> > The problem is, manufacturer deliberately charge a replacement > > cost of the MCU to about 30% to 40% of the cost of the equipment. > > This is a not uncommon but iniquitous practice by many. Speaking personally I wouldn't/couldn't charge that much. When my customers need a PIC replaced I start with the price of the PIC and add a couple of dollars for programming and post. The cost of the overall unit has no bearing on it. It is such an infrequent occurence and I've no expectation of profitting by it. I always insist on the original back though, just to make sure they've not made a h/w copy So far this has applied to DIP parts which are generally socketed and the customer can do the replacement themselves. Now that I'm going over to SMT it could get tricky > Faulty unit > Re 1. By whose logic? > (And if yours and not theirs, who say you are right?) > Faulty after how long? > Commercial warranties are often ridiculously short - little more than > extended burn ins. After that you can be at the mercy of the supplier. I'd have thought the MTBF of ICs in normal circumstances is pretty good now, such that you'd expect warranties to get longer rather than shorter . For example I have a PIC circuit that's coming up for its 10th birthday. It's been on for that whole time, 24/7 in all weathers, never needed any attention, and it works as faultlessly as it always has done. If it had failed within, say, 2 years, I'd accept that as my failure and part of my learning process. Then again, if I had what I believed was good data to begin with and the failure was unexpected then I'm stuck. I'm the first port of call for the customer, how it gets sorted out behind the scenes is not his/her concern 5 years is reasonable. 10 ? Hmmm, I think that's pretty good service and good value for money. Who knows, it might last another 10 > > Unfortunately, yes, you are stuck with those choices. If you > > were a manufacturer I think you'd adopt the exact same policy. > > No. Not everybody wishes to pillage and setal given half an >opportunity. And some maufacturers charge reasonably fairly OK, I'll give you that one. Taking myself as an example there's no need to be rapacious. There's more to be gained from good PR than from performing the dual feat of collecting a relatively miniscule amount of money and pissing a customer off (who probably won't be back and, even worse, might spread the word) > > I'm sure we've all had a repair which cannot be completed > > because of an irreplaceable > > Irreplaceable is not the same as held-to-ransom. Too true _______________________________________________ http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist