RepairMonitor Archieven - Repaircafe

RepairMonitor factsheet provides insight into repair data for 2024

Stichting Repair Café International — Tue, 13 May 2025 13:57:45 +0000

Repair Café volunteers entered more repair data than ever before in 2024. More than 37,000 repairs were recorded in the RepairMonitor, the online tool for data collection in Repair Cafés worldwide. Of these, 62 percent were successful. This can be seen in the latest factsheet with results from the RepairMonitor.

Vacuum cleaners, coffee makers, and trousers/pants were the most popular items brought to Repair Cafés in 2024. The factsheet also lists the most common problems for each of these three items. For example, vacuum cleaners often had damaged cords or plugs, switches were broken, or there were motor problems.

Public dashboard with eight visualisations

The current results of the RepairMonitor can be viewed at any time via a public dashboard with eight visualisations. This dashboard provides insight into the most frequently offered products and brands, participating Repair Cafés, reasons why repairs are unsuccessful etc. Visitors can filter the results by indicators such as country, year, Repair Café and product category. They can also download the entire dataset for further independent research.

RepairMonitor is being expanded and improved

Repair Café International is taking a close look at the RepairMonitor this year. The system is being rebuilt, expanded, and improved in numerous ways. This should make it attractive for even more Repair Cafés to enter repair data and provide more information about the repairs they carry out. This should lead to a larger and better dataset.

This dataset will benefit all kinds of parties: repairers will be able to repair better, policymakers will be able to make better rules to promote repair, manufacturers will have additional tools to increase the repairability of their products, and researchers will have better data to analyse. The updated RepairMonitor is expected to be available in autumn.

More information

Download the factsheet with the results of the RepairMonitor in 2024
View the RepairMonitor dashboard
Read background information about the RepairMonitor dashboard
Check out our previous articles about the RepairMonitor
Register your Repair Café as a RepairMonitor participant

Het bericht RepairMonitor factsheet provides insight into repair data for 2024 verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

RepairMonitor dashboard provides insight into repair data

Stichting Repair Café International — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 07:30:27 +0000

Do you want to know which products the Repair Cafes in your community or country repair most often? And how often they succeed? You can find this and other data via the RepairMonitor dashboard we developed over the summer. This dashboard provides insight into current repair data from Repair Cafes around the world.

The RepairMonitor is the online tool that Repair Cafes use to collect data about the repairs they carry out: products, brands, common problems, successful solutions… in the RepairMonitor, volunteers keep track of it all. In the system they also can, for example, give an approximate estimate of how old an item was, why the repair failed, and whether repair information was available to them.

Up-to-date results now always available

All this information is now open to the public via the RepairMonitor dashboard. There, eight visuals always provide up-to-date insight of the:

number of registered repairs
participating Repair Cafes
most presented products (general and per product category)
success rate
most presented brands
most active Repair Cafes
reasons why repairs fail

The visuals can be downloaded in a pdf. In addition, everyone can download the current dataset at any time to also draw their own conclusions.

Dashboard is also accessible to policymakers, journalists and other interested parties

The RepairMonitor dashboard is open to the public. This means that policymakers, journalists, and other interested parties can also view the information and filter it as they please. Until now, they had to rely on the annual data analysis by Repair Café International. So, through the dashboard, the RepairMonitor’s unique dataset is much better unlocked!

More information

Check out the RepairMonitor dashboard
Register your Repair Cafe with the RepairMonitor and start collecting data!

Het bericht RepairMonitor dashboard provides insight into repair data verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

RepairMonitor: replacing a part is most common procedure

Stichting Repair Café International — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 13:06:49 +0000

Replacing a part most often fixes broken items brought to a Repair Café. The second most popular procedure is cleaning, followed by stitching a seam. This is according to the latest analysis of the RepairMonitor, the online tool for data collection in Repair Cafés worldwide.

‘Magic touch’ of the repairer is sometimes all it takes

In the RepairMonitor, Repair Café volunteers indicate whether a repair was successful. If the answer is ‘yes’, they can also enter how the item was repaired. Glueing, soldering, greasing and grinding are also popular procedures. Sometimes, an item turns out not to be broken, or it is enough to explain its use or maintenance. In a few cases, the repairer’s ‘magic touch’ is enough; see word cloud below.

Main reason for repair failure: no spare parts

Replacement parts also play a significant role in repairs that fail. The main reason for unsuccessful repairs is that spare parts were unavailable. Repairers also indicate that spare parts are not on the market or are too expensive.

Electric heaters more popular since sharp rise in gas prices in 2022

The RepairMonitor clearly shows that developments on the world stage affect what we buy and how we treat our belongings. For example, electric heaters have become much more popular at the Repair Café since the sharp rise in gas prices in 2022. The fan heater was even the highest new entry into the RepairMonitor in 2022!

Vacuum cleaner repairs were most often entered into the RepairMonitor in 2022, followed by coffee maker repairs and trouser repairs. This makes the top three popular products almost identical to the lists in 2021 and 2020.

More information

Every year, Repair Café International compiles the most striking results from the RepairMonitor in a fact sheet. Do you, for example, want to know which common brand has the highest success rate of repairs at the Repair Café? And which products and brands we’re least able to fix? Then download the fact sheet:

RepairMonitor factsheet 2022 English

Also, read the news articles on previous RepairMonitor analyses:

And view the entire dataset on which the analysis is based.

Would you also like to start collecting data through the RepairMonitor? Then sign up your Repair Café!

Het bericht RepairMonitor: replacing a part is most common procedure verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

Repairing laptops

Stichting Repair Café International — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 08:39:32 +0000

Extend the life of your laptop through proper maintenance and repair

Laptops can have a variety of different problems. At the Repair Café, experts can help you fix these problems! In almost half the cases, laptop repairs in Repair Cafés are successful. This is evident from the RepairMonitor: the online tool with which Repair Cafés keep track of their repair data.

Laptops brought to Repair Cafés are often not broken. In many cases, maintenance or explanation of using the device is sufficient to solve the problem. However, occasionally, a component may need to be replaced.

Common laptop problems

Below are the top-5 common laptop problems, as found in the RepairMonitor.

Battery defect / needs to be changed
Hardware failures / problems
USB ports broken
Software problems / software updates needed
Issues with starting up the laptop

In many cases, these problems are easy to solve. Want to try it yourself? Then repair platform iFixit can help you with tools, manuals and spare parts. Would you rather do it together with an expert? Then you are more than welcome at a Repair Café.

Help with laptop problems

Many Repair Cafés have one or more laptop specialists. They know a lot about complex problems and can help you. According to the RepairMonitor, in almost half the cases (46 per cent), the Repair Café manages to directly solve laptop problems. In 33 per cent of cases, we offer someone advice on how to complete the repair later on. Only in 21 per cent of all cases is the repair not successful.

Stan is one of those laptop experts. He volunteers at the Repair Café in Uden, in the Netherlands. “I enjoy volunteering at the Repair Café because I like to help people and the environment”, he says. “It’s nice to see how much waste we’ve already prevented. At present, we of Repair Café Uden have repaired one shipping container’s worth of electrical and electronic products. Otherwise, all these things would have been thrown away.”

According to Stan, mainly older people come to the Repair Café with laptop problems. They often don’t know how to work with a specific program. “In many cases, it’s something easy like a software problem. For example, how to use different email programs. I help them to install programs and show them the basic functions.”

Tips for laptop maintenance

Proper maintenance can prevent many problems with laptops. There are the top-4 maintenance tips:

When the battery has charged to 100 per cent, unplug it immediately
Regularly backup data on an external hard drive
Install and update anti-virus software
Carry your laptop in a good laptop bag to protect it if it should fall

Older laptops are easier to repair

As with other products, new models of laptops are often more complicated to repair than older ones. This is because certain parts of newer laptops cannot be replaced easily.

Stan has noticed this change during his years at the Repair Café too. “Generally, I can say that older laptops are easier to repair. With laptops from 10 years ago, you could change the battery, replace the hard drive and even the keyboard. Also, the screw locations were marked. You can no longer repair anything yourself with for instance, the new MacBook. Even repairers from the Apple Store often don’t have the necessary parts. This makes repairing increasingly difficult, not only for laptops but also for tablets and smartphones.”

According to the RepairMonitor, HP, Acer, and Asus are the most popular laptop brands in the Repair Café.

Top 5 laptop brands at Repair Cafés

Repair your laptop yourself or drop by the Repair Café!

Do you need help repairing your laptop? Then come to a Repair Café in your area. Want to do the repair yourself? Then find a repair guide at iFixit! You can also use these step-by-step manuals to prepare your visit to the Repair Café. This way you can read what to expect.

Het bericht Repairing laptops verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.

RepairMonitor: spare parts crucial for better repair

Stichting Repair Café International — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 14:28:22 +0000

When repairs at the Repair Café fail, this has to do with spare parts in almost half the cases. Spare parts are either not available during the repair, not on the market or too expensive. This is evident from the latest analysis of the RepairMonitor, the online tool for data collection in Repair Cafés worldwide.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 3,200 repairs were entered into the RepairMonitor in 2021; much less than in previous years. For 525 of the unsuccessful repairs, repairers indicated why the repair had not succeeded. In 40 percent of the cases this had to do with spare parts, see the figure below.

Affordable and readily available spare parts are part of the right to repair

According to Martine Postma of Repair Café International, it is therefore crucial that spare parts become more widely available, at lower rates. “Our RepairMonitor indicates that affordable and readily available spare parts can make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful repair.” Martine therefore thinks it is very good that the European Parliament is currently working on this, as part of its advocacy for a full right to repair.

Repair Café International produces an annual fact sheet with the most striking results from the RepairMonitor. Products with a plug or battery are the most frequent items in the Repair Café, according to the top 10 of popular brands:

Download the RepairMonitor fact sheet

Would you like to know which brand has the highest success rate of repairs? And with which product you have a high or low chance of a successful repair in the Repair Café? Then download the fact sheet:

RepairMonitor fact sheet 2021 English

Het bericht RepairMonitor: spare parts crucial for better repair verscheen eerst op Repaircafe.