3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
professor95 wrote: EDIT ADDED 45/5/2013- When this thread started in March of 2005, I never expected to see it survive this long or amass the quantity of information that has been shared here. In...
Forum Discussion
I haven't written a "Soap Box Editorial" in a while. The mood to do so has hit with the recent discussion -- so here goes! Just remember, the delete key does still work if this boors you!
As a teacher, I usually had some sort of "sideline business" to bring in enough cash to support my appetite for toys. During the later part of the 70's and up until 1988 I operated an electronics repair facility called Audio-Visual Equipment Services in Bedford, VA.
My main "bread and butter" consisted of 5-1/4" floppy disk drive repair and alignment, VCR repair and of course TV sets. If I had depended on them to carry me into the next century as an income producer I would be homeless today.
Initially, PCB's - or printed circuit boards, were serviceable. You could either choose to repair them yourself or simply exchange them for a rebuilt board. The Zenith Chromacolor II was an example of an easily serviced and inexpensive to repair TV. It had 11 different plug-in modules. I kept a full set of modules in stock and would often "Easter Egg Hunt" rather than actually diagnose a component level problem.
When the System-3 TV sets came out, everything began to change. It was all one main board and many of the components could not be cross referenced to more common ECG or HEP items. The time to diagnose, secure parts and repair started the process of "disposable TVs" by the late 80's.
Today you can have a PLC or IC manufactured to do most anything you want accomplished for just a few bucks. They are often wave soldered or surface mounted onto multi-layer boards that make conventional servicing or repair virtually impossible. It is much cheaper to throw the item away or replace the entire module.
I can go to Wal-Mart and purchased a decent DVD player for under $60. If it needs repair, the hourly labor rate is at least the cost of the DVD player. You have to charge a minimum of one hour to even break even on your shop cost. Then the test equipment, securing parts, replacing parts (if possible), accounting, etc. will run the bill up to 3x the replacement cost of the DVD player. We throw it away rather than repair.
Our EPA has actually passed rulings that do the same for our gasoline driven generators. They do not want anyone "fooling" around with an engine and altering emissions. Thus, new engines will soon be unserviceable. Try to take a head bolt off and you will ruin the block. The entire assembly must be thrown away so we can be assured the stuff coming out the end pipe is clean.
While we can still get major brands repaired, the cost is often prohibitive. The replacement component, like the potted inverter board, may only cost $5.00 to build on an assembly line but by the time all the different price mark-ups from manufacturer to retail are considered, along with stocking costs, they skyrocket. That $5.00 board quickly becomes a $200 or more board -- plus labor to diagnose and install. Many retailers are pushing "extended warranties" counting on the number of unused warranties to off-set the needed repairs. You know, sort of like life insurance and who is going to die this year.
I hate to throw things away that only have something "little" wrong with them. Pitching the DuroPower inverter in the trash makes me cringe. Perhaps it is a generational thing since my generation DID FIX what was broken rather than throw it away -- but, then, we could!
I am sure the quality of the Yamaha is much better than the DuroPower. They most certainly have a better service network and availability of repair parts. But all that comes with a cost. So, we ask -- is it more economical to buy an item at 1/2 the price we must throw away when it fails or buy a different, serviceable item at twice the price knowing major repairs could cause as much as the disposable item would? There is this "thing" about me that many other consumers also are afflicted with. If I buy a DVD player for $60 I don't think twice about tossing it if it fails after the warranty period. I may even buy another of the same brand and model if my initial service was a year or more. But, If I buy a different brand (that does the same thing) for $500 I am more inclined to spend $200 to get it repaired.
Sort of leaves us in a dilemma as to buy the expensive name brand and accept the possibility of higher repair costs or go for the economy brand and just plan on throwing it away when it quits. It's sort of like playing craps in a casino. Just remember, the odds are always in favor of the house. :h
As a teacher, I usually had some sort of "sideline business" to bring in enough cash to support my appetite for toys. During the later part of the 70's and up until 1988 I operated an electronics repair facility called Audio-Visual Equipment Services in Bedford, VA.
My main "bread and butter" consisted of 5-1/4" floppy disk drive repair and alignment, VCR repair and of course TV sets. If I had depended on them to carry me into the next century as an income producer I would be homeless today.
Initially, PCB's - or printed circuit boards, were serviceable. You could either choose to repair them yourself or simply exchange them for a rebuilt board. The Zenith Chromacolor II was an example of an easily serviced and inexpensive to repair TV. It had 11 different plug-in modules. I kept a full set of modules in stock and would often "Easter Egg Hunt" rather than actually diagnose a component level problem.
When the System-3 TV sets came out, everything began to change. It was all one main board and many of the components could not be cross referenced to more common ECG or HEP items. The time to diagnose, secure parts and repair started the process of "disposable TVs" by the late 80's.
Today you can have a PLC or IC manufactured to do most anything you want accomplished for just a few bucks. They are often wave soldered or surface mounted onto multi-layer boards that make conventional servicing or repair virtually impossible. It is much cheaper to throw the item away or replace the entire module.
I can go to Wal-Mart and purchased a decent DVD player for under $60. If it needs repair, the hourly labor rate is at least the cost of the DVD player. You have to charge a minimum of one hour to even break even on your shop cost. Then the test equipment, securing parts, replacing parts (if possible), accounting, etc. will run the bill up to 3x the replacement cost of the DVD player. We throw it away rather than repair.
Our EPA has actually passed rulings that do the same for our gasoline driven generators. They do not want anyone "fooling" around with an engine and altering emissions. Thus, new engines will soon be unserviceable. Try to take a head bolt off and you will ruin the block. The entire assembly must be thrown away so we can be assured the stuff coming out the end pipe is clean.
While we can still get major brands repaired, the cost is often prohibitive. The replacement component, like the potted inverter board, may only cost $5.00 to build on an assembly line but by the time all the different price mark-ups from manufacturer to retail are considered, along with stocking costs, they skyrocket. That $5.00 board quickly becomes a $200 or more board -- plus labor to diagnose and install. Many retailers are pushing "extended warranties" counting on the number of unused warranties to off-set the needed repairs. You know, sort of like life insurance and who is going to die this year.
I hate to throw things away that only have something "little" wrong with them. Pitching the DuroPower inverter in the trash makes me cringe. Perhaps it is a generational thing since my generation DID FIX what was broken rather than throw it away -- but, then, we could!
I am sure the quality of the Yamaha is much better than the DuroPower. They most certainly have a better service network and availability of repair parts. But all that comes with a cost. So, we ask -- is it more economical to buy an item at 1/2 the price we must throw away when it fails or buy a different, serviceable item at twice the price knowing major repairs could cause as much as the disposable item would? There is this "thing" about me that many other consumers also are afflicted with. If I buy a DVD player for $60 I don't think twice about tossing it if it fails after the warranty period. I may even buy another of the same brand and model if my initial service was a year or more. But, If I buy a different brand (that does the same thing) for $500 I am more inclined to spend $200 to get it repaired.
Sort of leaves us in a dilemma as to buy the expensive name brand and accept the possibility of higher repair costs or go for the economy brand and just plan on throwing it away when it quits. It's sort of like playing craps in a casino. Just remember, the odds are always in favor of the house. :h
