This is the first installment of “My Favorite Thing,” a regular feature in which Chattanoogans from all walks of life write about the one thing they enjoy the most in the Scenic City. Future installments will unearth hidden gems, offer a fresh perspective of a local mainstay and reveal the rich diversity of Chattanooga.
I have a confession. I run iFixit, the largest online repair guide, and I have a broken microwave in my garage.
Whenever I walk by, it silently challenges me to be better at my job. Like many of us, the prospect of fixing something that seems complex and potentially dangerous has intimidated me. But that reluctance led me to discover one of Chattanooga’s hidden gems: the Repair Cafe at ChattLab, our local makerspace on Cherokee Boulevard.
Repair cafes are a revolutionary concept that are quietly transforming our relationship with technology. Imagine a space where curiosity trumps warranty stickers, where “broken” is just the beginning of a new story, and where community knowledge flows as freely as the coffee. That’s exactly what I found when I lugged my microwave through ChattLab’s doors one Saturday morning.
The scene that greeted me was a snapshot of democratic technology in action. At one table, a co-worker named Kara was hunched over two Nintendo GameCubes, her determination palpable. Nearby, someone puzzled over a T-shirt press that had lost its heat, while volunteer fixers circulated like technological medics, offering diagnosis and encouragement in equal measure.
The magic of these events lies not just in the fixes but in the unexpected discoveries. As I started unscrewing my microwave’s case, I struck documentation gold: a wiring diagram, an increasingly rare gift from engineers past to fixers future. It’s the kind of resource that’s becoming endangered in our era of sealed devices and “no user-serviceable parts inside” warnings. (It was especially welcome while working on a microwave, where the first step is to make a large capacitor safe to work on.)
My repair journey took an educational twist when the first solution – replacing a blown fuse – led to another blown fuse. That’s when one of the cafe’s experienced volunteers stepped in and helped me to diagnose deeper issues with the capacitor and magnetron.
While this particular repair proved too expensive to proceed, the experience wasn’t a failure. Instead, it transformed into an opportunity for creative recycling. We salvaged a perfectly good barrel fan (hello, new desk cooler!) and a turntable motor destined for a young maker’s robot project.
The real power of Chattanooga’s Repair Cafe isn’t in the number of successful fixes – though Kara’s victory whoop when her GameCube sprang to life was definitely a highlight. It’s in the way it demystifies technology and empowers people to understand the devices that surround us.
Every opened case is a lesson in engineering. Every diagnostic process is a masterclass in problem-solving. Every conversation is a thread strengthening our community’s fabric.
These monthly gatherings at ChattLab represent something bigger than repair – they’re a quiet rebellion against throwaway culture, a celebration of human ingenuity, and a reminder that technology should serve us, not intimidate us. In a world where companies increasingly treat our devices as black boxes, Repair Cafes stand as beacons of technological democracy.
For anyone who’s ever felt that twinge of guilt throwing away a “broken” device, or who’s stared down a repair job with more uncertainty than confidence, the Repair Cafe offers a better way. You might not fix everything you bring in – I certainly didn’t – but you’ll leave with something more valuable: knowledge, confidence and connections with fellow fixers in your community.
The Repair Cafe meets monthly on the third Saturday, and everyone is welcome, regardless of experience level. Bring your broken items, your curiosity and your willingness to learn. Pro tip: Do a bit of research ahead of time on a site like ifixit.com and bring a replacement part with you if you can.
These neighborhood repair events are a huge amount of fun, and joining in isn’t about getting things fixed: it’s about reclaiming our right to understand, maintain and modify our things. Because if you can’t fix it, then maybe you don’t really own it after all.
Where: 100 Cherokee Boulevard #125
When: Third Saturday of every month, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Kyle Wiens is a fixer doing his best to reverse the Second Law of Thermodynamics. He’s also the co-founder of iFixit, a website and community that provides free repair information, tools and parts for consumer electronics. iFixit’s goal is to make it easier for people to repair their own devices.