ERA Forum Technical Help (Editors Note: If you haven’t been on the Electrical Rebuilders Association’s new Web site—you’re missing out on the best information sharing in the industry. New members and the old faithful are making the Technical Help Forum the place to go with rebuilding questions, and all sorts of technical info. Following is a sample of what’s going on.) This post was printed in the August issue, there were so many replies they could not all be printed at the same time. POST: Does anyone still make 10MT or 35MT solenoids in the USA? I don’t mean made in China but the cap was put on here. I’m looking for real American quality like Ace used to make. REPLY: Now a word about suppli- ers…My biggest problem about suppli- ers is consistency. If suppliers are con- tinuously changing their vendors, and I keep getting different product, I’m going to find a supplier that will keep the same quality of product coming when I need/want it. ’m more than will- ing to pay a few more dollars for prod- uct that I want, and the quality level I want, than to sacrifice quality for the sake of a few dollars…I won’t do it. Neither should any of you. I could care less if I can buy any given part for a dollar or two or even five less from supplier X than what I am currently buying from supplier Y (UNLESS it’s the same product for less money). The first time ONE of those cheaper inferior quality parts fail, the next 30 cheaper parts (i.e. Chinese sole- noids and drives) are going to go to cover the cost of the warranty on a unit that I had to give to a customer that I shouldn’t have had to give to them in the first place, and therefore, my reasoning is (big shock here)… If I spend more on parts that work, that equates into less warranties, less warranties equates into less time spent on handling said warranties, less time spent on handling unnecessary war- ranties equates into less time rebuilding units to replace warranties and building units for the shelf, and that lets me expand my business, and that my friends equates into more money in my pocket because I don’t have to spend mine, or my employees time doing things that don’t need to be done! When people figure out that they are far ahead on their bottom line by spend- ing more money on parts that work to attain better quality, in the end the less time spent on parts of inferior quality that don’t fit, don’t work, end up as war- ranties, or whatever else costs you time. You can make far, far more money gain- ing efficiency than you can ever make up in cheaper parts costs. REPLY: I would caution the use of ZM 28MT solenoids. We have had some issues with them and when opened see that they don’t have a dip- pled movable contact. Going back to rebuilding OEM with the proper contacts have eliminated our problems. REPLY: I don’t have a problem buy- ing Canadian products. International trade between Canada and the United States is a good thing. I would say we are on a pretty level playing field with Canada, economically. Besides, ’m only 45 miles from the border. You Canadians live closer to me than my own family! In fact, I can see Canada from here when I’m flying around the hometown airport. REPLY: I don’t have a problem buy- ing Canadian either, whether it’s in the form of parts from Canadian suppliers, or goods and services while ’’m on vacation there. I have a second family that lives in Saskatchewan and I usually spend two or three weeks a year there…The friendliest people I have ever met were in Canada. REPLY: My customers buy from me because they don’t have to worry about quality! My dad has a very loyal follow- ing for building antique units. When it comes to building old units, he’s truly an artist and gets premium money for his work, but his work I have yet to see duplicated, ever! REPLY: Everything I have read on the Forum about the superiority of American-made parts over Chinese parts has been simply asserted as if no other possibility existed. No studies, reports, surveys? It is probably true that some American-made product will always be better than some Chinese-made product (and vice versa) so it is always possible to make claims for one point of view or the other. I would like to see the whole thing put to the test. What’s needed here is a shootout: put American solenoids (dri- ves/bearings, etc.) up against Chinese solenoids (drives/bearings, etc.) from a broad enough sample of manufacturers from both countries, publish the results and be done with it! A kind of Rebuilder Olympics. Maybe the Republican Party would pay for it. As one man said it: For three days of the week I think American parts are superior; for the other three days I think Chinese parts are better. On Sunday I rest. REPLY: No offense, but you do the test. Too many Chinese solenoids have not even worked good on the bench, much less on a car. Usually all I have to do is look at a Chinese solenoid to know I don’t want to use it. Not to say that all American parts are better, we can