I bought a galvanized water tank about 5 years ago. It had multiple pin-
holes after 3 years.

I bought a replacement bathtub for a house at about the same time. It has
spalling and severe corrosion in multiple places.

I bought a Maytag air conditioner with heating strips - it had 3 breakdowns
in 2 years.

Anyone having similar problems?

On Feb 3, 4:38*pm, RogerT wrote:
I bought a galvanized water tank about 5 years ago. *It had multiple pin-
holes after 3 years. *

I bought a replacement bathtub for a house at about the same time. *It has
spalling and severe corrosion in multiple places. *

I bought a Maytag air conditioner with heating strips - it had 3 breakdowns
in 2 years.

Anyone having similar problems?

The problem is that people won't pay what it costs to produce a
durable consumer product. No point in fretting about it. As long as
what you buy performs for some modest period of time, you're likely
getting what you paid for.
In the case of your water tank, these are typically sold to ranchers
and farmers. These are some of the most tight fisted buyers in any
industry. Expecting long term durability for something that group
would buy is wishful thinking.
Shoddy products from other sources are simply the result of the
financial pressures on the makers to produce quarterly profits in
response to the big banks, mutual fund and hedge fund managers.
Try buying some things rated well by Consumer Reports and you may have
better luck.

Joe

"Joe" wrote in message
...

In the case of your water tank, these are typically sold to ranchers
and farmers. These are some of the most tight fisted buyers in any
industry. Expecting long term durability for something that group
would buy is wishful thinking.

Perhaps this explains why tractors and pickup trucks last only
a couple of years (and purchasing ranchers and farmers have
yet to notice.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

On 2/3/2011 4:38 PM, RogerT wrote:
I bought a galvanized water tank about 5 years ago. It had multiple pin-
holes after 3 years.

I bought a replacement bathtub for a house at about the same time. It has
spalling and severe corrosion in multiple places.

I bought a Maytag air conditioner with heating strips - it had 3 breakdowns
in 2 years.

Anyone having similar problems?


You didn't get saddled with any of that Chinese drywall did you?
That stuff emits corrosive fumes that eats up metal.

TDD

On Feb 3, 8:21*pm, "Don Phillipson" wrote:
"Joe" wrote in message

...

In the case of your water tank, these are typically sold to ranchers
and farmers. These are some of the most tight fisted buyers in any
industry. Expecting long term durability for something that group
would buy is wishful thinking.

Perhaps this explains why tractors and pickup trucks last only
a couple of years (and purchasing ranchers and farmers have
yet to notice.)

Not the farmers I know! A lot of them have pickups from the 70's and
the only reason they don't still regularly use the old Ford tractors
that they still own is because the newer ones are much more powerful
and versatile.

nate

On Feb 3, 5:38*pm, RogerT wrote:
I bought a galvanized water tank about 5 years ago. *It had multiple pin-
holes after 3 years. *

I bought a replacement bathtub for a house at about the same time. *It has
spalling and severe corrosion in multiple places. *

I bought a Maytag air conditioner with heating strips - it had 3 breakdowns
in 2 years.

Anyone having similar problems?

I think the actual definition of "durable goods" is items with an
expected lifespan of "3 years or more" which IMHO isn't particularly
durable at all. My definition would be something more like 20-30
years, but unfortunately it seems that most people (and economists)
don't agree with me.

I do tend to buy tools and vehicles that I feel are likely to last
that long, but it is becoming a bit of a challenge (see recent thread
on floor jacks, for instance.)

nate

N8N wrote:

On Feb 3, 8:21*pm, "Don Phillipson" wrote:
"Joe" wrote in message

...

In the case of your water tank, these are typically sold to ranchers
and farmers. These are some of the most tight fisted buyers in any
industry. Expecting long term durability for something that group
would buy is wishful thinking.

Perhaps this explains why tractors and pickup trucks last only
a couple of years (and purchasing ranchers and farmers have
yet to notice.)

Not the farmers I know! A lot of them have pickups from the 70's and
the only reason they don't still regularly use the old Ford tractors
that they still own is because the newer ones are much more powerful
and versatile.


I sensed just a tiny bit of sarcasm in Don's comment.

Jim

N8N wrote in
:

On Feb 3, 5:38*pm, RogerT wrote:
I bought a galvanized water tank about 5 years ago. *It had multiple
pi
n-
holes after 3 years. *

I bought a replacement bathtub for a house at about the same time.
*It
has
spalling and severe corrosion in multiple places. *

I bought a Maytag air conditioner with heating strips - it had 3
breakdow
ns
in 2 years.

Anyone having similar problems?

I think the actual definition of "durable goods" is items with an
expected lifespan of "3 years or more" which IMHO isn't particularly
durable at all. My definition would be something more like 20-30
years, but unfortunately it seems that most people (and economists)
don't agree with me.

I do tend to buy tools and vehicles that I feel are likely to last
that long, but it is becoming a bit of a challenge (see recent thread
on floor jacks, for instance.)

nate


items with an
expected lifespan of "3 years or more"

I wonder if I'm still a durable good?

Joe wrote:
....

In the case of your water tank, these are typically sold to ranchers
and farmers. These are some of the most tight fisted buyers in any
industry. Expecting long term durability for something that group
would buy is wishful thinking.
....

You're totally wrong in that characterization...farmers/ranchers are
_EXTREMELY_ value-conscious which is _NOT_ at all the same thing as "cheap".

IMO(bservation) what has caused the proliferation of cheap farm-like
goods is not the actual farmer/rancher market itself but the
proliferation of the mini- or the amateur and the hobbyest types instead
of actual working farms/ranches. These led to TSC and their ilk.

For the item in question, we're still using galvanized tanks some of
which date back to the 60s while newer replacements for others are as
heavy or heavier but prices have gone up by as much as 10X or more
leading to switching to alternatives for some, particularly for
stationary use.

--

Red Green wrote:

-snip-

items with an
expected lifespan of "3 years or more"

I wonder if I'm still a durable good?

I don't know about you, but as for me-- I *really* good, but not that
durable.

"I aint as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was."
Toby Keith

Jim

On 2/3/2011 4:38 PM, RogerT wrote:
I bought a galvanized water tank about 5 years ago. It had multiple pin-
holes after 3 years.

I bought a replacement bathtub for a house at about the same time. It has
spalling and severe corrosion in multiple places.

I bought a Maytag air conditioner with heating strips - it had 3 breakdowns
in 2 years.

Anyone having similar problems?


I would really like to find more durable bads. Being evil is a hard job
and I wear out bads in a hurry. :-)

TDD

The Daring Dufas wrote:


You didn't get saddled with any of that Chinese drywall did you?
That stuff emits corrosive fumes that eats up metal.

TDD




No; I missed out on that particular clusterphuck. I think I've hit every
other disaster tho.

My job as maintenance and repair puts me at Lowes, Home Depot and the local
building supply places several times a week. I never buy the lowest grade
of any product cause I'll be lucky to get it home before it breaks.

The failures I'm seeing now are from products considered good-wearing items
just a decade ago. I'm thinking that I may have to buy luxury class items
to get ordinary wear and tear. This is BS.

If you've every replaced a bathtub in an older military-grade concrete
house, you know what trouble is. In the local examples, I have to
completely gut the bathroom to remove and install the new tub. Zero
clearance. It's outrageous to do this every half-dozen years because some
"suit" wants a few more pennies in his pocket. I want some freakin'
payback.