Leon said:

"Greg G." wrote in message
.. .

This time? Chinese power switch failure caused by an improperly
crimped supply lead overheating and melting the switch internals.
Result - melted switch and a useless machine.

You've got to be kidding me! Talk about a slow boat from China...

I hear you Greg but controlling inventory having been my specialty when I
was in the automotive business, quantity purchasing brings the cost down.
A $2 part that sells once every 2 or 3 years is wasting space on the shelf
if the mark up, "gross profit" is not up to par with parts that are taking
up the same space and turning 3 to 6 times a year. Unfortunately being out
of stock does not bring the price down. Parts prices are predetermined by
the actual cost, the room they occupy and how many times they will sell
during a year. If the sell price is too low it may not warrant being
stocked at all if it is a slow mover. Then factor in the fact that it may
suddenly start having a high failure rate and you can not find one at any
price.

I was in the electronics business since... well... since 5U4's were
mounted in the tops of power transformers of B&W Philco's and Zenith's
contained Cobra tone arms - but I was a mere child at the time. ;-)

I guess I just got tired of reading about trolls, kooks, caners,
phishing, beating your children, not beating your children, which saw
to buy, how many people died today in Iraq, how rude or useless the
Orange/Blue/Green Borg was today, and other such stuff.

Stupid post, in retrospect, but I guess my point was that it seems
more like price gouging than anything. Various electronics parts
worth 12 cents are stocked by many distributors by the tens of
thousands and the markup certainly isn't anything like the 700% markup
on this item. We're not talking about local auto dealers, we're
talking the manufacturer - the Big Kahuna. And don't get the idea
that this stuff is stored in some high rent district, climate
controlled warehouse. As an example, Magnavox, when they were an
American company, assembled televisions in converted chicken brood
houses in Jefferson City, Tennessee. Not exactly what most people
would have envisioned.

Ours shops have always adhered to basic inventory management rules.
But as a manufacturer and primary supplier of replacement parts, I
don't personally believe that a 2" x 12" x 6" box containing 25
switches, sitting on a shelf with 1200 _other_ boxes, warrants that
kind of overhead or markup.

And I'd bet you a turnip that I'm not the only one to have had this
switch fail, it's probably a pretty fast turnover - which is why it's
out of stock. This is, after all, a two year old, current production,
widely marketed product.

I would say, if you can, by pass the faulty switch and install a good
quality one at a much cheaper cost some where else on the stand or machine.

Yeah, the _real_ reason for the post was to alert others to the
existence of a commonly available replacement switch, that while not
of exactly matching design, is a snap-in replacement with an adequate
amperage/HP rating. It's where I said:

Or maybe I'll just go pick up a quality, American made Philmore 30-866
lighted rocker switch - it snaps right in and has a genuine UL
listing. Cost? $3.95.

You probably got bored by that point. ;-)

Later,

Greg G.