Yeah, I feel you on this one. Had a similar headache with a smart thermostat a few months back—display went blank out of nowhere. Manufacturer's advice? "Replace the whole unit." Nope. Ended up cracking it open, resoldering a loose connector, and it's been solid ever since. Sometimes modern stuff just needs a bit of old-school TLC...though I swear they're making it harder to DIY these days.
Had a similar thing happen with one of those fancy doorbell cameras—just stopped working one day, no lights, nothing. Manufacturer said it was toast, buy a new one. Figured I'd open it up first just to see what's what. Turned out moisture had gotten in and corroded a tiny connection. Cleaned it up, dabbed some dielectric grease on there... been running fine for over a year now. You're totally right though, feels like they're intentionally making DIY fixes harder these days. Glad you got yours sorted without shelling out for a new unit.
Had something similar happen with a cordless drill battery last winter. Thing just stopped charging, and the company basically shrugged and said "buy a new one." Decided to crack it open myself—turned out one tiny wire had come loose from the solder. Quick fix, but man, the casing was glued so tight I nearly wrecked it getting inside. Makes me wonder: are they just trying to keep us from fixing stuff ourselves, or is it some kind of safety/liability thing?
"Makes me wonder: are they just trying to keep us from fixing stuff ourselves, or is it some kind of safety/liability thing?"
Honestly, I think it's a bit of both. Companies definitely benefit when we toss stuff and buy new, but there's also legit safety concerns—especially with batteries. Still, making repairs nearly impossible isn't cool... we deserve better options.
Yeah, I get the safety angle, especially with batteries—those things can be sketchy if you don't know what you're doing. But honestly, some of these repair barriers feel way overboard. Like last year, my dishwasher stopped draining properly, and when I opened it up, the pump was sealed behind this weird proprietary screw. Had to order a special tool online just to get in there... felt like they were deliberately making it harder than it needed to be.
I mean, I understand companies wanting to avoid liability issues, but at what point does it cross the line from safety into just plain greed?
