Does anyone get pissed?

I used to think that if a manufacturer whated to market to the Marine Industry they just doubled the price---I am building my own home now and I can't belive the CRAPPYNESS (is that ie) of the fixtures--Plumbing and Electrical SUCK!!

 

Quality plumbing fixtures are expensive. No exceptions to this rule that I've seen. Style + quality is not additive, but rather a multiplicative effect. DIY everything. Home building is cake next to ship building. You never worry about how she'll handle in 10 foot seas.

Home electrical is almost free if you DIY.

I've even considered tossing some epoxy on the basement and building cheap houseboats!!

Mike

 

Is there any reasonable quality in any article anymore in any country of the world? I do not want to buy anything now as I know it will be a dissapointment,but unfortunatly I cannot make my own now.We in New Zealand are arranging a free trade agreement with China so it can only get worse,from junk shoes,doubtful food products,whiteware,you name it it is all rubbish and instantly disposable,good for retailers and manufacturers but a waste of human effort and resourses.

 

I have to agree. Feeding the cheaper = better mentality has made good quality items next to impossible to find. Who is going to pay $200 for a faucet that will last 100 years when they can buy one that "looks the same" for $15? The sad part is that after the $15 junk breaks, it spends 100 years as land fill. If the $200 part fails, the quality materials can be recycled. Of course the people with brand names that were attached to the 100 year $200 part, now sell the $15 junk under the same name and only charge $100 for it ... then they laugh at you all the way to the bank.

 

I have been in my home close to half a century,same taps,toilet,Hot water cylinder,mostly original, and framing built to good specs,just a paint touch up and wash yearly.Everything works efficiently but change is here.New houses being built six feet from my bush back yard,can even smell the neighbours washing and showering,smoking.Expected to have a five minute shower to save electricity and water,can not get enough water out of the town supply now to wash my car,yard or house.Expected to place a brick in toilet systern to reduce water usage,not to heat to much water to make a cup of tea.It goes on and on so we can bring in more immigrants to reduce the supplies further and lower our standard of living yet again.This is called sustainable management by our smart leaders.

 

You want to try buying stuff for classic cars. Most is reproduction these days and a lot of it is real junk. Try water pumps that last only 5,000k's before failing.
Having said that I recently purchased some new stainless mooring cleats for the boat. One was so warped that I had to get another, but I only noticed it when I happened to sit it on a flat surface. Anyway, now the wiser I went to purchase more, slightly different cleats, different chandlers. I checked seven before I found two that were okay.
Even then I got a bit "caught out" as I could not use the same cleat as a pattern to cut re-inforcing plates as both had their screw holes slightly different from each other, even though they were "matching" style cleats.
The new mooring post (stainless) I fitted 5 months ago keeps getting surface rust the I had to clean off every few weeks.
How can we tell what is good and what is not?

Mychael

 

Bilge pumps --crap, put together by shoeless orphans in Korea, no doubt. I bought a small bilge pump -- a reputable manufacturer and it wouldnt work -well very slowly,-- so Ok what the hell Im not getting my money back so I drilled a 1/8 hole into the top where its supposed to be sealed -- where the brushes are. Sure enough water came out MMmm. I tried it again and water shot out of the 1/8 hole. I know they are water cooled but thats ridiculous. Oh by the way it didnt work the next day.
Fish finders, the removabe type with tiny little pins in the removable plugs. Oh yeah in the marine environment--a week . The aswer is vaseline load the plug up flush with the stuff.

Marine --- this word used to carry a suggestion of quality.


On the other hand I dont want stuff to last for ever. I was told once " here sir this suit will last you for the rest of your life'. I dont want to wear the same suit for the rest of my life. Ive still got the jacket I got married in and Ive been divorced 35 years. I dont wear it,-- I cant get into it.

 

It has changed a lot. In the old days when I was building my aircraft I frequented the marine stores for quality stuff. It was also cheaper then avaition marked items.
Now I would suggest that only aviation parts are made to a standard as they must be to comply with design specifications .

Mychael

 

Mycheal
I have been in the motor trade for 35 years. I was once a ground maintenace engineer at an airport many years ago so I saw the quality of aircraft stuff --mind boggling really the different stuff.

Any how you will find in many cases that if you dismantle an item such as your water pump, you find that cleaning and re greasing will result in a better unit. In many cases its just assembly and cleanliness thats poor as machining has only got better and is usually automated any way.

 

must be a worldwide trend than

 

Yeah well, it's not all bad news though. Example; I brought a 5" grinder, came with about 10 grinding discs, from memory, for the massive sum of $19.95 !!.
I knew it was crap, but as my Hitachi had died after a good many years of hard work, I decided it would do for a while till I got my head around paying the $300 odd for it's replacement.
That bloody grinder has done a LOT of work !! - granted, I don't make it work like a man, only like a boy, but at the present rate, it's far better value for doolars than the Hitachi ! ?.
Then ther's cars, the standard of car in NZ has improved a lot [ debateable no doubt] since we allowed used Japanese cars into NZ. For around $2000 you can get a mid 90's sedan that has A/C, power options, is quiet, economical, comfortable -- that's got to be good !!.
Crap has & allways will be crap, ya get's what ya pays for [ generally speaking]
Hey Tom, my 50 year old home was built from untreated pine,that's how a lot were then, it's now held together by the borer holding hands. And the cladding is that asbestos riddeled firolite crap of the year !!, granted the plumbing is all copper.
Friends of mine have containers full of product manufactured in China, they would far rather have it made here, only the price would make it uneconomic.
They tell me that, as Japanese products were labeled " Jap crap " in the 50's -60's , then the quality improved, so also the quality from China is improving, they must or they lose the contract to the next factory down the road !!.
We still live in paradise eh !! ?

 

Paradise lost Globaldude...you have my phone no..interested to hear from you.
I think I will stop complaining and get back to boat subjects which is rapidly being overcome with imitation marine products.

 

Guidelines to Construction

I can’t spell. Bit of a rebel too. My father couldn’t spell and his father before him. Consequently I’m a 3rd generation engineer weaned entirely on the business of designing and building all sorts of things including many a home. In my case the rebel in me has made just about every mistake you can make. Invented a few. And I will share with you, my sea fairing brethren, the three engineering laws of construction.

1. The cost of construction is inversely proportional to the cost of design.

2. The probability of a bargain is directly proportional to cost.

3. Time warps in a construction portal and is exponentially proportional to cost.

Make those guidelines really. And teach your children to spell.

 

Well unfortunately with those water pumps. Cleaning was not the issue. Machining was the culprit. Poor bearing fit in some cases, bent shafts in others and impellors rubbing against the housing.
I'd rather "do it once,do it right". I eventually found a specialist to custom bulid up a pump for me. Sure it cost $50 more then the repro ones plus i had to supply a core unit, but it's guaranteed for 10 yrs.