Re: Revisited: Looking for serious opinions.

["Crash Gordon" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hmmm, I wonder if that accounted for the shortage of Chemtronics heats we
had a while back.

I would "think" it would not be the distributors responsibility to notify,
but they would/could certainly help the manufacture to contact the buyers.



"ABLE_1" <royboynospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:nsOdnVHtwbn19mbZnZ2dnUVZ_tydnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| As promised this is the response to all your questions and guesses.
|
| OK, concerning the below post, I can now fill you all in on the details.
|
| To who mentioned that the mfg. may have been aware long already, you were
| right.
|
| The problem was with some Chemtronics 604 heat detectors concerning the
| rivet that holds on the brass terminal strip had broken on 11 out of the
18
| that I had installed.  The date code was W01-Y04.  This was the first week
| of 2004 production run.
|
| It seems that the rivet was too small in size and when placed under the
| pressure of tightening the wire to the terminal it would break the rivet.
| As the installer you would not necessarily see the broken rivet.  With the
| rivet broken the integrity of the circuit was good but the detectors were
| useless.
|
| Just received a letter from Mircom explaining the above and that a Field
| Bulletin 04-050-T was issued on August 18, 2004 from OEM
| Chemtronics/Kidde-Fenwal, Inc.
|
| It states on the Field Bulletin for ACTION:
|
| "If during scheduled service or a trouble call, check the terminal plates
of
| EACH detector for rivet security.  If a defect is detected on series 600
| heat detectors, contact Chemtronics customer service to request
replacement
| units and obtain a Return Authorization Number (RMA) to return the
defective
| units."
|
| This Field Bulletin was only sent as an ADVISORY and not as a RECALL.
|
| I guess they didn't think it was such a big deal at the time.
|
| Since Chemtronics was the OEM and I was talking to MIRCOM they did not
know
| about the problem when I was taking to Tech Support.   According to my
| letter from Mircom it said that Chemtronics had contacted the CSPC with
| regard to the matter with a "No Fault" finding.
|
| I may have been a little excessive in my caution but better safe than
sorry.
| If you guy can track your installs for Heat Detectors you may want to
check
| those that were purchased in early 2004.  You may have some that will be
| absolutely useless to your customers protection.
|
| Which brings up a question.  If the Service Bulletin is printed who get it
| or how is it disseminated to the masses.  The Distributor???  Is it then
the
| Distributor responsibility to pass it on the dealers.  Anyone have any
| knowledge on the way it is "supposed" to work???  Just thinking out loud,
as
| it were, because it didn't seem to work in this case.
|
| I just happened to get lucky and had the customer, while on site during a
| very close lightning strike, and the thunder had vibrated the building
with
| enough force to dislodge the brass plates, which shorted against each
other
| and caused a fire alarm on the heat detector loop.  Who would have
| thought???
|
| Mircom will be giving me a credit for the 18 detectors that were replaced
| with the Edwards brand detector.  Imagine that???  They may no comment as
to
| my labor cost that I asked about.  I had to ask.
|
| Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions.  Hope you guys don't
have
| any.
|
| Les
|
|
| "ABLE_1" <royboynospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| news:jPKdneYlkcoVFErZnZ2dnUVZ_rWdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| > Hi all,
| >
| > I know "opinions" here are not hard to find, that is why I thought I
| > should ask.
| >
| > With out going into a lot of detail and naming names.  Who or how should
I
| > handle the following situation???
| >
| > I had installed a total of 18 "devices" on a system about 3 years ago.
| > Come to find out that a total of 11 out of these 18 are with
manufactured
| > defects that will render the device non-functional.  After contacting
the
| > manufacture and explaining the defect and sending pictures, they have
| > agreed that there is a problem.  They have requested that I would ship
the
| > defective devices back to them for further investigation.  They have
also
| > agreed to a credit to me thru my distributor by supplying me with 18
| > compatitable devices of another manufacturer since non were in stock at
| > this time.
| >
| > My plan is to take more pictures and send a letter to the manufacturer
| > concerning the defect.  My concern is that once I send them back, I and
| > other dealers (you) will never hear a thing about this.  The indication
is
| > that they have no knowledge of this ever happening before with there
| > product.
| >
| > I am asking here to get some input as to how product recalls are
initiated
| > or implemented so that this does not get swept under the carpet.
| >
| > And as I said above I will not divulge any names or product models at
this
| > time.  This is just a fact finding mission that I am on at this time.
| >
| > Thanks in advance for your responsible comments.
| >
| > Les
| >
| >
| >
| >
| >
| >
|
|