For years, I've tried to keep many of the misc equipment and parts that I wind up accumulating. Old gear the client doesn't need any more; one off parts and bits of equipment that I bought for a project, wound up not using and couldn't return; old inventory; extra hardware that comes with new equipment; so many cables and connectors that aren't part of my standard stock; etc.
The thought is that one day I will need this or that for my test bench, training, a client in a tight spot, etc.
Sure, from time to time these items come in handy. But the overhead of trying to manage it all is painful.
Do I need a better system for managing these items, or do I need to purge?
If it's not simple, it's not sufficiently advanced.
Anything with value like amps and speakers you should keep as loaners or for testing or sell it online.
Old control system crap should go in the garbage. Im talking about old touchpanels and component switches and ancient media servers and cd changers etc. Anyone who wants a cheap touchpanel will buy an ipad. No one wants CRT TV's and everyones phone holds more music than the biggest CD changer you have in your warehouse. Junk it.
TV stands and misc brackets and bolts for sound bars and speakers and tvs...trash it. You can spend an extra few dollars a month warehousing it or hauling it around or you can save that money and go spend the few bucks on bolts when you need them.
Old connectors for cable we don't use i usually throw away...assuming we have something new that will work. I just recently tossed out like 10 pounds of 2 piece compression F connectors from who knows how long ago. I dont need them because now i can get compression 1 piece F connectors from anywhere. I will keep any oddball adapters and plugs like 3.5mm to BNC or weird radio shack type stuff. Right angle anything. That misc stuff comes in handy when you open up a camera box (for example) and find something goofy going on.
My boss purged an entire full size dumpsters worth of misc crap a few years ago. We haven't once thought "i wish we would have kept that".
Avid Stamp Collector - I really love 39 Cent Stamps
I tend to save this sort of stuff for a rainy day, but it never seems to rain. Really, you don't need more than one of a given type of item. It's been at least a decade since I've had a desperate need for a composite video switch. And, I still must have the end of that last roll of 5-conductor component video cable ... and there is that large box of composite video with audio patch cords.
An interesting way to get rid of the stuff is to offer a "buy the pound" (no warranties) sale. You'll have vultures show up and take stuff out by the carload.
How about the woman from Texas who called a couple weeks ago because the remote control from the Nakamichi CA-7 preamp purchase in the late 80's stopped working. Apart from the question of how we happened to have one lying around and how we managed to find it, she was pretty happy. It was probably a pretty long wait for that $35 payoff, however.
For years, I've tried to keep many of the misc equipment and parts that I wind up accumulating. Old gear the client doesn't need any more; one off parts and bits of equipment that I bought for a project, wound up not using and couldn't return; old inventory; extra hardware that comes with new equipment; so many cables and connectors that aren't part of my standard stock; etc.
The thought is that one day I will need this or that for my test bench, training, a client in a tight spot, etc.
Sure, from time to time these items come in handy. But the overhead of trying to manage it all is painful.
Do I need a better system for managing these items, or do I need to purge?
Sounds like you need more shelves.
My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
A lot of it will depend on where you are too. If you can easily get to an electronic surplus or wholesale type of shop, keeping large totes full of old cables / ends etc is a waste of space. Keeping one or two on hand might be OK but even then, are you really going to have them with you when you actually run into the service call where you needed them? Not all TV mounts come with the same assortment of screws, so a small container or having them with all your other screws etc makes sense. You don't need to save the left overs from the last 10 installs though. Having a spare amp / receiver / pair of speakers can make you look good when a customer blows theirs up. What you don't need are shelves full of equipment that are so old they no longer have any value or use. Like mentioned above, keeping old CD players or DVD players would be a waste of space.
On January 22, 2017 at 11:46, sirroundsound said...
Not all TV mounts come with the same assortment of screws, so a small container or having them with all your other screws etc makes sense. You don't need to save the left overs from the last 10 installs though.
I have indeed saved leftovers from the last twenty or so installs. I've bought metric nuts (all screws in mount hardware packs are metric) and was able to ship a parts box full of hardware to my overseas project, since the local stores had horribly sparse stock.
If you install all new, then no, you don't need leftover hardware. But I do a lot of restaurant business where TVs get replaced. We need screws that fit the new TV. We're not going to replace every mount just because we don't have screws!
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything. "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
On January 22, 2017 at 22:39, Trunk-Slammer -Supreme said...
Being the nice guy I am, I'll let everyone send all this kind of stuff (junk) to me.
I'll set up at the flea market, sell the crap cheap and take a 25% commission.
Ah, the new business model....
Great thought but then you're on the hook for answering a thousand questions and giving more advice than you planned on dealing with at any given moment. Heck you could give a bunch of stuff away to the wrong person and they'll still feel like you screwed them if they can't figure it out or if you don't come over and do it for them.
So true on the storage Mac. I got my parents out of a public storage garage they had for years and talked them this year into selling their Extra storage garage at the condo. Most of the items are destined for goodwill, because 90% of it is not worth my time or theirs to ebay.
I may be schizophrenic, but at least I have each other.
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