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They seem to have self-replicating mines, for god-sakes... how about replicating phaser arrays, plating, life-support systems, etc.

user13381
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    The premise is that only items made of mundane materials can be created. A warp core contains exotic sorts of matter and/or matter shaped at the nanoscale which cannot be replicated. However, nothing prevents them from using it to repair other parts of the ship (hallways, bulkheads, carpeting, even air that was unintentionally decompressed). It's doubtful that they carry a bunch of spare parts around, after all. Of course, being Star Trek, when it's inconvenient to bad writing, all bets are off. – John O Mar 26 '13 at 20:53
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    While I don't feel like tracking it down right now, there was an early episode of Voyager that discussed their limited supplies, and what could and could not be replicated (such as the gel packs). – Izkata Mar 26 '13 at 23:08
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    For pretty much the same reason that the computer--which can simultaneously emulate several persons' intellect and personality for mere entertainment purposes--is not used to solve problems: it is bad for story telling to have a genie that will grant arbitrary wishes (unless improperly phrased wishes are dangerous). Artificial limits--limitations? On wishes?--prevent solving every problem by "use the genie" or viewers asking "why didn't they use the genie?". IMO, it was a mistake to link replicator and transporter technology--too much opportunity for inconsistency. –  Mar 26 '13 at 23:49
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    Source on self-replicating mines? Also, see this answer (which is about closely-related transporter technology) that discusses the difficulties of transporting weapons: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/28490/if-the-federation-crew-was-able-to-beam-aboard-borg-cubes-why-didnt-they-destr/28522#28522 – CamelBlues Mar 27 '13 at 13:58
  • Good answers, but tech should not be ignored in this case. The genie's already out of the bottle, so why not simply limit its application to some types of simpler forms of repair so at least it's not completely ignored? – user13381 Mar 27 '13 at 15:46
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    Also, don't forget the power requirements for replication. Chances are that many of the parts of the warp core and other systems are replicated, but as complexity and mass increase chances are power requirements would as well, possibly to the tune of ^3 or more. – Tyson of the Northwest Mar 27 '13 at 17:46
  • I would imagine a hydrogen atom Hydrogen would be cheap to replicate, power wise, but, helium would be about twice as expensive, carbon would be somewhere in the range of 6+ times as expensive, silicon 16+ times, etc as the atomic complexity increases. Then multiply that out over the mass of the object. In that case a meal (a mix of H,C,N,O,P,Na,etc) would be cheap, but the same volume of say a platinum,tungsten,tellurium alloy would be way more expensive – Tyson of the Northwest Mar 27 '13 at 17:52
  • I will tackle this problem when I get a moment, it is a fair question and the reason its not done is more complicated than it initially might seem. – Thaddeus Howze Mar 27 '13 at 17:55
  • Tyson has a point there - energy consumption probably goes with the volume of the object - now think how many Earl Greys fit into a single warp core. Also, how big of an object can actually be transported with transporter tech? – flq Mar 27 '13 at 21:46
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    In the original TNG writers bible, authored by the Great Bird himself, food replicators were described thusly: Food and drink aboard the Enterprise is instantaneously synthesized by an in-ship transporter system that takes the necessary raw materials from storage and rearranges them into whatever the individual has ordered, delivering them via the wall-slots.

    From this we can deduce that replicators don't create objects from energy, but rather assemble them from atoms and molecules and deliver them using something akin to the transporter system used to disassemble and deliver people.

     – Kyle Jones Mar 28 '13 at 04:03
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    @KyleJones - True, but in a later episode of DS9, a replicator was subverted into functioning as a short-range transporter. So replicators ended up being more like low-resolution transporters than the food synthesizers in 60's Trek. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Mar 28 '13 at 05:52
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    @CamelBlues In DS9, when the mined the wormhole. Their invention was a collaboration between O'Brien, Rom, and Dax. – Izkata Mar 28 '13 at 10:30
  • The self-replicating mines thing in DS9 was stupid. It takes the suspension of disbelief too far. – Darth Egregious Apr 05 '13 at 19:57
  • There was a comment in one of the technical manual books to the effect of: "If you can use a replicator to make a space ship then you probably are at a tech level where you don't need spaceships any more." – Greenstone Walker Dec 15 '14 at 22:50

4 Answers4

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The question assumes facts not in evidence; we don't know that replicator technology isn't used to effect repairs, we just haven't seen it.

But there is a philosophical answer to your question: Repairs require judgment and coordination. We've seen automated systems reroute power and communications, and if a big hole gets shot into the side of the ship, the computer erects a force-field. But if you "repair" a power system that someone else is working on, you might electrocute them. If the captain wants to play dead and lure the enemy in, he can't have the ship growing new parts and turning the lights back on to spoil the illusion. The computers on Enterprise are very capable indeed and probably could conduct deep space missions without a crew, but Starfleet philosophy seems to be to severely limit machine autonomy. Starfleet officers seem to have a deep distrust of computer judgment beyond a second or two in the future and prefer to keep people in the decision loop as much as possible. Having Borg-like self-healing ships would be a step too far for the civilization the Federation has chosen to have.

Kyle Jones
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  • This makes sense; the Star Trek future seems to be about preserving individual autonomy and initiative as much as possible. Any arguments about efficiency would miss the point. There's really no reason for the Enterprise to have a crew of hundreds except for this kind of reasoning. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Mar 28 '13 at 05:49
  • This is a good answer, and would be improved by some references (to Star Fleet philosophy, or captains' behavior). I also seem to remember there being references to "industrial" and "class 5" (or some such) replicators that were much larger, or much more sophisticated, or otherwise used for construction, but not suited to use on a starship. IIRC, in DS9, some civilization asked for high-capacity replicators to help with a natural disaster, or to rebuild after a war, and the Federation was reluctant to provide them because they could also be used to make weapons. – Matt Jan 29 '14 at 16:22
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It is being done. In one episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, there is a fully automated repair station that can replicate ship's parts and then teleport them in place. It probably cannot repair warp core though.

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Cano64
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Replicators may be able to create simple components (such as bulkheads and the like), but it has been consistently demonstrated that that they have limits and that there are many substances that they cannot create. For example, Latinum is so treasured by the Ferengi because it cannot be replicated. Considering how insanely complex warp cores and similar technologies are, it seems reasonable that at least one of the following cannot be replicated:

  • deuterium

  • anti-deuterium

  • dilithium

  • cryonetrium

  • saurium-krellide

  • verterium cortenide

  • platinum-cobalt alloy

  • nanopolymer

...the list goes on.

Also we have to take into consideration the fact that replicators cannot create substances that are poisonous or incredibly dangerous-- this definitely rules out antimatter. The most important reason would probably be that ultimately replicators are too accident-prone to entrust to such sensitive equipment, at least the pieces of it that they can create.coffee spill

Good thing that was coffee and not plasma coolant!

ApproachingDarknessFish
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It is simply a matter of size. The on-board replicators do not have the capacity to produce a warp core. For that purpose, one needs an industrial replicator, which is referred to several times.

nibra
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