Quality stuff

djmc wrote: »

I was going to attach a photo but not sure how but we have a general electric dryer in every day use with over 40 years purchased by my parents in the early 1980s. It only needed a new fan belt 10 years ago

I have an LG fridge freezer bought 20 years this year going strong. LG had just arrived from the states around that time. I don't think the LG stuff is as good now.

K.G. wrote: »

Where is the quality gone in stuff. Had trouble with a tractor and eventually after alot of messing traced it back to the earth lead of the battery. The thing is that lead is not 12 months old and i gave 30 e for it so i wouldn't describe it as cheap.it was a full factory lead in other words not screwed together but the cable just decentagrated close to the end.while messing with.lead i see the silver is going on new lights fitted 2.years ago.then herself rang and said no gas in the hob.so eventually figured out regulator was gone.same story new regulator gone and it was only replaced recently but the old one was there years and was only changed due accidental damage.sorry for rant but does any thing last anymore .a full morning wasted

Items made in China ?

Just to put something up that is good quality, not cheap but leatherman multi tools are brilliant and they have a 25 year warranty.

You make a good point there bamayang. In some cases for specific quailty tools you do need to shop in the specialist provider's. Local co ops and merchants may often not have them able tools

Jjameson wrote: »

So if we are to get serious about the environmental impact what are the solutions? A certification of being fit for purpose for an determined length of time, repairability ect?

Ya absolutely the way to go as someone else said make the CE mark stand for something again would be a great starting point
.......but I'm afraid were too soft a touch to be blamed with the various types of pollution destroying the planet and everyone else get the next gadget /outfit/ phone etc..
Its look over there dirty farming nothing to see here with throwaway living

dh1985 wrote: »

It's not just Chinese stuff that have become poor.
Most brands are minimising costs to maximise profits. A tv years ago would last 20 years. Now they are seen as disposable after a few years. But the c0st of these items have dropped significantly also. It's hard to have quality and a low cost base. Also alot of the products now are 0ver engineered. All bells and whistles but only leads to bigger pr0blems down the road that cannot be remedied easily. Same across all product sectors. Everyone wants the next big thing, new invention or gadget and thes products are rushed through development and are really not to satisfactory quality. A good example lately is the 737 max. An powerhouse in American manufacturing. I wont start on the crap that's coming out of germany

Definitely agree with your post here.

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Hard to have a quality mark when it's easy to copy.
CE mark used to mean something untill Chinese manufacturers started using it and claiming it stood for "China Export".
Hard to find quality without incurring expensive mistakes, but forums like this are great.
Ask what brand of wrench, drill or widget is best, and you'll get answers based on experience, rather than paid promotional pop-up ads.

Not to derail the thread, but a good few comments suggested karcher are gone to ****. Are there any good brands for handy electric power washers? €2-300ish?

blue5000 wrote: »

Whelan will know;)

Youtube is full of paid promoters too, But AvE and his teardown videos are good.

I’d say she even power hoses the Childers.

jimini0 wrote: »

When you first got a washing machine, did ye all sit there watching it do it's first wash ? We did, remember being somewhat nervous and excited when it done the spin ha

And the proper instructions on how to use it written on paper and taped to the front of it.
With a highlighted part about what not to do[/quote]

You've reminded me of a Kevin mcalear story of when they bought a TV, all the children sat in a circle around it for 4 hours until granny said will we turn it on. ðŸ˜

Some brands still make good tools. Father has a 9inch Makita angle grinder. He wouldn't exactly be sensitive with the treatment of it. Must have it 10 years now, 10 hard years cutting steel and concrete blocks on occasion. Think it's had a few sets of brushes but that's all and it still works away fine. He's a big Makita fan now as a result and buys nothing else.

But as for older stuff being good, it's generally correct. Dad also has a Hitachi 13mm corded drill from the 80s that was his father's. Still works perfectly, again only a few sets of brushes is all it has cost him. He also had a very large Fein hammer action drill that would sprain your wrist if the bit jammed in anything. Serious yoke, again from the 80s. Can't remember what part went in it but he couldn't get spares to repair it which was a shame. Replaced by a Makita which is going very well. We have an old atlas copco compressor that's nearly 40 years old too and still going strong. We have an unknown brand air cooled welder too from the 80s that the old fella brought from a factory that he worked in that closed down, has done a lot of welding and still works perfectly. Needed a new engineering vice last year too, modern Irwin vices are reasonably priced but reading around the internet got me to believe that they're not as good as the old Record vices that they replaced. Found a lovely 6inch engineers vice on Donedeal for €350, will see the old fella out. Those old vices really do last.

Bosch stuff isnt what it once was. We had a 4 inch grinder that got light use and it didn't last. Old Record/Stanley woodworking tools command a premium on donedeal and the likes still as the steel was superior in them in comparison to modern tools.

When it comes to tools and equipment the motto should be to but dear but buy once. In general you get what you pay for.

Its like my old fan cooled welder that is still working fine after 25 years. Neighbour bought an inverter type one 2 years ago and it died just after the 2 year warranty was up. Guy who sold it to him said it would cost a lot to repair.

I was in the local hardware few years back
Next doors missus was there gettng a new washing machine. Wanted it delivered that day the lad at the counter said it would be at least the next week. He asked me if I would drop it at her house and cleared it with her. I took the machine up to the house. Plumbed it in she asked if I would drop the old one back to the shop. I took it and between everything just left it in the shed at home. A mate that dabbles in that stuff seen it and asked about told him it was broke and I should have dropped it back to the shop. He looked it over then took the back off it and said ah the same as the last one. A wire broke in the loom had it fixed in 10 minutes. I wash all the farm clothes in it since. Some off the stuff thrown out is madness