Practices of fault diagnosis in household appliances: Insights for design

Arcos, Beatriz Pozo; Bakker, Conny; Flipsen, Bas; Balkenende, Ruud

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121812

Cited by 25 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Guidance during the diagnosis process procures a more effective outcome [14]. A recent study showed that, for end users, guidance is decisive in successfully diagnosing the faults in malfunctioning appliances [24]. These findings agree with recent requirements in Ecodesign regulations and reparability studies, which concur that the provision of diagnosis information is necessary to facilitate product repairs.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…As a second step, we collected data on the five most frequently failing components for each of the four appliances, the related symptoms, and possible defects in the components. Data on frequently failing components were available in the literature [24,32], and reports from consumer and repair associations like Test ankoop, Which?, and the Repair Cafe [3,27]. Table 4 presents a description of the datasets and the top 5 frequently failing components for each of the appliances.…”

Section: Analysis Of the User Manualsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous academic studies on the content of user manuals examine topics like the usability and accessibility of manuals [6], their effect on customer satisfaction [11], how the content should be developed for optimal product use [26], or how alternative media such as virtual and augmented reality can be used to present the manual's information [10,20]. Similarly, the literature on repair practices does not discuss the diagnosis step, even though it notes that the current content of user manuals is insufficient to facilitate repairs [4,24,29]. Therefore, it remains unclear how much support manuals provide to end users regarding the diagnosis of malfunctioning appliances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How User Manuals Support the Diagnosis of Common Faults in Household Appliances: an Analysis of 150 Manuals

2022

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Product repairs are at the core of sustainable consumption and user manuals can play a relevant role in facilitating them. They are the accredited source of product information for end users and are therefore sought as an important means for the diagnosis and subsequent repair of household appliances. However, despite increasing societal demand for repairable products, few studies have been conducted on the extent to which manuals contribute to the fault diagnosis and subsequent repair process. In this study, we analysed current guidance provided by manuals for the diagnosis process, answering the research question: ‘To what extent do user manuals provide sufficient information to diagnose the most frequent faults in household appliances?’ We examined the diagnosis instructions provided in the user manuals of four different household appliances using data on the appliances’ most frequently failing components, and a framework that considers three steps towards a successful diagnosis: fault detection, fault location, and fault isolation. In total, we analysed 150 user manuals of 48 brands available on the European market. We show that manuals do not instruct the diagnosis of frequently failing components. They mainly refer to causes of failure and directly recommend corrective actions after fault detection. Thus, they rarely include a three-step fault diagnosis process to identify and isolate a faulty component. Based on these results, we have extended the framework for the process of fault diagnosis to include a step from cause identification to corrective action. Both routes, the component-oriented and the cause-oriented route in fault diagnosis, should be considered during the design of products for easy fault diagnosis, and should be included in future regulations that address product reparability.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Analysis Of the User Manualsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How User Manuals Support the Diagnosis of Common Faults in Household Appliances: an Analysis of 150 Manuals

2022

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“…Modules can be separated from the rest of the product as self-contained, semi-autonomous chunks; and they can be recombined with other components [22]. Modularity improves diagnosis [23], product disassembly, [24] and spare part price. The degree of modularity needs to be balanced-bundling into bigger modules decreases disassembly time but makes spare parts expensive, and vice versa.…”

Section: Modularitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Process of isolating the reason for product failure. Diagnosis is facilitated by designed signals (text, light, sound, or movement) [23]. Even without these features, visible surfaces and component accessibility for inspection can also promote failure isolation [25].…”

Section: Diagnosismentioning

confidence: 99%

Design Aspects in Repairability Scoring Systems: Comparing Their Objectivity and Completeness

2022

Self Cite

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The Circular Economy Action Plan adopted by the European Commission aims to keep value in products as long as possible through developing product-specific requirements for durability and repairability. In this context, various scoring systems have been developed for scoring product repairability. This study assessed the objectivity and completeness of six major repair scoring systems, to see what further development may be required to make them policy instruments for testing product repairability. Completeness of the scoring systems was assessed by comparing them to the latest literature on what design features and principles drive product repairability. Objectivity was determined by assessing whether the scoring levels in each criterion were clearly defined with a quantifiable and operator-independent testing method. Results showed that most of the criteria in the scoring systems were acceptably objective and complete. However, improvements are recommended: The health and safety criterion lacked objectivity and has not yet been fully addressed. Further research is required to expand the eDiM database, and to identify whether the additional accuracy provided by eDiM compared to disassembly step compensates for the increased difficulty in testing. Finally, assessment of reassembly and diagnosis should be expanded. Addressing these gaps will lead to the development of a scoring system that could be better used in policymaking, and for assessment by consumer organizations, market surveillance authorities, and other interested stakeholders, to promote the repairability of products.

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ANS-net: anti-noise Siamese network for bearing fault diagnosis with a few data

Qin

2021

Nonlinear Dyn

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Practices of fault diagnosis in household appliances: Insights for design

Cited by 25 publications

References 22 publications

How User Manuals Support the Diagnosis of Common Faults in Household Appliances: an Analysis of 150 Manuals

How User Manuals Support the Diagnosis of Common Faults in Household Appliances: an Analysis of 150 Manuals

Design Aspects in Repairability Scoring Systems: Comparing Their Objectivity and Completeness

ANS-net: anti-noise Siamese network for bearing fault diagnosis with a few data

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