Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Jackal1 on March 15, 2007, 10:46:28 AM

Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Jackal1 on March 15, 2007, 10:46:28 AM
.....on products, produced elsewhere and sold in the U.S.
What ever happened to quality control?
Just got through painting the `02 Harley Deuce project I`m working on and was putting the tins and all the shinies back on. Got the back fender and the inner struts bolted up, along with the wiring . Decided I would check everything out, electricalwise ,  before bolting up the outer strut covers. I had bought a GE 2 pack of taillight bulbs. Put one in the taillight, flipped the switch and........Sizzle ZAP! Sucker blew like it had 110 put to it. Got the other out of the pack and flipped the switch....SIZZLE....ZAP! It basicaly just fried the filaments. The inside glass of the bulb was smoked bad.
It was pretty late in the day, so I thought about it overnight and was thinking...Great, I get to pull everything back down and start searching.
The next morning I get the old test meter out and start at the plug next to the battery that the rear harness plugs into. Everything fine. Plug her back up and start down the line. Everything checks out fine.
Hmmmmmmm. I make a run down to another parts store and grab a 2 pack of bulbs in a different brand. Got back, plugged one in and............everything is fine.
Dug the GE package out and started reading to the point I found.........."Made In Hungary."
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? All that BS and time over a $2.00 pack of bulbs due to the fact that GE was allowed to use cheap labor and overhead to produce a simple, inferior product to be sold in the U.S.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Xargos on March 15, 2007, 02:12:04 PM
Welcome to the New World Order.:(
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Ripsnort on March 15, 2007, 02:39:26 PM
When recalls became acceptable, QA went downhill.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Eagler on March 15, 2007, 02:43:22 PM
who made the bulbs that worked?
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Airscrew on March 15, 2007, 03:01:49 PM
sometimes you have to handle those bulbs like they're eggs.  Take the bulbs and the package back to the store get a refund or replacement.  Although quality can be a factor you also have to consider shipping and that whole process.  Those filaments can be pretty delicate

and where are the pics??  :cool:
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: eskimo2 on March 15, 2007, 03:23:15 PM
Yea, but they bring good things to life.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Airscrew on March 15, 2007, 03:27:45 PM
Quote
Originally posted by eskimo2
Yea, but they bring good things to life.

we dont know about that yet,  we havent seen any pics yet... ;)
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Flatbar on March 15, 2007, 04:18:48 PM
Simple manufacturing defect that caused the loss of the vacuum in the bulb. The lack of QC comes with outsourcing to the lowest bidder.

Get used to it because in this world economy the allmighty buck is the most important thing above else.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Ripsnort on March 15, 2007, 04:19:55 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Flatbar
Simple manufacturing defect that caused the loss of the vacuum in the bulb. The lack of QC comes with outsourcing to the lowest bidder.

Get used to it because in this world economy the allmighty buck is the most important thing above else.
Being competitve might be part of the equation too ;)
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Jackal1 on March 16, 2007, 09:48:14 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Airscrew
sometimes you have to handle those bulbs like they're eggs.  Take the bulbs and the package back to the store get a refund or replacement.  Although quality can be a factor you also have to consider shipping and that whole process.  Those filaments can be pretty delicate

and where are the pics??  :cool:


Got a couple of pics posted now Airscrew under "Before and after Harley".
Didn`t realize I was loading a life size for the after. :rofl
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Jackal1 on March 16, 2007, 09:52:35 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Eagler
who made the bulbs that worked?


Sylvania.

The filament in the Sylvania bulbs looks like well rope compared to the GE bulbs , which look like........well.........tiny little spider webs. :)
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: DREDIOCK on March 16, 2007, 09:57:23 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Airscrew
sometimes you have to handle those bulbs like they're eggs.  Take the bulbs and the package back to the store get a refund or replacement.  Although quality can be a factor you also have to consider shipping and that whole process.  Those filaments can be pretty delicate

and where are the pics??  :cool:


Somehow one would think that if they are being made to be put on something like a car or motorcycle they would be made to be able to endure some rough treatment
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Airscrew on March 16, 2007, 10:02:41 AM
Quote
Originally posted by DREDIOCK
Somehow one would think that if they are being made to be put on something like a car or motorcycle they would be made to be able to endure some rough treatment

you're probably right.   I'm speaking more from experience with household type light bulbs,  every once in awhile I'll get a couple that will not work or work for a day or so and burn out.  I cant recall if I've ever had that problem with automotive type bulbs.  I'm just going on the assumption that the construction of a home light bulb and an automotive light bulb are probably very similar just smaller
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: midnight Target on March 17, 2007, 11:59:47 AM
Funny thing about QC, people aren't always willing to pay for it.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Gunslinger on March 17, 2007, 05:43:06 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Airscrew
you're probably right.   I'm speaking more from experience with household type light bulbs,  every once in awhile I'll get a couple that will not work or work for a day or so and burn out.  I cant recall if I've ever had that problem with automotive type bulbs.  I'm just going on the assumption that the construction of a home light bulb and an automotive light bulb are probably very similar just smaller


I've honestly considered dropping $90 to replace all the ones in my house to the efficient ones they sell at home depot.  They're supposed to last 10 times longer and use a 10th of the energy.....basically pay for themselves in a couple of months.

Because of the fact that I have kids who like to leave lights on all the times I think this will really help my energy bill.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: SirLoin on March 17, 2007, 07:45:07 PM
Hmm..Some of the best audio vaccume tubes are made in eastern europe..Probably not at that factory though.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Mini D on March 17, 2007, 08:26:47 PM
I went to home depot to buy some wire strippers and figured I'd see if I could get some screws for my wife's pruning shears that seemingly self destructed. I found the size I needed and noticed they only came in flathead screw... oh well. There were 4 in the 98 cent pack. I got home and opened the pack and found that 2 of the 4 screw heads had not been machined at all.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: john9001 on March 17, 2007, 11:49:46 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Gunslinger
I've honestly considered dropping $90 to replace all the ones in my house to the efficient ones they sell at home depot.  


i'm doing that, but not all at once, i replace the old lights as they burn out.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: eagl on March 18, 2007, 12:04:49 AM
I try to use those compact flourescent bulbs wherever I can, but the small ones don't put out enough light for some things.  If they can figure out how to make a decent diffuser for bright LED bulbs so they aren't useful just as spotlight replacements, I'll probably end up with a mix of flourescent bulbs for general lighting and LEDs for places where I need a lot of light, such as my desk and kitchen food prep areas.

Ugly huge flourescents are still about the best for a garage workshop though, except for certain projects like woodworking and staining where the color of the light can make a difference.  In those cases, having a few regular lightbulbs to provide a little softer color lighting can be useful.

I've found that flourescent bulbs are also less sensitive to power surges...  When I was living in the UK, bad wiring and power surges would kill the bulbs in 2 or 3 of the rooms in the house almost every other week.  I replaced them with the brightest flourescent bulbs I could find and they lasted over a year.  By the time we moved they would take a few minutes to warm up before they'd get to full brightness, but they never actually died.
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Xjazz on March 18, 2007, 12:20:44 AM
Somehow this is amusing. The HD guy complain about the quality...
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: Widewing on March 18, 2007, 12:28:47 AM
Quote
Originally posted by eagl
I try to use those compact flourescent bulbs wherever I can, but the small ones don't put out enough light for some things.


I use mostly compact flourescents in my home. I have one in my den that I bought 14 years ago.. Still works...

My regards,

Widewing
Title: Quality testing.......
Post by: nirvana on March 18, 2007, 01:03:52 AM
We've been replacing regular bulbs with the halogen bulbs.  They are supposed to be much more energy efficient and are brighter.  The brighter part I can attest to, how much energy it saves overall, I'm not sure.  Because we've finished the basement ourselves, we've just installed the halogen bulbs from the get go which was nice.  But yeah, they produce a nice bright, white light.

On a side note, if you have a motion detecting light switch as I used to have in my room, it will eat the halogens for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.