Nothing but crap built these days

I know there was a thread on how quality products are no longer built ---can't find it so I will rant here
My up stairs air handler unit (American Standard,13 years old) the blower fan runs continuously. Did some checking came to the conclusion it must be the fan relay is not functioning. Called the people who installed it told him what I checked out and said I thought it might be the fan relay. Oh fucki-n no they don't use relays any more it some sort of ECM mounts on the fan. Sure enough it was the fan ECM. Asked how much is that so he calls the office OEM American Standard is 900 bucks get this on backorder since July have no Idea when available but they can get an after market one but it is one unit ECM and fan --not sold individually just $1304,00. Talking to the tech I said my old unit lasted 25 years ---he looked at me and said the shit they build today 10 -15 year life expectance. Computer shit is worthless a old style relay probable cost 10 bucks. Since it's the upstairs unit I'll just turn the breaker on when we need heat for AC up stairs. In the mean time I'll be checking the web maybe I can find a replacement ECM and replace it myself. As long as I am ranting took a year and a half to get parts for my Husqvarna lawnmower. You can no longer trust companies that once had good reputations like American Standard ---Now build in China and build cheap--no quality, lucky if you can get parts. This is the state of this country we produce nothing of quality any more ---sorry for the rant I'm Pissed

 

It is not your imagination, it is real

This is why we can't have nice things - YouTube

 

Foss Industries
1048 Elkton Fr.
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
Ph 800-952-3677

I used them a lot when I worked in the Semi Conductor business. They can repair or get repaired anything made just about. They have great customer service. Have the part ready so you can give them the PN, SN and make of unit.

Sometimes, EBay has odd spare parts on hand too for a fraction of the MSRP.

If not, then PM me with the info and a photo if possible, and I will see if something can’t be found.

Jim

 

I did a web search and found a HVAC supply house talked to Rick very helpful he can order me the complete motor and ECM for a reasonable price take about 3 weeks to get. 4 bolts hold it in easy to get to and just hook up the color coded wires. I will keep Foss Industries in my address book for future stuff --thanks jim-2

 

A lady I did some work for had a new HVAC system put in in '21 ,,, back in June '23 ,, it quit cooling ,, had to get another company to service the unit. They said the condenser motor had burned up,, 2 freeking years . The part was under warranty,, they're still waiting on that part . Luckily the lady had them put in another unit ,, soon as the part comes in ,, she'll get that unit back and either keep it for a backup or sell it.
This was a builders grade Trane manufactured unit .

 

Meanwhile,, I needed some odd ball ( I thought) Engine and Body parts for my 49 Dodge Power Wagon, I called Vintage Power Wagons and he asked me if I wanted NEW in box, Used but good, OEM ARMY Surplus, or aftermarket New???? What, NEW in Box, naturally I chose that, and even with shipping, it was WAY cheaper then the local parts house that had to call me back two days later after spending all that time doing a computer search and then hitting the old parts books! Un-Real! Turns out, Not only does V.P.W. stock just about EVERY part for these old trucks, chances are pretty good they have them BRAND NEW OLD STOCK, or Good Used Surplus, and ready to ship!
Couple of years ago, I wanted to change the final drive gears ( Ring and Pinion) these old Dodges use the O.G. Dana 60 and Dana 70 Axles for the 1 ton trucks, so it should be super stupid simple to change, even more so as they use a drop out center section like a Ford 9 inch, anyways, they sold me a complete gear set for front and rear, already loaded in the OEM Surplus ARMY Carrier's at no extra charge!
Of course it was truck shipped, but it wasn't more then $40 bucks, loaded on a good pallet, and included all the seals and hardware! THATS service! Called him back when I saw they had the Eaton E-Lockers in stock and the then new Yukon Axles front and rear, a $600 project turned into a $3000 job, BUT, it was all an upgrade and seriously worth it!
Same thing with the Jeep projects we have here ( All three of them) We deal almost exclusively with ONE vendor, as he not only stocks original NOS parts, but has a very robust inventory of good used/surplus parts, and good used take off parts for EVERY Jeep model from 1941 through 1963, and even some later stuff if it's CJ specific, so no Wagoneers or J series Truck stuff, but still, I'm super happy to buy from him any time I need parts!

Cant get anything like this from the local parts houses anymore, and the dealers are about worthless, and I have both Premier Jeep and Dodge dealers literally just down the road, they used to be able to get parts for these old girls, but not any more!

 

It's all bottom line, profit based and if you don't like it then move along because they do not need your money and don't give a damn what you (we) think, want or even need. It's this way throughout America and in all minor and major corporations. Oh, they sing the right tunes but...no. They say it is capitalism, free trade, blah, blah, blah...but in truth is nothing more than profit margin and they are in competition with others to get that chunk of disposal income Americans have which gets smaller year after year.

There is so much to this topic like critical items being produced outside the USA and allowing us to be held hostage due to their necessity. It's crazy!

Or, like my wife's new job where she needs to work 40 hours a week for 6 months in order to participate in their medical insurance. Sounds fair and makes sense, right? However, whenever an individual gets close then their hours are cut and must start the wait over and/or they hire more part-time help, so everyone's hours are cut instead of having more full-time employees - instead they have lot of part-time ones. Why? Profit. It's wrong, not fair, and it's acceptable as the American way. LOL! Hell, look at the cost of medicine compared to other countries! LOL! Fair? Nope. American? Yep! And, if you don't like being screwed then go ahead and leave you unamerican POS because we're the best! (chest thump! ) LOL!

I got a good laugh from an article about Home Depot giving out a huge amount of dollars for end of year bonuses to its non-salary employees. LOL! However, those employees don't need a few hundred bucks. They need a better medical insurance program but a $157 billion dollar in net sales company, with ~$52 billion in gross profits doesn't want to do something like that because...bottom line. So, they give the serfs a few hundred bucks at Xmas to pacify them and if they don't like it, they can leave. Is it fair? Nope. Nice? Nope. Moral? Nope, but it's the American way.

Anyway, this is a huge topic that goes into a lot of things like American's disposable income, competition, market share, and economics...and, I am beginning to think an overabundance of labor...which I am more and more thinking is one of the major reasons for the open border and illegals.

 

It is not just lack of parts, it is the required upgrading for safety and air quality control, automatic braking, required diesel fuel additive in separate tank with a metering system, lane tracking systems, etc. All very expensive when new and even more expensive when built in small batches and no real way of knowing if the required components will even be made in 20 years. I do know that the car insurance bill I received this week is $1800 a year for a a 2009 Subaru and a F-250. One driver, less than 200 miles a week on car, 50 a week on truck. No claims in 25 years.

Had a F-250 ford snowplow truck. Bought new about 1990 or so. Didn't use it much and it had about 80,000 miles on it and 12 years. Wouldn't run, electrical problem. Ford would not touch it and local garage put about 6 hours in swapping parts and gave up. Gave it to a friend who had same truck working ok. He swapped out all the parts, no joy, using wiring diagram he started checking out the cables on good truck and looking for same values on bad truck. A day later, bingo, cut bad cable open and found that although the ignition module was mounted on engine, the ground was supplied from the computer module and that the ground wire had either broken, or had not been spliced right when manufactured probably run out of one wire and went to new spool. Put a new ground wire in from one module to other and 13 years later it is still running. Keeps it dry in his barn, runs it ever week, 6 miles total, to dump, plows snow. Have a 1999 F 350 that I picked up used. About 100,000 miles on it now. Turn the key off and you can still run about half the stuff that is supposed to be off and it draws about 2 amps from battery. Fuse module is mounted on engine fire wall and moisture got in either thru leaking seal on wind shield or around hood. Pull fuse module and it stops the drain. Put a bad unit in, fuel relay gone, as a replacement and it shuts off as it should. New fuse module $500 bucks and truck needs brake lines, a new bed, exhaust work and at least two brake caliphers, frozen, and at 85 I don't feel like doing the work myself and it would cost more than the truck is worth to have it done. Now have a f 250 for a plow truck, 175,000 miles and that was hiway miles. Had to have exhaust manifold repaired, studs rotted off, and you have to remove fuel injection and spark ignition in order to get at manifold and part of engine is under front part of cab. No salt or water that I know of, just a damn cheap stud, no nickel or other metals in steel etc to give it some corrosion resistance. Cost for parts about $40 for good after market studs and $1,000 labor..Really makes you want to buy Ford when 2 out of three that I owned fail due to minor electrical problems. Cousin lives with us and fuse holder failed for the fuel pump relay in his fuse module. Of course it is in board so can not be fixed, 1999 F 150 in good shape. $700 parts and labor and no problem finding the trouble, they do a few a year as it is a common ford problem. Problem is that more and more of this stuff is being required and soon you will not be able to operate your car on the roads if it all doesn't work when the car is inspected.

One study showed cost of $1500 for a front windshield replacement and readjusting the active detectors built into the windshield and of course your local independent garage is not probably have the computers required to reset them nor the special training to use the equipment.

https://www.kbb.com/car-news/driver-assists-what-are-the-costs-to-buy-insure-and-repair/

What is the warranty on a object manufactured using Chinese parts by a US company that has declared bankruptcy? Some people find out that truth everyday,

 

Too many of those Chinese companies are contracted to build 100,000 units of whatever, but NO spare parts...and when something goes wrong you are up a certain creek cause that Chinese company is now building something entirely different!

 

ECMs are crap and a ripoff. put in a regular motor and a relay and call it done. I have done this for customers many times.

 

Quite often in major US brands, the outside case is the same, but guts are totally different, supplied by a different manufacturer or run on the line using different parts, so if sw goes bad, sw will not fit in new case and whole product is not repairable. That and sw, motor, controller, are all one part and replacement of sw, common failure point, requires replacing all included parts. Thus with $40 labor, shipping, shop overhead, and $140 for part, total of $180, it is impossible to repair a drill that cost $199.00 new and came with a case, 2 batteries, a charger, and an assortment of screw driver and drill bits.

Thus if even is repairable, it is not viable to do so once it is out of warranty and in many cases it is difficult to get coverage even when you should be covered and most people just give up. If you you use drill to stir paint, sheetrock mud, concrete, etc or to make multiple deep holes with a large or dull bit, it will overheat and either destroy the sw or the motor. Usually a claim is rejected as being abuse of the tool, as is getting it wet or dropping the tool.

Tempstar, in most cases if you change anything, eg use a generic sw instead of manufacturers, it voids the lawsuit protection of the manufacturer and if there is a problem, some shyster lawyer takes you to court, and its out of your pocket. And they are out there looking for any case they can, sue you for a class action suit, mental distress, loss of house due to fire, even though it started 50 feet away, etc and look for big bucks and then offer to settle under the table for 1/10 as much before the trial. You counter offer 1/20 and they jump on it, still out $30 to 50 grand, as that seems to be their sweet spot.

 

This is a VERY common issue here in America, Quality! What used to be of good quality didn't end up selling many units, and companies often went under because how many people are going to buy something to replace something that's still good! Case in point, John Deere! back in the good ol'days, you only bought ONE John Deere and it was good for the rest of your life, and likely your kids too! How many people in this country bought a J.D? damn few, because they flat out ran, could be fixed in the field with common tools and a little skill and knowledge, and that was great for the consumer, but not so much for the company, other then selling fan belts and ignition parts, they didn't sell enough of the big ticket rigs to make it, so they had to change, and boy did they!
Caterpillar watched VERY closely, and while they never really followed what John Deere did, they did just enough to keep customers while generating new customers to their brand! What really changed for the worst was when America allowed the Japanese to sell CHEAP cars and VCR's here in the states, they were just good enough to sell well and that pushed things to the brink, I remember the push to "Buy American" back in the 80's but the sad reality was, how many could actually afford to buy American when the same or better could be had Made in Japan for 1/2 the price!!!! Then we had to model our manufacturing to follow the Japanese way, which further screwed us, it drove the companies to cut corners, and to raise the prices to remain completive, and we all got the screw! Now, it's Buy China, because they can build absolute shit, and it will sell like hot cakes here! Then we have Unions in the middle of everything, so the costs go even higher, so business's cut costs by moving production over seas, and we end up with worthless shit just the same, but we avoided American labor costs!

Any one eve ask why the United States doesn't build Ships of any kind outside of War Ships, which themselves are absolute SHIT? The answer is actually quite complicated, but the short of it is total cost, S. Korea can build 5 ships for what ONE would cost if it were "Made in America" and that's no stretch! The Steel costs more to manufacture here, you got Labor at every part from Mining the Ore, the smelting, the refining, the foundries and rolling plants, the trucking, shipping, or trains to haul it, and finally the ship yard to cut it, bend it, weld it and assemble it into something that might float for a while, might not! Those Ship Yards All MUST be staffed by Union Ship Builders, plus anyone involved in the supply chain MUST be union, to include the engine manufacture, and those Ship Yards would rather keep the doors locked and the power off rather then take a contract to build for less then the top rate,, so they cut their own throats, and then cry for the gov. teet subsidies! Ever wonder why Turkey is the worlds largest Tug Builder, even bigger then S. Korea, economy of scale and supply costs, it's unfathomable, but true, they can build a Tug for less then half what S. Korea does, and uses all "Made in America parts, including American Steel, American Engines, and even American Electronics ( Made in Taiwan) and they pay jack shit in labor!

Speaking of Tugs ( Made in Alabama, U.S.A), Mine runs big ass Wartzilla Diesels, you know how hard it is to get German Engines and parts here in America? It's actually far cheaper for me to buy my engine parts from Canada or Mexico, pay the extra in shipping, customs, and all that, then it is to order directly from the manufacture and shipped to the states! Hell, the last one I had to order through a company in the Philippines, and they even air freighted the parts from Germany to the islands, did their customs papers and then before the plane had refueled, loaded the parts back on the same plane and flew them here, landing in L.A. and then shipped by truck to the port of Tacoma, and then once they cleared customs, I was able to drive to Tacoma to pick them up, and it was STILL cheaper then if i had purchased the same parts from a U.S Supplier that had them in stock on the shelves, ready to ship! How Fucked up does a country need to be for things to cost more here then anywhere else in the world, even shit that was actually made here? How did we even get here, and how do we fix this???? Beats Me, I'm just Small Potato!

 

I'm not real electronic knowledgeable how would you wire in a relay on the blower motor. and get rid of the ECM. HVAC tech was telling me ECM are sensitive to power spikes which at this end of Charleston county we get all the time. My next project is putting in a surge protector (whole house) wired in the 200 amp breaker panel looks fairly easy to do.

 

Agree need a surge protector on main power panel. Surges were not common with rotating power generation systems on line and no real connects and disconnects of generation system. Seabrook plant in NH was often on line for months at a time as well as coal plants. Now wind and solar may trigger on and off several times an hour under worse conditions and something has to come on line to pick up the load. This may trigger both surges and brown outs. Need to protect against them too some how. Best system in my mind is battery backup system and hopefully use it like a system conditioning power for a computer. Worse condition in my system now is deep well pump coming on and drawing max load during a brown out. Extended crank time might have an effect on electronics in automotive systems. Don't now them well enough to know how many are like my raspberry pi systems, use a system that converts any thing around 5 volts to stable power and shuts down if power is too low. 6 volts will kill things however. Raspberry Pi 4 uses about 15 watts max at 6 volt input and 20 in display uses about 30 watts max at 115 volt input, Power conditioner for it would have to only handle about 1 amp load. Prime tool as are many other laptops for a back up system in
solar. Problem is as stated in title, much of stuff available is cr**. Been very happy with Raspberry Pi built in England and Vizio monitors. Have used a 20 in , paid $100 for it , for about 3 years with no problems. In my greenhouse I have found that I can build stuff to do what I want for a small faction of the cost of the commercial systems and not have it all on 1 board supplied by the system supplier with a replacement cost in the hundreds of dollars if something goes wrong

 

Y'all need to start buying whatever you can from Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, Esty, etc., because old used stuff is usually better than almost anything new! Not only is the quality better, but you can repair it yourself and it doesn't help the Chinese economy!

 

I have found more often than not especially in the last 5 years most new electronic parts immediately fail. It makes me absolutely insane that when I but say a crankshaft position sensor that there is a good chance it's going to fail soon. Not a good thing because I like to go out deep into the deserts or mountains rock crawling. While I don't go alone I don't want to become someone else's problem trying to help me fix. I have an entire .50 cal ammo can that's filled with back up must have sensors. I still can't understand how we as a nation allowed this to happen that we would cease to function if the shipments were stopped. Even though I have zero love for the Chinese they are shrewd.

 

The Chinese have been around for thousands of years by being shrewd, patient, and exploiting their enemies weakness, putting China first and master negotiators around the world promoting China's interests We on the other hand have been doing just the opposite and look where it has got us.
Quick story wife was away so i thought I would surprise her with a new washer and dryer --bought a Kenmore washer no agitator all electronic. What a piece of shit every time the electric would blink the thing would shut down lock up have to wait for it to unlock. Had it 3 months Sears would not take it back-donated it to Goodwill got a GE no electronic mechanical dial with agitator. Now 10 years old not a lick of trouble. Kenmore dryer is mechanical not a lick of trouble. I have to laugh at the go green save the planet bull shit, we make nothing to last it breaks throw it away (in the land fill) and get a new one

 

Therein lies the issue. Everything is disposable today. All of these green leftists scream and stomp their little feet about the environment but still in the same breath buy everything that is disposable after a short useable life span. It also supports the gross polluter nations such as China and India.

 

Exactly,,, they contribute to the problem as much or more than everyone else.

Saw an article the other day ,, a couple of climatards flew to another country to protest about climate change ,, and some judge called them out on the hypocrisy of their stupidity.

 

Looks like another American company being sold off --US Steel has been bought by the Japanese ---looks like America is having a garage sale to get rid of anything owned or built in the USA.