ever want to do a warrenty claim with coffeemate, regardless of how small, they require you to cut the power cord.

    I bought a cheap coffeemate coffee maker, and the anti-splash valve that prevents it from brewing fell off, and I lost the o-ring that was part of it as a result.

    After 3 different contact points with coffee mate as their public listed email only warranty contact was incorrect and then was bounced to a couple more emails, they agreed it was a manufacturer problem, and that it was covered, but they wanted me to cut the power cord and show proof that the unit was no longer functional, because instead of sending me a 10¢ if that o ring, they wanted me to destroy a other than that one comp a perfectly functional unit, so they could send a whole new unit in it's place.

    I bought a cheap oring set on amazon, so now I have more than I would ever need of orings but, at least it's less wasteful.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    Hold on, don't they know a cut cord can be soldered back together? You don't even need image generators to fake breaking it...

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago*

    yea I found it weird as well. I assume they figure most people don't have the skills to just connect it again.

    When I was looking into it, it's common practice for kitchen appliance warranties to have that as a requirement for warranty support when they are giving a replacement, likely they are trying to disincentivize someone getting a replacement for a minor issue, and then reselling one of the two appliances they have to make a profit, which I do understand for replacements but... in my case why not just send the replacement part... it likely could even go via an envelope and only pay the price of a stamp.

    Theres no way paying to send a whole coffee maker is cheaper than sending a o-ring or a washer....

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago

    Most of the time it's not about repairability it's about mitigation of responsibility. If they make it difficult to get into and you do it anyway then burn your house down because you removed the thermistor they have a better case in court.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago

    Mine had Philips screws and was easy to open, but the switch that was broken proved impossible to find as a spare part. It's a shame that I have to bin something that should've been easy to repair.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    Malfunctioning water kettles are like one of the biggest causes of houses burning down.

    Those not being repairable is a good thing. Because it would only cause more houses to burn down when everyone with a screwdriver can mess up the wiring.

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  • [+] -6 points 2 months ago (13 children)

    That's the thing about repairing things at home or anywhere else. You need tools to do so and more than just a screwdriver and a pair of pliers. You often special tools. You can get a set of triangle bits for maybe 4 to 5 euros and you will have them for life. So don't be a cheap. Either fix that kettle yourself, pay someone with the skills and tools to fix it, or buy a new one. But don't whinge about not having tools.

    And let's also be honest. Some things need to be tamper proof. Most of you ain't smart enough and experienced enough to play with things that can injure/kill you or others, no matter how many youtube videos you watch.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 months ago (12 children)

    A eater kettle does not have that much stuff inside that it should be tamlre proof for fuck's sake. It can use normal screws like phillips, hex or torx.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago* (5 children)

    if its an electric kettle, I have to disagree. Those have the equivalent of a stovetop going through them when in use, and have a degree of water protection required. I heavily disagree with easy to access and remove screws on those. I still think they should be consumer repairable but, I think buying a set of P screwdrivers or whatever style they choose is a more than secure enough method of protecting people who don't realize what they are doing.

    Being said, many things that do have tamper or non-standard screws I think shouldn't like the iphones, but I think appliances that have a burner element or a higher power draw should remain one of them.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Yeah but if you're opening high power stuff while it's plugged in thats on you. I get tamper protection on power supplies and stuff where you could get shocked by a capacitor. But a big heater not plugged in is harmless

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago* (2 children)

    Even if it's unplugged first, I strongly disagree with the insinuation that since it's unplugged it's harmless. This is a device that uses the same amount of power draw as a stove top and has water contact as part of it's daily use. If someone who doesn't know what they're doing decides they want to access it, and does it incorrectly, it has the capability of burning your house down.

    Having a standard screw on it like a Phillips or a regular screwdriver significantly lowers the barrier of entry in allowing someone who doesn't know what they're doing to work on the equipment, which is why I think it's fair that a component that has that capability has a something like a hex or a p bit. Those are both something that are not hard to obtain, but also something that you likely won't find just randomly laying around in your house unless you already regularly work on devices or equipment.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    Sorry but as long as it's unplugged it's literally just a bunch of wire. Wire by itself even a heating coil has no way of burning your house down while unplugged.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago*

    I think you may have misread or misinterpreted the comment. Probably my fault for not making it clear, the "harmless" nature is removed when its plugged back in again, not during the repair. It's a different point of the repair process.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 months ago

    Phones absolutely should have screws like they have though, as flathead and philips head, especially at that size, are way too prone to burring.

    They’re not even really “non standard” screws at this point. Anyone can buy a screwdriver set for a few bucks to disassemble an iPhone.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

    Maybe electric kettles are different where you live, but they are extremely dangerous because of the amount of power needed to heat water to 100degreesC quickly. Iirc some countries don’t even have them because their house can’t provide enough power.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 months ago (4 children)

    But unless you understand the electrical components and the rules and codes in their use for consumer safety, maybe, just maybe, it should be a little bit difficult to gain access to if your 10 years old.

    Go buy some bloody tools and quit your whinging.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Yeah sure I'm gonna buy stupid triangle screwdrivers so my nonexistent 10yo cannot open the heater.

    If the said 10yo knows where the tools are it does not matter what kind of screws there are. It just makes me have to buy stupid tools I will only ever use for one appliance.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    If it bothers you, buy a thread gauge and replace the triangle head with something you like better.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    I dont have such a kettle the issue is when you buy the tools to rekove the screws it males no sense to bother changing the screws anymore

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    Yeah, it’s more of a personal preference thing.

    I would recommend against doing that to begin with since plug in kitchen appliances especially need to respond in a safe way to shorts and even the basic barrier to entry that some weird screw presents is enough to make a person who might inadvertently kill themselves or someone else slow their roll.

    But you can for a very low price acquire the tools to allow you to open many objects.

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