Switzerland – In 2019, the so called Repair Cafés took care of over 23.000 broken items. Not only they repair electronic devices such as DVD players, but also completely different things like clothes or toys. Over 15.000 items were repaired, thus saved from landing in the trash.
Approximately half of all items brought in for repair are electronic devices and household appliances. These two categories each account for 25 percent of the total repair requests, highlighting their prevalence in the Repair Cafés. Following closely behind are textiles, such as jeans, which make up 18 percent of the items needing repair. Among the most frequently brought items are coffee machines, which are essential for many households, trousers that often suffer from wear and tear, and vacuum cleaners, which are crucial for maintaining clean living spaces. These commonly repaired items reflect the everyday needs and priorities of the community, emphasizing the importance of Repair Cafés in extending the life of frequently used possessions.
In Switzerland, there exist approximately 140 Repair Cafés. For some devices, special instruments and/or tools are required. Computer Controls therefore decided to donate an Oscilloscope to the organization.
Keysight 1000X Oszilloscope Datasheet [Download PDF]
A perfect example of where the oscilloscope could be used was on a broken DVD player. Luckily, the team found some information about the device online and was therefore able to find out the actual voltages.
Figure 1: A volunteer working withe the Keysight 1000X Oscilloscope
«Without the oscilloscope, we would never have found the error», says Clara Schjøtt, Repair Café Burgdorf.
They compared the scheme and the Power Supply Board with the data delivered by the oscilloscope. The team then was able to localize the error and eventually fix it.
Do you live in Switzerland (or nearby) and want to visit a Repair Café? Find all locations here.