Want to Master the art of electronic repair yourself? Check out MendItLikeMark: www.menditmark... Mark reveals his 3-step process to repairing any vintage electronic device like a pro.
Mark, I feel that you undervalue what you bring to your videos and your repairs. You are an artist. We have watched you redo the windings of multiple motors, remake knobs, make pcb traces the OLD school way, etc.. I think your new venture will be HUGELY successful because you are a joy to watch and you have such a relaxing way of teaching/explaining.
Very inspiring. I disassembled a dead classroom tape recorder / pa for a friend today. Since he'd already written it off, I decided there was nothing to lose by attempting to repair it. I poked around with a plastic straw and discovered the fault was a dry joint on the main amplifier board. Power light came back on, and the audio burst back to life. Once I'd removed the power amp module and flipped it over I discover two dry joints which I resoldered. Mark, you're an inspiration. Thank you very much.
I started my electronics technician apprenticeship 44 years ago and it is wonderful to see someone with your skills developing this new course. So much has been lost over the years on the way to a disposable electronics industry
Having recently retired after 53 years repairing consumer electronics at last i can pick and chose which jobs to accept and not having to worry about ensuring every one of them results in a profit takes away the stress that can make this line of work a bit daunting. I was lucky in that i attended tech college for the theory and worked full time learning the skills to find faults to component level without replacing every component on the board, only to find it it was only a hairline crack in the print. Good luck to anyone taking up this rewarding career even if only as hobby, it can earn you a nice level of income. Mark is one of the best you will find, stick with him as he shows that it is not a dark art.
I don't know if you'll read this Mark but I've been right into electronics since i was 8, I'm now 46 and my obsession has never stopped, it does at times though get put aside. You're videos are absolutely brilliant in every way and thanks to you my obsession is now through the roof. I'm buying equipment, tools ect and I'm turning my garage into a electronic repair centre! haha thanks mate from a fan down under.
I had a good friend just like you mark and he lit my spark with electronics and you done the same for me so I don’t just watch you for entertainment but for Learning and in my book you are a good teacher so please carry on 😊
Hi Mark, just repaired an old Garrard turn table, mainly because it’s mostly mechanical. The main issue was old grease that had gone sticky preventing free movement of some delicate parts, which I learnt about on your channel. Thanks for all the great tips and advice 👍👍👍
Mark is spot on with his process. I’ve been doing something similar for years . And not just for electronics. It works for ANYTHING! What’s the problem ? How does it work ? Find it , fix it . Done . I know it’s sounds to easy , but a little practice and you would be amazed at what you can accomplish.
Mark, I watch out of nostalgia. It takes me back to when I was doing it years ago. Tube cameras, VTRs, VCRs, CD players, tape decks, amps, and finally vintage musical equipment. Largely, I am happy to be away from it now but there were some good times here and there.
"Mend it Mark", I really love your electronics repair channel. At 73 years old I still enjoy repairing electronics especially the older vintage radios and equipment and seeing how others fix things. Now that you pointed out the three step process for repairing any electronics device, I have learned years ago to find the fault and what's causing it and then replace or fix what is causing the fault. Simple. Thought it was a waste to replace a lot of parts needlessly. Only exception is replacing most all paper wax capacitors and electrolytics in very old radios.
This is the same exact approach that I take when diagnosing vehicles. Whether it's the electrical or the electronic side, or the mechanical side. Step number one is always always always, verify customer concern. Within those three words also includes gathering as much information and being able to understand and interpret what the customer or owner is trying to tell you. Learning to speak with and understand your customer and their concern / complaint is a skill unto itself. Step number one: verify customers concern. Thank you so much for what you're offering. Not quite sure I got the quid but I'm glad that there are people out there offering this. Mr Carlson offers something similar however I imagined that like two different teachers face to face, one could gather a multitude of skills and knowledge from several sources. I absolutely love your videos, love your demeanor, and love that you share with us something that excites you.
Great idea, mate. You've helped me on specific items which was huge. We learned The 6 Step Troubleshooting Method in the military. I think the step that should be in your 3 step method is "Half Splitting" Instead of say, signal tracing end to end, spilt it in half and see if it's there. That will point you in the right direction, cutting down diagnosis time.
I think you should be a minister on directive towards all those teenagers that didn't do so well academically but have the interest. They are not inspiring the youth. I did okay in the end but I would of got here 20 years sooner if you were my teacher. Thank you for the sharing the skills that were hard won for myself x
Well done Mark. I think the proper college training died out in the 1990's. I did City and Guilds 224 Electronic Servicing and college although I did the measurement and control leg of the course instead of TV & Radio. One thing I will say with repairing vintage kit is if it arrived in the post always take the lid off and have a good butchers to make sure there's no internal damage prior to applying power. We were taught at college to split diagnosis in three 1 look at the output, 2 look at the input then 3 look in the middle. You can narrow down your search for the fault to the first part of the circuit or the last part. My first repair was called poke 'n' hope by one of my colleagues.
Love watching your Online Electronic repairs show. You also show great knowledge with mechanical workings too. I did an apprenticeship as a radio/tv tradesman back in the early 1970's era, in Australia. I owned my own TV/White good sales repair service for 25 years. Started my own business around 1985 and did my apprenticeship starting in the black and white tv days, through to the colour tv days in 1976 in Australia and furthered my Technical achievements by doing night school when the CD player came into sales, to repair them too. Also, Microwave ovens and other electrical/electronic goods too. Yes, we even changed over a colour TV picture tube when a TV had lost the emission of one of the RGB guns and couldn't be boosted/rejuvenatedOH yes, I remember quite vividly getting Zapped as I forgot to discharge the tube from the Aqua-dag to the Ultor one day, nearly dropped it, but one mounting bolt saved the day!!!......Seen you get Zapped with a H/V capacitor too, not good. Thanks again for your great show and I love watching you perform your great and successful repairs. Regards, Chris.
Someone in here (Turkiye) makes similar educational videos and sells them online. I was disappointed that you did not make it before. But, the price is too high for Turkish followers. Anyway, good luck Mark. Please go on what you are doing. Best wishes.
Preach on Sir. There are so many channels that try to “teach “ diagnostics and just make the process more difficult to grasp. I’m glad someone finally said something . I was actually just blocked from a channel for , respectfully, giving my opinion, backed with documentation and other references. It was the opposite of appreciated. My biggest gripe was , verify the complaint. Simple. Second, have all the components of the system to be repaired. If you have a battery charger that only charges a specific tool battery. Sure, you might be able to muddle through and get lucky. But you won’t really know how the battery charger has failed if you don’t have the battery it charges. I saw one that tore into the board because the LED didn’t illuminate. Having about 12 of those chargers, and had I not been blocked , I would’ve shared that the LEDs always fail so you have to start there before anything. Thanks for your video.
Can’t believe you’re charging around £200 per repair! Given your experience, thoroughness, and attention to detail, that doesn’t seem nearly enough! 😯 Thanks for another fantastic video. Love these ones about the basics of the approach. 🖤
@@paulmichaelfreedman8334 The labour is the vauable thing apart from valves, transformers etc. Also, he can probably repair plenty of things in 2 hours or so.
@@paulmichaelfreedman8334 Not necessarily. I'm one of his clients, Mark repaired a tape deck for me. (Not filmed, sadly, guess it was too boring). Anyhow, he changed belts, cleaned it, fixed an issue with a non-recording channel (which IMHO required a replacement of at least on voltage regulator) and of what he says, he replaced one pot(entiometer) which he had to make himself, as it was custom. And he charged *less* than 200, even less than 150...
@@antonjansenvanrensburg4145yep. Wish anyone would pay me $100 to fix anything they can replace for $200 or so, then complain when another unrelated fault appears 12 months on.
One heck of a sales pitch! If you have a notion to effect repairs, go for it! Working in a industrial environment we hire really good graduates, the thing we struggle with is not the technical skills and qualifications, its nurturing their sense of curiosity, when something keels over we need an engineer who asks the question why and is willing to play with the equipment to reach the problems solution! So if I were to add anything to your pitch…it would be nurturing a curiosity and asking why XYZ failed.
You are right, I started taking things apart to learn how they work as long as I remember.I repair for most industrial and maritime PCBs besides measurement and calibration gear commercially B2B for 15 years. If you only do it to earn money you will stop very quick. There are no easy shortcuts. The things most important for me are: 1) Good knowledge of electronics and for most the drive to fix things/solve problems. For most if you repair stuff without schematics and when there are no you tube videos or forums about the thing in front of you. Most times you are on your own. If you repair consumer stuff it all gets different and a lot more easy. Sound knowledge helps a lot but most times you can find the problem on you tube or a forum and just blind replace parts. But without sound knowledge you will not be able to repair it if that does not solve it. I'm self thought, I spend years of study, every day several hours reading books, experimenting, designing + building for real and in a sim (the best way to get problem solving skills). 2) A real good solder/desolder station because I need to remove a lot of components to be able to test them. I use 2 pace stations with each 3 handpieces and a good hot air station. With cheap crappy Chinese stuff you will often cause more damage (they are not all crap but it is a gamble to find the not crappy ones) To find info is hard because many reviewers only have experience with other crappy gear used on cardboard consumer electronic pcbs. Bang for buck is not gonna help you when doing difficult desolder jobs on pcbs with massive "cooling capabilities" and if you damage the PCB you have to tell your customer you damaged his pcb because you only use crappy tools. 3) Test gear, I can not work (My types of repairs being PCBs from machines/ships) without a Scope, a real good LCR meter, fast DMM, DC lab supply, DC load, AC lab psu and a lot of special component testers. ranging from simple semi-conductor testers to a curvetracer and a SMU. I also have several IC testers, one of them I made myself and is the idea of a tube tester using 16 twelf position switches. I also have a fancy breadboard with build in PSU, function gen, Leds, debounced switches etc. I take a datasheet, desingn a test circuit, test the part and solder it back. For testgear and calibration gear I have several calibrators, standards and a K7510. I also use a lot of current measuring things because current often tells you more then voltage. For incidental consumer stuff I only need a scope, LCR meter , function generator and DMM. I prefer a scope above a DMM. There are things you can not compensate with knowledge alone. 4) Patience and the will to not give up, even if that means you have to dismantle the whole damn thing for the 6th time, do not let the defect electronics win ! My steps: - test the thing to see what is wrong - good optical inspection of the inside - check the PSU for ripple and voltage - what ever is needed to go on like connecting a FG to the input of an amp and follow the signal with a scope.
@@pa4tim I completely agree. I work in the pump industry and the lads that show an interest are the ones that finish up in demand. Everyday should be a school day.
I think most people watch channels like yours because they want to learn something. Not just to repair appliance x. There are many videos targeted at that audience and they are short and to the point, not much explanation, just a "colour by numbers" set of instructions in a five minute video. That is not what your audience is here for. Channels like yours capture people like me, who have no formal education in electronics but want to learn. Long videos are not a problem for us (on the contrary). Theory is not a problem (on the contrary). I would like to see more of that. There are some channels like that too, (see professor Fiore for instance, and Mr Carlson of course) but not always attacking things in a cohesive and consistent manner. There is a lot to learn and I myself feel I have made significant progress, watching and doing, but there is some way to go. One suggestion for others like me, perhaps if you start from scratch, start with vacuum tubes, even if only theoretically. I find those much more intuitive than semiconductors. Once the basic topologies are understood, it will make your life easier to follow a solid state diagram (start with simple things, of course). Good luck with your course and hope to see more of you around here. You are fun to watch (and that is an important part of your channel's success).
I can certainly diagnose like 75% of simple consumer products but mark has a much larger knowledge of how transistors and amplifiers work which most people won't. I think transistors will be the roadblock for many people like myself who struggle to pinpoint them as the problem, test them out of circuit and such. ICs as well
great idea Mark, fixing stuff is good for the world and turns you into wizard status.... glad you are willing to share your skills... everyone interested should join.
Listen carefully to him, guys. Chief Mark can fix any warp drive with nothing more than a tricorder, a dilithium crystal and a few grams of unobtanium.
I started dabbling in electronics when I was 15, from tube to current surface mount repairs. Now! at the tender age of 72 I still enjoy the challenge, especially vintage equipment. Like you I a massed a lot of test equipment over the years as technology advanced. Mark! your video's are most informative and educational, (I love your sense of humour).
Many items that come in to me would have been simple jobs originally, but having to sort through the mess after they tried to fix themselves adds time and money to the repair. Other times it's due to people replacing a blown fuse and trying again multiple times, usually with much higher rated fuses! I can only hope that people who take Mark's course learn the valuable lesson of not blindly charging in without understanding what the real issue is. Not everyone has the right mindset for troubleshooting.
Really enjoy the videos & I'm lucky to have served a technical apprenticeship in the military, which had some excellent training. 1st check is always to verify the power supply, then fault finding by the half-split methodology. Has done me well for the past 40+ yrs 😊. Product knowledge is a biggie too, knowing what should happen when a button is pressed; too many hrs spent chasing a 'fault' that was actually a 'design feature', yep we've all been there!
Hey Mark, I am in the states. Washington DC watch your videos on repairing vintage equipment all the time. You are very good very very good. I like the way you solve any problems that you come across in repairing if you have the time I will like to know what is 200 pounds is that $200 in the states we use dollars thanks so much for your smile your gentleness and your profession thank you
mark since watching you it has renewed my interest in Electronics but after my stroke i still can not remember everything but i am sure i will one day I still enjoy my amateur radio. and fixing small problems, thanks for the video
After watching this video I feel like I can repair any device. Now I will watch how brain surgery is done and then I will be able to do all kinds of surgeries
What I like about you is you don't rubbish the product you are working on. A lot of techs if it's "difficult" to work on they instantly don't like the product and go on and on about how crappy the product, engineers, and the entire company is.
@@florianm3170 There's quite a few. I still like the content, often times, but it's just so hard to listen to them complain about the manufacturer or the last tech who was in there.
There is also another group of people who enjoy watching your vids. That is retired techs who enjoy watching other people work. I, myself, am pleased you still use a CRT 'scope. We also understand the great sense of satisfaction in effecting a repair, particularly if it has been passed on from someone who wasn't so successful with it.
It took me a while to derive what you just layed out in this video. When I was 25 I found myself responsible for all of the automation for a large wastewater treatment plant. One lesson that I learned is to read the manuals, where available. I sounded brilliant at times where I was just the only one aware of what the manuals said. I won't be joining as my controls servicing career started in 1973. But I wonder, how do yoou keep track of all of the screws? Thanks, Mark. ;-)
I have always worked to the principle that once you have a good knowledge of an engineering discipline then you can transfer that skill set from one item to another. It is definitely easier if you have an analytical and logical mindset. Having a wall of useful (and quite pricey) test equipment definitely helps too.
Having done a few vintage repairs successfully, i would suggest an important step is omitted. That would be googling the specific model and problem. Say you have a pioneer sx-780 with left channel distortion. A quick search of the phrase "sx-780 channel distortion" is very likely to turn up a bunch of threads addressing that exact problem. Skim through those and you will often see a pattern emerge which guides diagnosis and saves time. I agree with the idea of a systematic approach. But places like diyaudio are loaded with threads on vintage devices and their common problems. Carry on, Mark, and good luck with the new course.
Hi Mark. Can I first say that I have been an electronics repair man all my working life, 45 years plus, and you are quite possibly the best all round technician I have ever seen. However, please don't bother with any more videos like this, your normal content is what we all keep subscribed for. It's worth mentioning for anyone thinking of taking it up that the £200 per repair has got to depend on where you are. I am in West Yorkshire, and many people here live in some sort of time warp where they still expect an amplifier to get repaired for £50 or less. This is why I don't really bother doing the job any more apart from a few bits of vintage valve equipment of my own that are destined to sell on Ebay, or valve guitar amplifiers that belong to musicians I have known for years.
Hi Mark. Yes! All steps very important, but perhaps step 1 the most. I was taught re-produce the fault( to make sure it’s not just user error), and it will help you narrow down where the fault is. The thing to remember about vintage gear is it is generally easier to repair as the technology is older, meaning it’s more like to be repairable,generally one doesn’t need sophisticated test equipment and there’s often service information available. Quite often someone else will have repaired an identical item which can help. The best way of all to learn though is to do it. Practice on stuff that doesn’t matter. Old stuff that people have thrown away. Get stuff cheap at car boot sales. If you don’t fix it it doesn’t matter, you will have still learned( and you can break the item for parts. Gradually you will fix stuff, and your confidence and experience will grow. It’s also amazing how many faults are really simple.
"Excellent diagnostic skills" Glad to have been an early discoverer of such a great engineer! Interesting idea. I do repair my own vintage gear, but I'm not at your level! I wish you great success with your new venture!
Good luck with your endeavor Mark. Anything that promotes self-repair and a structured approach to electronics problem solving is a good thing! Knowledge is power.
I ran a small tv rental and repair shop wich ment if it fad a mains plug or ran on batteries we repaired it . for the tvs on rental most repairs where done in peoples house so no nicetys like isolation transformers . i think your chanel is one of the best electronics chanel there is keep up the good work.
Ok, I'm sold. I find old tech fascinating, not really sure why, and I don't really know what I'm doing half the time but managed to get quite a few things back to life! Look forward to learning!
Mark is inspiring many of us out here to start learning and doing this type of work ourselves. He deserves our support and many thanks for what he does for this community. Thanks Mark for what you do for so many of us. cheers!
Hello Mark... It's unfortunate that there are not many people like you who can still repair vintage equipment... I have been looking for over 3 years to get someone to fix my JVC VN-300 amp and a Sansui D90 tape deck... It's not easy when people cannot repair these equipment it just gathers dust... Great video.... Cheers...
Hi Mark. I really appreciate your videos and repair skills. I hope that the menditlikemark program works out well . Please however be kind to yourself. It's very tempting to try to be everything to everyone but that leads to burnout. Make sure you can keep up with the workload the training service demands from you. Warm regards Fellow repairer Ray
Mark, Thank you so much for doing this - I am joining the platform as soon as I finish this post. Learning from you has been really fun and inspiring. Looking forward to what is coming down the road. I wish you nothing but success. With gratitude, D
I would love to learn to have a better understanding electronics to the point where I could attempt at least some basic repairs, but I only have the most limited knowledge. I've been thinking about joining up to your course to learn something new, but I'm mindful of getting left behind quickly, especially as there will be so many people who will join the course and will be streets ahead in their understanding. It makes me think about school in the '70s and how easily I got left behind in some subjects there. I watch your videos in awe of how you repair and understand the intricacies of your trade. I guess what I am saying is Mark, is your training course suitable for people like me who are on the bottom rung of the ladder?
It’s difficult to know how to progress in this career when you DON’T want to also film and edit videos. It’s almost like you have to these days to prove yourself to the entire world. I’ve been in business for three years and generally do guitars/basses and amplifiers, but my real love is vintage and antique stuff. But I am passionate. I mean, I started this business because I love it. 🤷🏼♂️ But it’s frustratingly difficult to know how to market it, and I am one of the very few in my area who even do it so I have essentially no one to talk to when I need help with something that perplexes me. Forums are too inconsistent and I’ve found most professionals to be a bit grumpy about helping others out. There’s still very much a “I had to learn this the hard way so you should have to struggle too.” mentality in much of the repair world. I also find that vanity and fancy tools wow people and not all of us can afford the best scopes and 3D printers and all that. Absolutely love your channel though. Videos like yours help me formulate ideas and ways of doing things in my own repairs in a world where I have no real peers to speak of.
To be fair: Things are always easy for someone with the relevant knowlege. But as of my experiance most people don't have basic knowlege about electronics and even more critical: They don't have a sense of danger. Many can't judge what they see on the measurement tool display and don't have a clue about it's meaning. And some repairs requires more or less expansive tools also. All together is the reason many stuff sold on second hand markets are crap, because someone tried something, messed it up horribly and now try to get rid of it by selling to someone and not telling the truth about the units history.
i can't believe, the moment i saw your video title i thought that it would be, 1- test and analyze, 2- diagnose, 3- repair ... and OMG, you just said the exact same titles... niceeeeee
Ive been interested in electronics since i was in school.im 43 now.and all the years ive been told that i have to be good at maths to do it.this is the first time someone said that i dont have to be good at maths.
Tu es un passionné qui partage sa passion au autres et tes vidéos nous aide à analyser, tu es une référence pour nous , merci de nous partager ta passion tu es vraiment minutieux dans tes réparation et analyse de problème, merci de nous partager tous c’est beaux moment .
I've always enjoyed your channel, Mark. I was trained in electronics and did the college years ago! So I don't need to sign up myself, but I do wish you all the best. Only comment: Someone working on an old vintage valve radio shouldn't just plug it in and see if it works, (as you know) the bad caps in it could mean damaging hard-to-replace bits like the output transformer or output valve, etc. Usually OK if you use a dim-bulb, though.
Hi Mark, Marc here! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS AND ALL YOUR VIDEOS! My Pioneer SA-620 amplifier and PL-6 turntable will thank you in the future as well ^_^
Great idea. I have been repairing gear for about 50 years+-. Mostly 1920-1960 era radio, some Hifi. I have a "repair" link on California Radio Historical Society.I think there is only about 2 of us left on it. It is enough to pay for my hobby. Things do go wrong though. I recently did a 1965 Saba Hifi.Gave a bid of $400, then spent 0ver 12 hrs getting the FM dial stringing to work right! I don't have the room or eyesight for a scope, so no SMD for me! Certainly love your site: Mr Carlson, Techmoan, My Mate Vince, The Repair Shop, and this one are my go to sites. Tom in northern California.
So glad to hear that Dave Jones from EEVBlog inspired him. Even happier to hear he chose to share his experience with others. Best of luck to you and all that learn from you!
I now fix electronics as a side business/hobby. I have 1 more suggestion... Get some dirt cheap/free broken electronics to practice and learn on first. Wait until you feel confident before stepping up the game. You'll find a niche that you enjoy. I usually fix musician's gear..... and sometimes a turntable or two.
I do love your videos and the craftsmanship, love and dedication you give to all your restorations. You make extremely entertaining and informative videos. This course is a bargain for any vintage fanatic! Unfortunately its more modern electronics I'm keen to learn like laptops, phones & tablets. But anyone taking the course certainly wouldn't be disappointed in their vintage repair game leveling up - BIG STYLE!!!
Caro Mark, mi piacerebbe davvero iscrivermi al tuo corso , il tuo modo di riparare le cose è veramente fantastico , purtroppo non padroneggio bene l’inglese e quindi ti seguo con le traduzioni ( non sempre precise) per questo motivo sono costretto a seguirti semplicemente sul canale libero , comunque i tuoi video mi hanno insegnato molto. Grazie .
Well done Mark, you're such a pleasure to watch, and very entertaining, and there's a chance you'll shock yourself again hahahahaha only kidding mate, stay safe ;)
It also helps to reiterate over common problems with the tech you're fixing. I can't even count how many vintage CD decks I've picked up from the junk shops around here with a diagnosis of "dead laser, skips all over the place" and the actual fault was that the rubber/foam on the top clamp went out the window. Some rubber o-rings and a tiny dab of glue and the thing sings again like new! Not even breaking out the scope and the tester. And some of them went for very good prices after the fix :P
All the best with your new venture Mark. I would have liked to see the course, even though I have some skills, but I'm skint. I'm sure there will be lots of people who will get much from the course. All the best.
200 quid a repair, that's not the norm for most people. Equipment has to be worth the repair fee to begin with. 200 quid goes a long way to buy new items these days. People don't bother getting items repaired, when the repair fee is half to two thirds of a new item.
@@BigFurryCat Yes, probably. Then you have the obsolescence factor aswell. Everything these days are past it in 5 to 10 years. Apple products even less 😄
