GEA's Global HVAC Technology Blog

¡Autarky!

(That's the word for today.)

We had a high failure rate with Chinese made motor run capacitors even when using higher voltage rating than necessary. We looked for NA or European made that were compatible. We found that Cornell Dublier made some in Mexico. It solved the problem. No more failures.

By the way, they do cost a little more but I am happy to pay for better quality.

We simply have to convince the rest of the society the it is worth to pay for better quality and the tide will turn.

Good Comments.

There are two elements here: the emotional (anger, frustration, fear...from seeing friends and relatives suffering while not being able to find jobs) and recognition by American consumers and businesses that there are additional costs and impacts to their purchasing and outsourcing decisions. Saving 35 cents at the store contributed to cousin Bob's loss of job and house.

Companies are becoming more aware of the hidden costs with the help of detailed itemizers like the Total Cost Estimator listed in my posting. Flying to Shanghai for vendor audits and negotiations isn't the same (cost) as flying to Ohio.

Interestingly, the one company certifying "Made in America" requires "all or virtually all of their core components manufactured or grown in the United States of America as well as 100% of the assembly, must be conducted in the United States". Not easy for manufacturers of HVAC equipment with a broad number of components and materials. I do believe however, there is a middle range where "mostly American" products would be preferred.

On the 25 year old Kenmore running in your back yard, please don't buy anymore $17 or $50 capacitors. Dig to pull together enough to buy a new unit. It will cut your electricity usage in half. And depending where you live consider a heat pump rather than just a cooling only unit. Technology improvements have made the reliability, (heating) performance and cost very attractive.

Larry

Nice first post!

Welcome to CR4!

Welcome aboard larhere.

Here's the rub.

The Made in America label will mean absolutely nothing without quality attached to it. I'm not going to purchase US made junk because I'm proud to be an American. I will happily pay a premium for quality products, I don't care where they come from.

I have to disagree with your advice on my old AC unit. I run it for 3 months a year. The new units have a life expectancy of about 8 years. SEER ratings mean nothing to me with that kind of life expectancy.

I keep my house at about 69°-70°F during the summer at a cost of about $3-$4 a day. The outside temps hover around 100°. There is no way I can work the math to justify a new unit.

I will say this.............If the day comes that Chinese made products are associated with quality..................the rest of us are finished.

Here in Australia, we have Chinese cheap microwave ovens that are reliable, but they occasionally blow the magnetron fuse.

A friend had an expensive valve audio amplifier, made in USA, built with quality materials, but it had nuisance fuse-blowing problems on 240V AC 50 Hz. It turned out that the C-core transformer used steel with a sharp knee in the B-H curve. The unloaded trannie ran very close to that B-H knee, and there was some magnetic remenance in the core when switched off. If you switched on the trannie at zero crossing, the initial surge on top of the remenance could saturate the trannie and blow the fuse. The problem was fixed by including an NTC resistor in the primary circuit. Quality intent, but realisation failure.

It has been my experience that only Commercial, Industrial and Military gear made in USA has been spot on, usually because it is CONSERVATIVELY DESIGNED. Domestic gear has had its problems eg fungus growing on bakelite cases, and overheating transformers, when shipped to this part of the world. There will be no guarantee you get the quality you remember from way back, if made in USA. It really will cost. What will the manufacturer do to compete successfully?

The Japanese also used to make good gear, but moved off-shore. Money speaks, unfortunately for quality.