Chinese Junk rant

[FastWoman]

Well, FAIW, I installed that exact same pump on a Chrysler Marine 318, and it lasted a few years before puttering away. I do think it gave the carb extra life, because I could starve the float bowl when coming into dock and (largely) dry up the carb. Then I could fill the carb again before starting. It was a pretty elegant solution to some of the problems of putting ethanol gas in a carb'ed boat in a drippy-humid climate. In that sense I won't complain too much about the pump. However, it did only last a few years, so it wasn't the most robust product in the world.

Zed Head, I guess I'm one of the complainers. However, I will actually pay more money, willingly, for a better part. I guess I'm neither a high-bid nor low-bid person. I generally like the middle bid -- reasonable quality at a reasonable cost. What puzzles me, though, is how anyone could screw up the manufacture of a reed switch! I admit to being surprised about that one -- Chinese manufacture or not.

I'll also clarify that I think the Chinese are perfectly capable of manufacturing a high quality product and frequently do. However, I'm sure anyone will admit that China manufactures a disproportionate share of cheap consumer crap. More disturbing still, much of China's crap exports are counterfeit products -- such as pharmaceutical look-alikes, some with LEAD pigments, that doctors prescribe, that pharmacies buy unwittingly from wholesalers and re-sell, that people put inside their bodies instead of the medications they need to be healthy.

I mentioned the capacitor issue, BTW, because this is something a Chinese friend of mine is familiar with. His father manufactured electrolytic capacitors in mainland China, and he remembers fondly how his dad would sometimes come home with a bag of caps that they would pop in an open fire like firecrackers. When the startup capacitor went out on his heat pump, he appreciated that I knew where to get an American-manufactured capacitor to replace it. He didn't buy a Chinese capacitor. To me that says a lot.

[hr369]

The drywall screws from china leave steel splinters in my hands. Also i am sure you have heard of the mold that grows on there drywall. I got a check for 250 bucks from Lowes because i had bought some. I do like the food.

Did you tear down the chinese sheetrock or is it still up?

If you paid someone to install,tape and texture, that could get expensive real fast.

[Zed Head]

Re Post #10 - there's apparently more to the intent of the thread than just a rant about product quality. It explains my cognitive dissonance though. It can lead to whole separate discussions easily, you can get in to Imperialism, and Isolationism and all kinds of other isms. It can get messy.

To the quality issue - it would be nice to keep track of what's good and what's bad. I have an Airtex E8312 fuel pump on my car that's worked fine for probably 50,000 miles. With no prefilter. Just saying, there is some good coming from there. (Pretty sure it was made there but not positive).

[240260280z]

Now that you're done kicking the dog, do you think the problem was solely because of the pump quality or was there rust running through it? Why did you install the filter? In other words, do you think a Made in America (or Canada) electric fuel pump would have lasted longer?

The next level of constructivity would be to suggest a better electric pump. for those that don't have a supply of old mechanical pumps.

Just trying to end with more information that people can use. Mr. Gasket = bad, what = good?

The series one was in excellent condition. No rust in tank and well maintained. The pump failed but kept buzzing the same way it sounded when it worked. I put the filter in with the clacker for good practice. (The junk Chinese one had a filter so when I pulled it, I pulled its filter too).

[240260280z]

Re Post #10 - there's apparently more to the intent of the thread than just a rant about product quality. .

Nope, it is to rant about Chinese fake crap that wastes our time trouble shooting. They might as well have used a piezo buzzer in a match box with the word "pump" on it.... as it would function the same..... but they have managed to polish turds to better fool us.

Maybe this will put it in perspective

Maybe it was faecal bacteria that caused the pump to fail .....but hey its cool though...who could expect more from a place were "everybody tries to swindle everybody else" (quote from vid above).

Edited October 21, 2014 by Blue

[TomoHawk]

They might as well have used a piezo buzzer in a match box with the word "pump" on it.... as it would function the same..... but they have managed to polish turds to better fool us.

That sounds like the $89.00 electric turbochargers you get on eBay.

[bartsscooterservice]

Yup that is the problem.

Watered down metal that oxidizes... it looks like reed switch and feels like a reed switch but it is not.... fake crap.

I bought a SS knife set for my apt when I worked in NJ. it rusts in the dishwasher.... fake Chinese stainless steel.

The business model is that the western world and huge Chinese and Indian markets will continually pay low prices for fake junk that may work for a short time but that we are too cheap and lazy to do anything when it fails but to buy another. It is a vicious addictive cycle where huge numbers of small financial transactions continually flow to China. We must all break this cycle or the junk will continue to proliferate just like the phone scammers will keep in business and tells us our internet is broken due to their success from enough fools amongst us to keep them in business.

I saw a documentary on Chinese mass produced junk destroying the quality market in Europe few days ago. It's true, but what you gonna do about it ? I think nothing personally. I work with Chinese scooters to for my work, but I have to repair them, it's part of my income. They are not that bad, but offcourse things fail quicker, like chrome and buttons and sometimes even structural failures. The engines are pretty good if serviced regulary.

[John Coffey]

If a consumer's primary purchasing criteria is price, the consumer is the problem. Working on vintage Porsche's for last two years has really opened my eyes to that simple truth. There is a large and constant demand for Made in Germany parts for these cars and the customers are happy to pay the prices. When I worked on S30s for 13 years the exact opposite was true. Few customers wanted to pay extra for a Made in Japan part if a US or Chinese made part was available.

Ball joints are a perfect example. $100 from Nissan for Japanese OEM quality. $30 from Moog made in China with marginal quality. I had exactly 5 customers step up for the Nissan parts that lasted 40 years and only failed because the boot got torn and the previous owners didn't spent the $20 for new boots.

The problem is us, not China.

Edited October 21, 2014 by John Coffey

[jackboxxx]

That sounds like the $89.00 electric turbochargers you get on eBay.

Never really took a look at one of those, now that I have, it seems to look a lot like the heat sink / cooling fan for my CPU

[TomoHawk]

I can really see how those things will pressurize your intake system at 5,000RPM.

OTOH, AUDI is fooling around with these...

[siteunseen]

On the first night of real estate school, went through it with my step mom, caveat emptor "buyer beware" was a phrase I learned and often repeat.

Working at a restaurant I've also learned you'll get screwed at the drive thru.

Edited October 21, 2014 by siteunseen

[grannyknot]

John, there is not a car enthusiast that is cheaper or more stingy than a Z owner.

Anyone who parts out a Z will find that out very quickly. I have also owned 3 BMW's and although the machine parts are always excellent the electrical parts are not. I would take Chinese, Japanese or any other countries electricals over German any day .

Don't you think 'perceived quality' is a big part of Porsche's draw?

Porsche certainly isn't way up on the customer satisfaction/reliability charts.

Chris

If a consumer's primary purchasing criteria is price, the consumer is the problem. Working on vintage Porsche's for last two years has really opened my eyes to that simple truth. There is a large and constant demand for Made in Germany parts for these cars and the customers are happy to pay the prices. When I worked on S30s for 13 years the exact opposite was true. Few customers wanted to pay extra for a Made in Japan part if a US or Chinese made part was available.

The problem is us, not China.