We do offer Librem 13 and 15 replacement batteries in the shop as well, because that’s the most likely thing that someone might want to replace over time, and there’s enough demand that we put it on our shop along with the other items (feet, screws, HDD mounting kits) that get significant enough demand to justify it. The rest we just handle on a case-by-case basis, because the demand is low enough that it’s not burdensome to us to handle incoming queries for those parts.
I suspect the Librem 14 will follow a similar path, where components are handled case-by-case at first, and then get their their own SKU in the shop when there’s been significant enough incoming requests to justify it.
My assumption has been that since there are no listed parts, they are simply not available. You’re telling me that this isn’t true … which is great news. So, supposing that someone had a Librem 13 with broken hinges/case, could they expect parts for that repair to be available at a reasonable price? Is the only way to find that out by emailing Purism support or are there 3rd party suppliers?
Someone who wants replacement parts would have to contact Purism, we make custom laptops and aren’t large enough (yet) for 3rd party suppliers to make replacement parts for our custom laptops.
I’ve not gone and looked, but if there isn’t a note on that page saying something like “for other parts, please contact support@puri,sm to inquire about availability” there probably should be.
You remove the battery, send the phone back to Purism, then they insert a new battery and send the phone back to you.
Think of it as a repair.
Does that sound extreme and inconvenient? Well, yes, but not as extreme and inconvenient as just throwing the phone away.
Alternatively, you should be able to buy a spare battery at the time you do the shipment email with Purism. With appropriate care and feeding that would approximately double the time before you have to face the lack of a working battery.
NB: The 1A limit would mean a lot of cranking to get a full charge on the Librem 5 and you would probably want to charge with the phone powered off (if you are trying to charge the battery rather than operate the phone without a battery) but if it’s to save your life …
A small PV panel might be more pleasant, maybe a wearable, flexible panel.
Edit: I have a torch that operates like this and it is quite noisy. So if you are trying to crank in order to operate (not charge) and make a phone call then that could be a negative. For operation to access data it should be fine.
With all due respect, and I truly mean it given your position and influence, this sounds to me like you are bending to the industry. Where there is a will, there is a way. You proved that with PureOS.
To be fair, I am new to this side of the market (privacy), so I don’t know the difference between my toes and my ears on some subjects. I am, however, an engineer who views such things with a degree of skepticism. I know you hire smart people. You wouldn’t be here speaking freely without these amazing people to support and protect you.
So I call “Cop-Out”. I’m still waiting on a shipping update on my phone (which I really really really hope is useful). Not asking for priority, just pointing out lack of feedback after 30+ days.
Own what you have control over. If you don’t want to admit anything, that’s cool. I get it, the masses don’t know the whole story. Just say we’re working on it, but at least try to give productive updates. "I heard you, we’re working on it the best we can. We are just as frustrated as you. "
If there are supply chain issues, then maybe your design was not ready for market and you need to shift some areas for vNext of your product(s).
Please forgive the armchair CEO here, but I truly hope you’re open for discussion and debate. The masses don’t know you’re pressures, so we assume a lot of details.
If one googles the part number stamped on the Librem 5 battery ( 1ICP10/57/53 ) one might be able to come up with the company that created the battery for Purism. But whatever the case, one can find alternate suppliers for those batteries. I’m in the US, but I get this ebay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/255420693224 from a maker “Cameron Sino” . I also got a general reseller: https://www.interlightus.com/light-bulb/WX-RS0X-3 . You can probably find a reseller in Europe.
Although I asked this before, just so it’s not forgotten that there isn’t an answer yet, repeat: “ Hi. When do we get L5 repair parts available at the Purism store? ” I’d at least like to get an extra sim tray and a back cover or two - probably double on both. I’ll settle for stl-files for now, if actual parts are not available for a while as the phone becomes quickly unusable with out them (testing puts a lot of strain on them).
@JR-Fi If I understand @Kyle_Rankin’s comments #7 and #9 correctly, those parts are available today. They just aren’t available in the shop.
If you need such a part, you’d have to contact Purism and they’re (hopefully) going to help you.
And if enough people turn out to be buying that part, Purism would eventually slap a SKU on it and put it in the shop.
Sure, they may exist… or not (if there aren’t spares for L5 - there is no info, no statement, no advertisement). I’m doubtful about the availability and price at the moment. This situation is not what it should be. It’s not enough to say L5 (or the laptops) can be repaired or that they aren’t glued together. Without available parts that are actually sold they are just as unrepairable as iPhones (were, since iPhones at least have parts available now).
Then you should put this kind of information on the product and/or store page, preferably with a list of available components and rough price estimates. Otherwise there certainly will be customers who will throw away fixable hardware, because they have no idea that there are indeed spare parts available.
I easily bought a second battery for my Librem 5 off of Ebay. Also that is where I got my Librem 5 last year. But it was a European version of the device so I ordered a US modem from Purism themselves, took about 2 weeks to get it and I have a working LIbrem 5 in the US. Yeah, it has its issues with MMS and atrocious battery life, but it works, just not quite yet ready as my daily driver yet. Its close, for now I am daily driving a Brax2, until my Librem 5 is ready for prime time. I mean its not as modular as say the Fairphone, but its not that far off.
It’d sure be handy if you could clone a SIM. You’d have to remember to turn your old daily driver off before firing up the Librem5 (or vice versa–though the Kill Switch would be a good option I think, for making the L5 disappear before turning on the other phone), but that’s better than having to shut both phones off, move the sim (which involves flipping it over in my case, hard to do without putting grubby paws on the contacts), then reboot the phone.
