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.) 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: Yeah, AC Delco made in USA. Just got two D981 solenoids delivered here as I was reading your posting. But you have to take it com- pared to the price of China stuff. All I have been buying is OE on D981 and D984 for the last few years. Or rebuild- ing OE sol. cores. Anything other than that on the 5/10 MT stuff we were get- ting more warranties than it was worth. I don’t know about 35 MT though. I was getting them from ACE and they were great quality and said made in USA on them. Did they stop making those now too? Am I going to have to buy China and Taiwan crap now that the caps will crack on half of them when tightening the motor lead, and the ones that make it out of the shop crack when the customer puts it on the tractor and gives it that last little umph? REPLY: We make USA 10MT and 35MT solenoids. The 10OMT are our part no. DS-408. The 35MT our no. DS-794. REPLY: I am sure if you call Van Bergen & Greener and request exactly what you want they will make them with American cast caps. As soon as this industry demands quality and is willing to pay for it, things will change. REPLY: So how come no one men- tioned Just Parts? Dave has been manu- facturing switches here in the good old US of A since Moby Dick was a min- now. You should check them out! Their last flyer had seriously decent prices on 35MT switches. They are great folks to deal with. Give them a shot. REPLY: Aren’t NRG’s solenoids (5- 10-30-35MT) “made in America?” I have yet (knock on wood) had to war- ranty one, until today 24 volt, 42MT and that not really being their fault. Just a thought out loud. REPLY: What? Moby Dick was a minnow? “Moby the Minnow.” Just doesn’t sound right. REPLY: The quality comes with the price. As a rebuilder trying to build a unit to compete with imports units, the best overall way is more LEAN salvaging, not replacing with cheap offshore parts. Posts have been made for a long time about the quality of these offshore sole- noids, but probably very few pay atten- tion until it hits you in the pocketbook. If rebuilders keep buying them sooner or later you will get caught. Several months back I posted about a certain brush assembly, that had two times the brush spring tension versus OE. Not one rebuilder response did I get from another rebuilder. Transpo did respond with some specs and the effects of excessive brush tension. The supplier who sold this to me said “that makes them better’? You figure that one out. Last week I posted for all to make a commitment not to buy this offshore junk. Not one response did I get. Look at it this way… for every off- shore part you don’t buy that is a part that maybe AZ, or the mass discounters will wind up with, let them have the warranty, not me. So if anybody wants to make a dif- ference, quit today or keep on buying and accept the fact. REPLY: What I was trying to confer was the time it took for Moby Dick to grow from minnowhood “size” to the large jumbo size as in whale. Which one would assume would cover a sig- nificant period of time? Thank you for your consideration. REPLY: Right! Well, by golly, he would have to have been a little mam- mal at one time, now, wouldn’t he! Do you suppose he started out as a smelt? Wait, smelt are fish. Never mind. My brain is in the process of disengaging. REPLY: Makes you wonder if when the supplier said that to you, he was actually thinking to himself ‘and with that extra tension these brushes will wear out twice as fast so I can sell twice as many of them!” Some of this stuff from China seems to be fairly decent quality, although the great majority of it is not. I try to use it only as a last resort. REPLY: I don’t have made in USA, but would Canada do? If so call me at Canadian Starter Drive. REPLY: Yes, Canada will do. We really include Canada, when we say made in USA. I guess you guys tend to get lumped in with us most of the time. The hard part is breaking old buying habits. We’ve all been getting burnt lately by the Chinese junk mer- chants. Hang in there; we’re leaning north real hard. REPLY: I started using CSD 5 and 10MT solenoids last year, and so far have been very pleased with the results! Keep up the good work Jim. As far as Chinese solenoids and drives go, I have a standing policy in the shop, NO CHI- NESE solenoids or drives! All of my HD 37-50MT solenoids are USA made, and I have tried to support some US companies buying their “new” or “rebuilt” 5 and 1OMT solenoids, but th