Pueblog USa
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Caveat Emptor — Cooper Wiring Devices
Is THIS ‘stupid’ or what?
So one of the pull-chain ceiling lighting fixtures in the basement went ‘south’ on us. You pull the chain and the light doesn’t turn on-or-off. It seems to be stuck in the ‘on’ position. So the only way to turn it off is to unscrew it slightly.
In the first place, the old porcelain fixture will not readily admit to replacement of the faulty switch assembly. We obviously need to do a LOT of work with a soldering iron or get a new assembly.
Going to Lowe’s to get a replacement assembly we have two offerings. One plastic and the other porcelain. The porcelain opinion is clever in design, allowing for replacement of faulty switch elements. It’s only $1 more than the plastic option. So I get it.
Doing all the work to put it into place, I get to the final installation step…..screwing the new porcelain assembly onto the metal housing that holds it to the ceiling.
Guess what….
....the holes in the porcelain assembly do not match up with the screws in the metal box.
OH! There are a couple of plugs in the assembly that, if you remove them properly, you CAN affix it to the narrower metal box.
Wait a moment! In my dealings with ceramics, I’m somewhat familiar with dealing with porcelain. It’s not particularly keen on punching, hitting, or even drilling it. Better be careful…..
So, I just got off the phone with ‘Tim’ at Tech Support for Cooper Wiring Devices. In the discussion, it comes out that the probability of success in ‘drilling’ or ‘punching’ out the plugs in their porcelain assembly is rather ‘low’. He suggests I return the product and find something more amiable to the metal housing. Something with holes designed to go with the screws thereon.
My first question is if the idiot engineer at Cooper Wiring Devices KNEW there were two different standards for screwing their product onto the metal housing, why didn’t they leave BOTH pairs of holes open?
The second question is why haven’t they fired this dweeb?
And we wonder why we’re failing in competition with the rest of the world?
Somehow, I suspect it has something to do with our relationship with Communist China. This piece of s—- was built there. I suspect Cooper Wiring Devices was stupid enough to have it engineered there as well.
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The difference between a Professional or an Amateur Plumber is this . . The amateur can perform plumbing tasks as well as a professional in the end product. however the professional only requires one trip to the Plumbing Supply Store and has to buy no new tools . . Both knows sh*t runs downhill and payday’s on Friday.
The amateur electrician has more hurdles . . “tricity runs anyway it wants to go, and if you ignore that first tenant, you’ll never make it to payday . .
You’re a victim of “CAD” technology. To repair almost anything today, you must take the whatever you’re replacing with you and get one just like the one you are replacing . . Even the average electrician will do this, or . . just replace back to where he runs into the conduit, which, while expensive, doesn’t cost as much as a trip back to civilization . .
To understand what I’ve said further, go to Lowes or Home Depot, and look at the selection of 4 X 4 junction boxes. Usta be there was ONE, and you used it for a plethora of applications . . now . . there’s one for every different application, and won’t work for anything else . . Sooo, dammitall, if you don’t know, EXACTLY, what you’re looking at and need, buy em all and save yourself a trip . . .
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/09 at 08:39 AM -
TO: LARGE
RE: Repair WorkSooo, dammitall, if you don’t know, EXACTLY, what you’re looking at and need, buy em all and save yourself a trip… —LARGE
Well. I did get it done after going back and getting a plastic device that I could safely punch out the set of inner holes to mount it. We’re back in business in that respect.
As for the 4x4 boxes, I’m familiar with that issue already.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[All professions are conspiracies against the laity. — George Bernard Shaw].(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/11 at 10:34 AM -
Wait a moment! In my dealings with ceramics, I’m somewhat familiar with dealing with porcelain. It’s not particularly keen on punching, hitting, or even drilling it. Better be careful…..
http://www.downlez.com.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/14 at 08:59 AM -
I was recently contacted by an American couple who were looking to buy an apartment in Paris. They decided that it was time for them to have a ‘pied a terre’ in the most beautiful city in the world. They were approaching retirement age, had a sizeable nest-egg ready to be invested, and were not happy with the opportunities available in the New York Real Estate Market, the city where they live, and had planned to buy a second property that they would rent now and give to their children later on. After reading numerous articles about the good value available in the Parisian real estate market, they decided to give it a try. Any decent one bedroom in a nice building in New York would have to cost us at least $500,000. With maintenance costs, taxes, renovation work etc., this would end up being a more sizeable investment than what we were looking for and apart from the expected rental income, we would have gotten no pleasure out of the apartment for ourselves. At our age, we are looking to do things that will bring us some joy along with the return on our investments.” Then they thought about Paris.
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you will make up the additional cost over the many years of enjoyment the apartment will provide you.VCP-310 braindumps on 08/24 at 02:45 AM