Counterfeit Hardware.

[Janitor Tzap]

Beware Counterfeit Hardware.

I went to the local Hardware store for a box of flat head metal screws.
When I tried to use them, I kept tearing the heads off of the screws.
After the forth one snapped off, I looked at the snapped head of the screw.
It had small jagged points on it, like a piece of broken aluminum.
I then grabbed my magnet, and tried to pick up the screws with it.
The magnet couldn't do it.
I went right back to the hardware store, and showed the manager what I had found.
He refunded my money instead of giving another box.
Because every box he had on the shelf was the same.
Well, he was not happy that his supplier was pulling this crap on him.
So, he was going to look for a different supplier.

From now on, I'm going to bring my magnet with me whenever I need to get hardware.
I bought some hooks just yesterday, and here the same thing happen.
They were supposed to steel hooks, but were really just plated aluminum.

So, Beware Counterfeit Hardware.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[Bob Scott]

JT,

What were the brand names on the screw box and the hook package?

Counterfeit clothes, purses, etc. were all over the local news yesterday, mostly coming from Chinatown and Asian flea markets. You really have to be careful of electrical merchandise with fake UL and CSA stickers on it, especially from dollar stores - some of it catches fire.

[Robert Reed]

Jan
Counterfeit hardware has been on the market for years and you can thank China for most of that. Where it really gets serious is in the industrial sector (eeegods - airplanes !). We had some microwave towers come down after several years due to counterfeit bolts. All bolts should have a stamping on there heads as to quality and hardness. These are in the form of radial slash marks and run from 2 - 5. The counterfeiters just take scrap steel and stamp the highest grade into their head. Unfortunately there is no way to tell the real quality except for lab testing. To most people steel is steel, but not so as there are as many different grades as there are wood species. It all comes down to the crime riddled world we now live in. "Caveat Emptor" has never had more meaning than it does today!

[Janitor Tzap]

JT,

What were the brand names on the screw box and the hook package?

I'm not certain, I think it was Weir. But don't quote me on that.

Counterfeit clothes, purses, etc. were all over the local news yesterday, mostly coming from Chinatown and Asian flea markets. You really have to be careful of electrical merchandise with fake UL and CSA stickers on it, especially from dollar stores - some of it catches fire.

This is true, that a lot of the stuff I have found in the dollar stores can be junk.
Once in awhile they will get a good product in, but very rarely.

Jan
Counterfeit hardware has been on the market for years and you can thank China for most of that. Where it really gets serious is in the industrial sector (eeegods - airplanes !). We had some microwave towers come down after several years due to counterfeit bolts. All bolts should have a stamping on there heads as to quality and hardness. These are in the form of radial slash marks and run from 2 - 5. The counterfeiters just take scrap steel and stamp the highest grade into their head. Unfortunately there is no way to tell the real quality except for lab testing. To most people steel is steel, but not so as there are as many different grades as there are wood species. It all comes down to the crime riddled world we now live in. "Caveat Emptor" has never had more meaning than it does today!

Yeah...
A few years back now, 60 minutes had done a report on Counterfeit Hardware showing up in Aircraft.

What bothers me the most about this.
Is how easily these counterfeiters have been able to get these pieces in to the stores, and businesses.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[Robert Reed]

My feeling is that we should hold the retailers directly responsible for the product they sell. Maybe a few lawsuits would stem their greed for asian junk and they would start thinking about buying AMERICAN!

[Lenp]

We bought several thousand sheet metal screws from a national distributor. They were great shape, color, strength, finish, just the wrong size! They were a metric screw, labeled as being a #8, but they were undersized enough that the prepunched holes were too large.

For years we bought vacuum pumps thet were rated 50/60 hz. The distributor later stocked 60Hz only machine but never changed his stock number. All the units we sold for overseas were failing because the motors would overheat.

Accountability and truth in advertising is a much bigger issue than most people understand.

Len

[MrAl]

Hi,


The old way of doing this was to put the words, "OBSOLETE, see part number 265 for a close replacement",
in the catalog.
It's just another part of the manufacturer laziness and they dont give a crap anymore anyway.
This kind of thing has crept into many areas now including TV listings where the names of the actors
are sometimes left out now, or the description of the movie or show is left out completely or in part.

Nobody gives a crap about accuracy or completeness anymore.

[Janitor Tzap]

Hi,


The old way of doing this was to put the words, "OBSOLETE, see part number 265 for a close replacement",
in the catalog.
It's just another part of the manufacturer laziness and they dont give a crap anymore anyway.
This kind of thing has crept into many areas now including TV listings where the names of the actors
are sometimes left out now, or the description of the movie or show is left out completely or in part.

Nobody gives a crap about accuracy or completeness anymore.

Yeah,
I'm seeing it more, and more these days.
I purchased a Kensington keyboard.
Because I've liked how durable, and well designed their older trackballs are.
But after one year of use. The cursor keys stopped working.
The keyboard was still under their 5 year warranty, so they sent out a replacement to me.

I took the old keyboard a part to find out why the cursor keys had failed.
I found that the key cap mountings had cracked, and broken off.
Thus, when you pressed the key, it went sideways, instead of up and down.
Also, key cap mountings are part of the actual top of the keyboard case.
I made a attempt too glue the broken, and cracked pieces back into place.
But the glue wouldn't hold.
So, I ended up tossing it.

Currently on this machine...
I have an old 101 Keytronics keyboard that, was made back in 1990.
Half too clean it from time to time, but it is still better than most of the newer keyboards.
{Durability wise.}


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[haklesup]

I have an old 101 Keytronics keyboard that, was made back in 1990.

I know how you feel. I'm still using the same keyboard my whole career. A Zenith KB made in April, 1989 (next year it will be legal to drink alcohol). They just don't make anything like it anymore. Weighs several pounds and has a nice key click sound I can turn on and off. USB, Windows key, what are those?

As for the screws. More likely Zinc than Aluminum but just as useless unless you plan to screw together styrofoam and want the screws to stay shiny. With the proliferation of manufacturers, distributors and vendors its nearly impossible to keep up. With a little luck, in a decade or so, China will improve product standards and we will get Japan quality out of them. However by that time, someone else will be ripping us off. China is making great strides now but there still is a bunch of junk in the pipeline.

[Robert Reed]

I have to agree that some of the new plastic stuff (keyboards included) are super cheap grade material. I purchased my Dell computer four years ago and the first thing I did was pitch the key board as I see better quality plastic in the milk cartons I buy. On top of that it was solid black and hard to read in less than ideal light.
I immediatly hooked up my 14 year old Micron keyboard. I am the third owner of this one and it has survived three computers. Oh what a pleasure to use - creme color finish, nice husky buttons that when pressed you can feel them making solid contact and oh yea one other thing - it works day in and day out wiyhout a hitch.

[MrAl]

Hi again,

Now that the topic has shifted a little to keyboards, i just thought i would mention that
i have been through about 10 keyboards sine 1998. My original XT (XT was a computer
type at the time) came with a metal and plastic keyboard that weighed about 2 pounds
but the keys made a definite 'click' with tactile feedback and it was great and would
have lasted years, but the mother boards changed and after i upgraded to a new
MB i couldnt use it anymore. Since then i average roughly one keyboard per year.

Last keyboard i got on sale at good ol' Radio Shack (he he) and it was a black keyboard so
i know about the dim light situ, so i built a keyboard light out of an old goose neck light
i had purchased at a dollar store for a dollar. I swapped out the LED for a high power LED
but still use a resistor that limits current to around 30ma or so, so the LED is way underpowered.
It provides just enough light though at 5v. The 5v comes from a USB cord plugged into the
USB but only uses the +5v and ground. Such low current doesnt bother the USB at all.
It's great to have a keyboard light and i highly recommend building one for anyone that needs
a little extra light on the keyboard sometimes. I like to run the comp with low light very
often so it's just right with the small amount of light it puts out...just enough but not too
much to be overbearing. The USB makes a good power supply for these low current things
so it's easy to set up and no wall wart or batteries needed.

[Janitor Tzap]

Hi again,

Now that the topic has shifted a little to keyboards, i just thought i would mention that
i have been through about 10 keyboards sine 1998. My original XT (XT was a computer
type at the time) came with a metal and plastic keyboard that weighed about 2 pounds
but the keys made a definite 'click' with tactile feedback and it was great and would
have lasted years, but the mother boards changed and after i upgraded to a new
MB i couldnt use it anymore. Since then i average roughly one keyboard per year.

Wow, That sounds like one of the original IBM 84 key keyboards.
I really liked the feel of them.
But they had a flaw designed in to the key-cap's.
Under each key was a spring that went down to a plastic hinged button.
Those springs would get compressed after awhile, and thus the keys stopped working.
IBM came out with repair kits for them. But it didn't really solve the problem.
When the 101 keyboards came out. They re-did the design completely.

Last keyboard i got on sale at good ol' Radio Shack (he he) and it was a black keyboard so
i know about the dim light situ, so i built a keyboard light out of an old goose neck light
i had purchased at a dollar store for a dollar. I swapped out the LED for a high power LED
but still use a resistor that limits current to around 30ma or so, so the LED is way underpowered.
It provides just enough light though at 5v. The 5v comes from a USB cord plugged into the
USB but only uses the +5v and ground. Such low current doesnt bother the USB at all.
It's great to have a keyboard light and i highly recommend building one for anyone that needs
a little extra light on the keyboard sometimes. I like to run the comp with low light very
often so it's just right with the small amount of light it puts out...just enough but not too
much to be overbearing. The USB makes a good power supply for these low current things
so it's easy to set up and no wall wart or batteries needed.

Yup,
I've seen your LED USB Light.
Cyberguys sells them, and other stuff that you can plug in to the USB Port.
Fans
Lights
Small Peltier Coolers
Laptop Cooling Stand
Coffee Mug Heaters
Hand Held Massagers



Signed: Janitor Tzap

[frhrwa]

I think we should ALL take a look at items we want to purchase.. if its made in China, don't buy!.. I found every cabinet knob in Lowes and home depot was made in China.. not 90%, but 100%.. just boycott the stores that cater to this kind of junk..

[GoingFastTurningLeft]

Once I bought 100W light bulbs from a dollar store.

When I turned on the lamp it tripped the breaker.

We reset it and I tried the other one. This one fried my surge protector.

Never buy light bulbs at a dollar store!

[WA3ETD]

Yup! Can you say "Made In China"! I was building a bench rest last weekend for target shooting and had two bags of nails, purchased loose from hardware bins at different times. Used the first bag without a miss, the second bag nails bent after one blow, and when I tried to extract them with a prybar the head just folded back ...I ended up cutting 'em flush with a boltcutter and driving in the stub. Quality is hard to come by these days. John WA3ETD