On Sun, 09 Jun 2013 22:09:26 -0700, DD_BobK wrote:

"you *nearly always* get what you pay for...
if you're knowledgeable & careful"

Your wise words ring well and true.

For example, after researching o-rings and seals, I was
able to source every seal and o-ring in each pool pump
for less than $12 per pump (exclusive of tax & shipping).

Better yet, it would only have been about $7 in toto, had I
opted for standard Buna-N seals, instead of the Viton seals.

Sta-Rite Max-e-glas II Pool Pump
1. $9.95 Shaft seal, Viton, PN 37400-0028S, PS3868
2. $0.16 Seal plate housing o-ring, U9-228A; O-240 Buna-N 70 Duro
3. $0.03 Trap cover o-ring, U9-375; O-12 Buna-N 70 Duro
4. $0.08 Drain plug o-ring (x2) U9-359; O-39 Buna-N 70 Duro
5. $1.41 Diffuser o-ring, U9-374; Alladin O-83 Buna-N 70 Duro

Notice that the total cost of all the o-rings was about
$2, sourced by trade size (with most of that cost being
the one o-ring that was a non-standard trade size, as
there is no "Alladin O-83" that I can find in any of the
standard-inch-sized o-ring tables:
a. http://www.allorings.com/size_cross_...nce_framed.htm
b. http://www.marcorubber.com/sizingchart.htm
c. http://www.broadleyjames.com/o-rings-size-chart.html

Even so, and to the point of *you never get what you pay for*,
(unless you know and think about what you're doing), just one of
those o-rings could easily be sold to an unsuspecting consumer
at a pool store for just about what I paid for the entire set!

The point is that anyone who says "you get what you pay for"
is generally thinking *only* about price; and that is a mistake.

The real trick is in understanding what you're buying, and then
understanding the market that is selling what you're buying.

Thanks to all you guys, I have a much better handle on the o-ring
and pump-seal market than I did just a few days ago!