James Mansson said:
It doesn't seem unreasonable that the Federation would want a way of restraining him while in custody.
[...] Therefore, a permanent solution might prove some safeguard. If it weren't for the obligation to make the series last longer than a total of half an episode, the Federation would probably have been better advised just to shoot everyone who caused serious trouble instead of twonking around with prison planets and slave pits. (NINOTCHKA: We will soon have fewer--but better--Russians.)
Of course, as you rightly remark, the limiter is not easy to repair, but perhaps on this point the Federation simply didn't give a damn:
If they didn't mind not being able to repair Star Flippin' One if something went wrong that the dozen on-site technicians couldn't handle, they would probably be pretty cavalier about the warranty status of a limiter.
-(Y)