Saturday, June 9, 2012

Let's talk about things that suck


Last weekend, all of the Kemah/Clear Lake area was in a tizzy. Boats lined up and down the channel and major traffic routes were shut down to await the barge carrying the space shuttle to make its way to Space Center Houston at Nasa. In reality, it wasn't a space shuttle, but a life size replica. Houston, who has definitely played a major role in the US space program was deemed to not be a 'tourist destination' and therefore undeserving of a real shuttle. So there was a whole bunch of hullabaloo to welcome what appeared at close examination to be a 7th grade science fair project made of paper mache with a limp and falling off tail section. The fact that we don't get a real shuttle, that we were given a sad likeness and all of the traffic snarls sucks.

While we are on the subject of things that suck, lets talk boat equipment. Our Rule bilge pump float switch also sucks. Actually, Mark referred to said switch as a "poorly engineered and constructed piece of s#*t" but since this is a family friendly blog, we'll just say it sucks.

When we first installed it, 6 months ago we had a bit of foreshadowing as Mark commented on how flimsy the construction of this small $50 part seemed to be, along with the other Rule pumps we had purchased. Upon close inspection, I too thought they seemed to be on the cheap side but what do I know? Due to the fact that Rule products dominate the market, we pushed our thoughts of inadequate construction aside and hoped that we were just being overly critical.

The folly of our ways was made clear to us yesterday morning. We were not hooked up to shore power over night and as Mark went aboard to install yet more fans and lights, he was greeted with the sound of the bilge pump running. We had a thunder storm in the early hours and our mast still lets in some water in a deluge(we are working on that) and we still get a bit of water from the air conditioner (working on that one as well). The bilge was dry, but was still running as the Rule float switch had stuck in the up position. Great.

Rule switch removed and still stuck in the up position
The Rule switch that had been in use MAYBE 4 minutes total in the past 6 months had failed to switch off as it was designed to do. When you think about the cost per minute of operation, this becomes a very expensive part indeed. This meant that the bilge pump was sucking air, which is not a good thing for the pump and also it put our new $2000 battery it was running off of in danger of failure. The hour indicator stated that the pump had been running for 3 hours. Had we been gone from the boat for a few days the bilge pump would have continued to run until the battery was totally drained at which point it would have been rendered useless. A crappy $50 part could have cost us $2000 to replace the battery we had JUST replaced.

Yup, 3 hours
The switch comes with a 2 year warranty, so conceivably we could trade in the crappy Rule float switch for another crappy Rule float switch with the same design flaws for free. Umm, thanks but no. I think we will be looking for another option and just chalk this up to some valuable lessons learned. 1. We need to trust our instincts. Mark is at times maddeningly meticulous but 9 times out of 10, his initial opinion is proven to be correct. 2. Just because a company dominates the market doesn't mean their product is any good, just that they have a great PR and distribution team.

11 comments:

  1. And don't be fooled into thinking that the ones with the internal "oil sensing" switches are any better. Ours turns on but we have to break the internal holding circuit to turn it off. So, auto start, manual stop, return switch to AUTO for next cycle. AARRGH!

    -Steve

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  2. Yep, we had already seen the possible issues with the oil sensing switches. I think Mark will probably end up designing his own switch eventually. One that works. We can bring it to market and make a profit of exactly $5, which is probably why there isn't a push to get something less crappy on the market.

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  3. Um, Houston is not a 'tourist' destination'? Oh. Okay. That's pretty bizarre. I don't think a papier mache space shuttle is going to change that.

    That's a frightening story about the switch. I've noticed that there a alot of things with the word 'marine' in front of them that cost a lot of money but look like they were made by monkeys. Thanks for the heads up about Rule products. We'll avoid them for sure.

    Any ideas what is causing the mast leak? We have one when the wind/rain blows a certain diretion. It doesn't hurt anything but its dead annoying. Mike cannot figure it out. Neither can I.

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  4. Friends don't let friends buy Rule switches.
    The leak is probably caused by an old mounting for a light in the mast. We thought we had sealed it up but we've pretty much learned that you can never REALLY get a boat water tight. Leaks are legion. If you find one, another pops up to take its place....

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    1. Very true. And after the boat sits for the winter, the first time you sail her hard, new leaks form. But we always try to chase them down. There is nothing worse than wet bedding or wet seating areas.

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  5. Ok, the fake space shuttle totally sucks. How lame, why even bother, ya know?
    As for the pump, I say get your new free one from the company and then ebay or sell it somewhere and get a few bucks for it at least that can go towards getting something you like.

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    1. I thought about selling the replacement but I would feel bad unleashing yet another crappy Rule switch upon some poor unsuspecting person. Yes, I suffer from bilge switch guilt.

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  6. It would seem that you could wire in a battery isolator so that the bilge pumps can’t draw the battery bank don’t below a safe level, 10v or so. But your protected battery bank might end up on the bottom a few minuets before your unprotected battery bank would have.

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    1. We could, but according to our resident EE that is just purchasing and spending the time to wire in another item doomed to fail. We just want a switch that works and then we will take responsibility for monitoring the battery levels. :)

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  7. Wow! so glad you didn't drain your batteries completely..That would suck so bad.

    We have a rule bilge pump switch....I'm sure Tate is now seriously reconsidering this, as he has mentioned this to me in the past...

    SCARY!!

    p.s. how much are tickets to the shuttle? I'm dying to take my friends.
    Dani

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    1. We are seriously considering replacing our Rule stuff with one of these- http://tefgel.com.au/float-switches/pump-switch-pricing-details/

      Pricey, but word on the dock is they actually work. :-/

      Space Center Houston info is here- http://www.spacecenter.org/prices.html If you go, take the tram tour and be sure to let us know so we can meet up at Stomp's. :)

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