Washington Bill Would Make it Illegal to Sell Electronics That Don’t Have Easily Replaceable Batteri

[Elixer]

The bill is cosponsored by 11 other representatives across the political spectrum and Thursday was moved out of Morris’s Committee on Technology & Economic Development, an important step toward passage that puts it ahead of bills introduced in many other states. If passed in Washington, information and parts made available there would likely filter out to the rest of the United States.

The bill Morris introduced also goes further than any other state’s legislation because it seeks to tackle the growing trend of manufacturers creating electronics that have difficult-to-replace batteries.

Starting in 2019, the bill would ban the sale of electronics that are designed “in such a way as to prevent reasonable diagnostic or repair functions by an independent repair provider. Preventing reasonable diagnostic or repair functions includes permanently affixing a battery in a manner that makes it difficult or impossible to remove.”

Think most companies will just avoid this market, or will they cave?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Think most companies will just avoid this market, or will they cave?

That will depend on California following suit, as its a big enough (or lucrative enough) market itself that companies tend to not be able to avoid it.

Also, I don't think it'd change too much, as I have a hunch a lot of devices (iPhones for instance) would be considered easily serviceable enough to comply already. There's quite a lot of iPhone repair places (and I think most of them are able to replace batteries for other devices). There's definitely a few products that wouldn't currently comply (I believe the Surface Pro line was known for being near impossible due to how they glued it together). As long as the manufacturer's offered a repair service that wasn't basically costing half or more of buying a new one, they'd probably be considered in compliance (pretty sure most large companies would be able to argue that its better for them to do it versus trying to certify independent services).

 

[Herr Kutz]

How do they define easy, because for years people have been complaining about iphone batteries, but they are actually quite easy to replace.

 

[mnewsham]

Most mobile phones would already be fine, the bill would simply require manufacturers not make it obscenely difficult to replace batteries. Most of the bigger phones already manage this (iphone, samsung, LG, etc)

 

[EXCellR8]

I'm all for it actually. Ever since my droid razr I've condemned OEM's from sealing batteries. You can certainly replace them in a lot of models but not easily without damaging the innards.

My LG G4 has a swappable battery which i love, but it actually just kicked the bucket earlier today and now i need something else or send it away for service.

 

[wilds]

Be holding onto my Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 for as long as I can. I refuse to buy phone with a sealed battery.

Phones are getting so fast that they do not need to be upgraded very often, but their sealed battery will be their demise.

But what about tablets? My tablet battery life is terrible because the batteries are worn out. We have yet to have a user replaceable battery for a tablet.

Both of my phones batteries are actually significantly larger in capacity and voltage than my tablets since they are aftermarket.

 

[Dribble]

Be holding onto my Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 for as long as I can. I refuse to buy phone with a sealed battery.

Phones are getting so fast that they do not need to be upgraded very often, but their sealed battery will be their demise.

But what about tablets? My tablet battery life is terrible because the batteries are worn out. We have yet to have a user replaceable battery for a tablet.

Both of my phones batteries are actually significantly larger in capacity and voltage than my tablets since they are aftermarket.

I just replaced the battery in an old Sony Z3 compact (which is a classic "non replaceable" battery phone).

Most of the "sealed" phones and tablets you can get into and replace the battery, it's just a bit more work and you need to get some specialised screw driver heads (a few quid for a set off ebay). A heat pad to melt glue (one of those microwave wheat heat bags does fine), some sort of sucker (I just used the windscreen sucker for an old satnav), and something to pry stuff loose when a metal screw driver head might do damage (an old credit card is fine). The battery is normally just held on with some double sided sticky tape, if you aren't going to re-use the battery then you can just unplug it, pry it off, and stick a new one on (with a bit of double sided sticky tape).

It helps there are instructions to disassemble practically everything on the net, and cheap batteries for everything on ebay. Just remember to stop when you can get to the battery, no need to take the whole thing apart - the more dis-assembling you do the more likely you are to break something (speaking from personal experience here, I went further then I needed on the Z3 and managed to break the ribbon cable to the vibration motor however everything else works fine).

 

[wilds]

I'm well aware of the ability to replace sealed batteries, but I have a passion for expandable batteries. These are far superior to battery cases and are incredibly cheap for their capacity.

Most smartphones that support replacement batteries without disassembly also allow expanded batteries, with several recent exceptions.

Even the iPhone can be taken apart quickly with the right equipment.

 

[mnewsham]

I'm well aware of the ability to replace sealed batteries, but I have a passion for expandable batteries. These are far superior to battery cases and are incredibly cheap for their capacity.

Most smartphones that support replacement batteries without disassembly also allow expanded batteries, with several recent exceptions.

Even the iPhone can be taken apart quickly with the right equipment.

I think the real point is the bill is highly unlikely to really do much for the market currently.

It's not like we'll suddenly see the return of removable batteries. This bill just makes it so the replacement process isn't too stupid. They'll still all be sealed from the major manufacturers.

 

[KeithP]

Do lawmakers get a bonus in pay if they author a bill with vague, non-specific language?

-KeithP

 

[sweenish]

If so, OP should get a bonus for thinking companies will "just avoid" Washington state.