Ngal/Peq15 reproduction repairs

[Fergus66]

Hi,

May I enquire does anyone know is there anywhere in the UK who undertakes Ngal or Peq15  repro repairs ? My Ngal has died with only a flicker then nothing from visible laser and light. I have cleaned battery compartment and changed battery unfortunately without success.
I would be most grateful for any advice and support.

Many thanks 

 

[Lyndication]

I'm guessing it's a real one rather than repro. Have you tried contacting the manufacturer?

 

[Fergus66]

Hi,

Sorry just to clarify it’s a reproduction. I have contacted the manufacturer and I am waiting for a response. However it’s now out of warranty.I am more than happy to pay for repair but unsure if they will undertake repair.

Many thanks 

 

[Lyndication]

Oh, it may be quite hard to repair. There's not really a dedicated service for that kind of thing, as they tend to be quite cheap.

You may have some luck if you have a pal who has electronic tech skills, but usually the parts are tricky to procure. It sounds like a fault in the power line if both modes are flickering. 

 

[Cannonfodder]

You may have some luck if you have a pal who has electronic tech skills, but usually the parts are tricky to procure. It sounds like a fault in the power line if both modes are flickering. 

I'm certainly not an electrical engineer but that sounds right to me. 

If you have acces to a current tester and soldering iron it may be possible to repair

 

[Fergus66]

If the cheaper versions are on average £40-£60 and the metal ones £100-£200 it’s still a significant amount of money to warrant a repair. However I cannot find anyone in Uk who does this sort of work.Considering how many their must be in the Uk I would have thought someone would have set a business up however sadly not.

I know my limits and electrical work of this nature is certainly not my forte lol

I am more than happy to pay for this expertise to save my sanity!

 

[Lyndication]

Yeah like I said, they're very cheap. 

Your TV costs 5-10x that and they don't have repair shops you can take them to either. Most manufacturers exchange like for like and maybe have one service center for the whole EU that performs board level replacement. It's part of why people have been banging on about Right To Repair for years now. 

If you paid me a fair rate to spend an hour inspecting and repairing it, plus shipping there and back, it'd already be getting close to the cost of buying one new. So people just do anyway.

 

[Galvatron]

I don't imagine imagine there is much of a business case for repro PEQ/NGAL/MAWL/etc repairs, especially in the UK, because it won't be worth it for the customer.

Outside of the wiring, spare components such as laser emitters won't have economies of scale that there would be much profit margin unless a repair business bought hundreds if not thousands.

I side with Lyndication. Once you factor in parts & labour costs along with shipping, especially with something less expensive like a PEQ, buying a replacement is more viable than a repair from a customer's perspective.

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

Maybe there is one of those old style “Tv & Video/PC” repair shops in your city that you could ask nicely to have a look at

It sounds like it just need a bit of accurate soldering

It might be of interest and a challenge to somebody a bit old school with the “make do and mend” attitude 

 

[Fergus66]

It’s interesting and perhaps a sign of the times that repair and make do is becoming a bygone thing of the past.Yet the green agenda has never been so publicised ?

However some of the higher end units are retailing at £250 and when warranty ends you’re totally snookered! Surly a repair would cost less then replacement?

 

[Lyndication]

It’s interesting and perhaps a sign of the times that repair and make do is becoming a bygone thing of the past.Yet the green agenda has never been so publicised ?

This has been the case for decades now. 

Over time the complexity of electronic products has increased, more functions are on ICs rather than discrete components, and the assembly methods favour small and closely packed board layouts to minimise size, which makes it an absolute bastard to perform repair on most things. 

Plus an unhealthy dose of Planned Obsolescence.

If I never have to replace an 0201 surface mount component it'll be too soon. It's like handling a grain of sand.

 

[Fergus66]

I had no idea it was so complicated to repair.Please forgive my naivety and thank you for explaining its much appreciated. I have just looked and the somogear Ngal is £500 ! My goodness me.Still I must continue to search otherwise I just have a chunk of metal just sitting pretty doing nothing.

 

[Austeyr]

otherwise I just have a chunk of metal just sitting pretty doing nothing

You could always sell it on, I mean people buy stuff for the sake of appearance *cough* @ButcherBill *cough* so you could at least regain some funds towards a replacement

 

[Fergus66]

I would wish for it to be condemned before I could consider that option but it is a option thank you.

 

[Austeyr]

It'll probably cost more to send it to a repair person and have them fix it than it would to buy a new repro from AliExpress anyway realistically

 

[Fergus66]

You could always sell it on, I mean people buy stuff for the sake of appearance *cough* @ButcherBill *cough* so you could at least regain some funds towards a replacement

I wonder what a  none working SomoGear MK1 Ngal would bring ? 

 

[Austeyr]

I wonder what a  none working SomoGear MK1 Ngal would bring ? 

They don't break as easily as the cheaper clones, however I'd assume they'd still be around the £150 mark broken. If it's just for appearances you can get a WADSN one from AliExpress for £40 right now which has IR supposedly as well

 

[hitmanNo2]

Iirc, the MK1 Somogear NGALs aren't massively desirable as the IR illuminator wasn't great. Non adjustable I think. Though, price it low enough and someone will buy it. 

 

[ButcherBill]

You could always sell it on, I mean people buy stuff for the sake of appearance *cough* @ButcherBill *cough* so you could at least regain some funds towards a replacement

Oi...

 

[Fergus66]

You could always sell it on, I mean people buy stuff for the sake of appearance *cough* @ButcherBill *cough* so you could at least regain some funds towards a replacement

I wonder what a  none working SomoGear MK1 Ngal would bring ? 
Thank you to everyone who has replied to my original post I genuinely appreciate the advice and guidance.