ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608090004
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER L. BOYD STAFF WRITER
In 1949 Ralph and Mildred Giles of Roanoke County spent their first Christmas together as a married couple. Keeping with tradition, the duo shared smooches and exchanged gifts. Neither Ralph nor Mildred remembers her present that day, but he unwrapped a brand-spanking new Zenith Cobramatic.
The brown Bakelite beauty combined a radio and record player in one case. The end of the record player's arm that held the needle resembled a Cobra's head, hence the model's name.
Thirty years ago, the turntable that plays 78-, 45- and 33-rpm records quit turning. Belts inside the machine were broken, and a knob no longer moved the station selection dial.
Last April, 47 years after Mildred Giles bought the Cobramatic from Heironimus department store, another Roanoke shop - Audio and Video Service Inc. - made the Cobra hiss again for the couple. The bills for repairs, according to Ralph Giles, a retired Heironimus maintenance worker, was a reasonable $75.
Three brothers - Eugene, Rodney, and Troy Larimer - and their receptionist, Sharon Gills, operate the Williamson Road store. They claim they can repair anything - from 70-year-old radios to new Pentium computers.
Eugene Larimer, who at 44 is the oldest of the brothers, opened the shop in 1979. Each brother focuses on a different area of the business. Rodney fixes modern appliances such as refrigerators and microwaves. Troy works on VCRs, video recorders and computers. Eugene's specialty is reviving old and new radios and televisions.
Eugene Larimer said he does the work because he likes a challenge.
"But I like to pick my challenges," he said, noting he accepts only two projects at a time and is very selective about what he picks.
He said the broken radio or TV has to have some "quirk" or something unusual about the way it works that makes it worth his time. He won't fix old telephones or appliances.
Troy Larimer said, "People want a link to the past. They think of a gentler time and a slower pace." That means unlocking memories when an old radio or television is brought back to life.
One such project currently at Audio and Video Service is an old Edison Cylinder Player. Eugene Larimer said the earliest patent on this player is 1903. When it was brought to the shop it had some broken gears, the cabinet needed repairs and the stylus - an expensive needle made with diamond or sapphire - needed replacing. This player is the sort that might be seen in a black-and-white movie from the 1920s or in the background of "The Addams Family" television show, said Larimer. It has a tulip-shaped horn to magnify its sound.
Audio and Video Service is one of the few area repair shops - if not the only one - that fixes radio and televisions made before the 1960s. Other shops contacted about such services recommended Audio and Video for repairs they can't do. And unlike many other repair shops, Audio and Video doesn't sell new merchandise, Larimer said. They concentrate strictly on repairs.
Eugene Larimer said many shops don't have the expertise to repair older electronic models. Plus, the parts needed to repair the old models are expensive and hard to find.
The shop is equipped with a library of old manuals, which Eugene keeps beside his work area. He has books dating from the 1920s that give detailed descriptions and outlines of how early model radios were built. However, he doesn't repair just the "guts" of the radio. He also fixes knobs, adds antennas and often refinishes the cases.
Although such repairs account for less than 5 percent of Audio and Video's business, Eugene Larimer said he would prefer to do nothing but work on antiques. However, he said that type of work is time consuming and doesn't put food on the table, so he has to spend the majority of his time on other things.
The cost for repairing most antiques is around $100 and, depending on parts availability, a job can take 30 days to six months. Larimer said the shop orders parts from all over the United States and Canada and some from the Middle East.
The $100 mark, according to Eugene Larimer, is also the price at which many people debate whether to make repairs vs. buying a replacement.
For example, in 1995, 96 percent of new color televisions were repaired, according to a report in Appliance magazine. However, with lower-cost items such as telephones, only 11 percent were brought in by owners for repairs.
Virginia Western Community College electronics instructor Robert Cranfort said he agrees with Larimer. He said if a repair exceeds half the original cost of the product a person may be advised to purchase a new one.
Randy Frazier, president of R. Frazier Inc., an electronic parts recycling service in Salem, said part of the decision not to repair an appliance or other device has to do with America's throw-away mentality, especially when it comes to maintaining electronic products worth less than $100.
He said the cost of parts and labor often amounts to as much as the original price of the product. This leads people to simply discard something unless it has sentimental value.
Lisa Asold, spokeswoman for the Communication Electronics Association, said people don't know they can take nonusable electronic parts to recyclers such as R. Frazier instead of throwing them away. Even things like AA batteries should be recycled because when they are taken to a city dump, they can erode and create an environmental hazard, she said.
Despite that, the repair business doesn't seem to be dying. For people like the Larimer brothers, the business is more than just a job; it is a way to touch people's lives.
"It's kind of a trust," said Eugene Larimer. It is with trust that people place their most prized possessions in his hands, and that trust can help unlock times forgotten.
Ralph Giles said when he looks at his Cobramatic he is reminded of that Christmas morning many years ago.
"My wife's real tickled" with the repaired phonograph, he said.
"A little work and TLC made it like new," he said. "It just kind of grew up with us."
And now the retired couple will grow older with it.
LENGTH: Long : 114 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Don Petersen. Eugene Larimer, one of three brothersby CNBwho operates Audio and Video Service, likes the challenge of
reviving old and new radios and televisions. 2. Alan Spearman. The
shop got the 47-year-old Cobramatic playing music again for Ralph
Gaines. color. GRAPHIC: Product life expectancy. color.