Why don’t you like working on equipment others have worked on?

They say a picture tells a thousand words, so the explanation is summarised perfectly here:

In a nutshell, I don’t enjoy cleaning up messes created by others and work like this just makes an already technically challenging job that much harder. Even the very worst offenders would not actually disagree with this.

The best scenario is always hi-fi equipment that is unmolested and in otherwise good, original condition. I am always happy to work on pieces that skilled technicians have worked on, but sadly, they are few and far between.

Many DIY and poorly executed commercial attempts at maintenance create problems such as damaged printed circuit boards and pads, compromised wiring and low-quality, incorrect or mismatched parts. This work rarely resolves the original issues and usually introduces new faults, all of which must then be diagnosed and resolved. A classic example is this Sansui AU-317.

This scenario isn’t limited to electronics; it’s everywhere. Every good mechanic understands the pain of working on a vehicle with loose, broken, stripped or missing fasteners everywhere. Likewise, doctors see bad plastic surgery and often refuse to try to repair it, because it becomes too difficult.

Undoing bad work is tedious, time-consuming and therefore expensive. Hopefully you better understand why I generally avoid it!