About time "eco design" " quoted parameters were applied & enforced legally.

[Mr Gus]

Considering the term eco can be applied willy nilly with no regard for honesty in law.


bamboo & glue lunchboxes & coffee cups ..I guess "reuseable" = " eco" ..like my reuse of a plastic "pp" chinese takeawy container + 40 times per unit then recycled (withstand the dishwasher well) ..thus farce marketing & gullible / complicit supermarket buyers...

Just had to rubber mallet smash a faulty, non replaceable in line switch for an led bedside lamp bought from lidl a good few years ago, dodgey switch contacts that weren't "get at-able" replacement Knightsbridge branded switch has 12 screws (inc 2 to access the moulding) at a delivered cost of £3.00

The original multi led bulb died within a few years, of evening use, now on our 3rd bulb a philips, wife was ready to junk it (deeming a 3rd failure annoying)as she initially had no idea how to undo the cosmetic bulb cap that kept the led gu10 bulb in place.

We all know a whole host of components have to make the grade for an led bulb to stand a chance of its claimed 30,000hrs longevity ..whole product sold on that premise notbeing an empirical reality.

Having tried to saw cut the joined edges open (no place for spudgers) the rubber mallet gained access, ..the dumb thing, for all the short cuts taken, no screw down cablerestraint ala any plug inner to secure cable, but soldered where it mattered, it's likely that a person sans pneumatic/ e-screwdriver can secure a decent connection as fast as several solder connections, ..& the unit is serviceable from point of production.

Wondering how many homes have soldering irons & rubber mallets in their diy kit & how many "in line" switch unit products are junked through simple contact failure per annum?I

I hear "right to repair" applied to the likes of I-phones but bugger all in terms of producing "easy fix" for commonplace items such as this, shame our govt(s) don't make it a requirement of selling goods such as this as a blueprint for it getting into shops or not at all.

[ClockmanFRA]

Gus,

The trouble is, the wheeler dealers and the middle men don’t give a dam.

Remember, the western culture is all about gratuitous consumption and sell sell sell at any cost.

I link keeping 60 year old equipment going and fully operational, to the true sustainability concept.

AM I WRONG????

[Swwils]

The problem is that to deliver that product at the price it's at requires these kinds of things, it's not just one manufacturer or company involved and often the brand have no idea how the product actually works especially the sourced components within.

Imagine a kettle, no kettle brand manufacturer or is specialist for the mains switch used in them; another company has spent alot of time, effort and capital to develop a mains switch that costs pennies to make and works within its specification +- which they then sell to masses of products.

If a kettle manufacturer decides to buy that switch rather than develop their own (which they can't as the result would be extremely expensive) you end up with products that are cost effective, work for end users but the companies that make them cannot change how fundamental sub systems work or are specialised for.

So they literally cannot opt for user maintained components without losing their price point.

These issues only expand as products get more complex and price margins get thinner. Customers always also expecting more and more.

On the face of it it doesn't make sense, but neither does the UK exporting apples to the EU, just to import them again. (With the distinction being we export large cooking apples, and import smaller "portable" snack apples because we do not like to eat massive apples on the go.).

[Oldgreybeard]

The eco thing has been seriously abused by marketeers over the years, so is now mostly meaningless, IMHO.

[Mr Gus]

A kettle "design" can cost up to / around 120 quid & still be crap in designs "siemens porsche kettle" for instance.
Mass production brings components costs down, bulk bought & implemented.
Perception of lasting quality (regardless of brand) always a key seller ..thus your higher cost is more agreeable from the outset & its marketed position.

Sales demo & cite the easily replaceable element as part of sales material..

Folk understand "pay more get more" design elements change as a result.

The terminally dumb !? well we can but try.

Electricians recommend fittings that tend to buck the trend for early failure, (getting harder) ..the cost per light switch may be more but infinitely less than a callout to replace a failed in wall light switch.

NB, not everything can be easily resolved but why let everything else slide down the toilet?

My expensive kettle was a cheap POS tarted up, no more no less, thank goodness I didn't buy it.

[Bugtownboy]

Clockman is spot on. We cannot continue the cycle (Ponzi scheme ?) of consumerism/capitalism. How we break the cycle without catastrophe, though, FIIK

[Mr Gus]

I bought a "non serviceable" water boiler ( 25 litre capacity)

It still had a raised base, get-at-able (regular screws, not specialist) element and thermistor which I replaced at a cost of around £1.76 delivered, same spec, 5 mins work, a lesson in "dont believe the hype" for kit costing several hundreds of pounds. ..its a water vessel, an element, a switch & a thermistor, power cable & plug, no solder required, push fit, test, re-assemble.

Making a mockery of "non serviceable" to even a cub scout under instruction .

Time to end the BS.

How does a firm justify that statement? ..nb this was a leading brand.
Keeping spares accessible & affordable (accounted for on any production plan) raises brand credibility & fan base in both pre modern media times & more especially now with visual servicing advice from experts, = empathy, acceptance of brand & far less complaints when self repair is offered as an option.

[AE-NMidlands]

I fully agree with all this. A friend from New Zealand says that they are trying to improve their legislation to ensure stuff doesn't get junked prematurely (like making it mandatory to keep parts available for the reasonable length of life of the product, I would say 20 years for a fridge!)

Looking for it online it seems that it's not perfect yet (e.g. https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/ri ... hould-care) but at least they are trying...

I am hoping that the recession / consumer squeeze we are going into helps people reset their minds to a '50s appreciation of the value of things - and what things actually are important. I bet we could easily do without 90% of the stuff brought half way round the world for our consumption. Things like chimeneas, firepits, cheap tools which break and/or can't be mended... At least (some) people do seem to be paying attention to controlling energy wastage - now that the price is forcing it on them.
A

[Stinsy]

I bought a "non serviceable" water boiler ( 25 litre capacity)

It still had a raised base, get-at-able (regular screws, not specialist) element and thermistor which I replaced at a cost of around £1.76 delivered, same spec, 5 mins work, a lesson in "dont believe the hype" for kit costing several hundreds of pounds. ..its a water vessel, an element, a switch & a thermistor, power cable & plug, no solder required, push fit, test, re-assemble.

Making a mockery of "non serviceable" to even a cub scout under instruction .

Time to end the BS.

How does a firm justify that statement? ..nb this was a leading brand.
Keeping spares accessible & affordable (accounted for on any production plan) raises brand credibility & fan base in both pre modern media times & more especially now with visual servicing advice from experts, = empathy, acceptance of brand & far less complaints when self repair is offered as an option.

One of the batteries in my “non-serviceable” UPS failed after 2 years. Turned out it was a standard size and very easy to change.

[Oldgreybeard]

One of the batteries in my “non-serviceable” UPS failed after 2 years. Turned out it was a standard size and very easy to change.

I'm having the same problem with my APC UPS, the battery barely lasts long enough to very quickly shut the machine down before cutting out. I've been looking (in vain) for a lithium replacement. The existing battery is a small (7Ah) sealed lead acid one, and it seems to be that if I could swap it for a 4S LiFePO4 pack the thing would have a much greater usable capacity and most probably a long life, too. Only slight snag is how to change the charge voltage. It needs to be reduced to a round 12.4 to 12.6V maximum. Might need to get cunning at making a 4S LiFePO4 pack, with integral BMS, look like a 12V SLA.