Found two lamps in the same garage. The chinese-made Optimus was never in use and the swedish-made was used 3 times for hunting-trips as heating until it was replaced with a green-househeater. The were store in the same amount of time in the same garage. The chiweden-made lamp before cleaning above. Dismounting the lamp above, note how the vapourizertube is bent (unused lamp). Detail: note the preheatercup is nicked so it is permanent attached to the shield-bottomplate.
Cleaning up the chinesemade Optimuslamp and wholah - nice and shiny What a fine lamp Ok - a closer look at the lamp shows the blisters and rust did not disappear and the chrome comes of in flakes. Man - an unused lamp So here comes the swedish made Optimus - another lamp alright but bought the same time - used and stored the same place according to seller. Spotless in chrome and interior. A funny experiment wich is time-consuming to repeat. Claus C
The Chinese will make you anything you want at whatever quality you want and charge you a price which reflects that quality. They're perfectly capable of making high quality stuff as evidenced by the computers most of us are using currently, but you have to pay for it. Equally, they're just as capable of producing shite if that's all they're asked for and paid for. So don't necessarily blame the Chinese - blame the people who specified the quality of the item in the first place and paid tuppence for it...
Hi David Absolutly true. One of the finest made lamps I have is a Lightbrand 250, made in China. It has green enamel-innertop, white enamel-bottomplate and red enamel hood. All the chrome looks mint. It is made of thick brass-plate and the only thing that lacks is the pump, wich is rubbish. In the blaming-zone there is a lot of people in the targetarea from the swedish directors to the chinese worker but that is not my intention. I bought the two lamps together from the same man who stored them the same amount of time under the same conditions - how often are one presented to that opportunity to make a real comparison Had to do it. I wont judge who to blame, but I surely wont buy a chinese-made Optimus ever in my life again. Claus C
To be fair the quality can be very hit and miss unless you work along side them and put an awful lot of work in at the start... sometimes more than it is worth. Several years back I worked alongside another UK supplier of astronomical equipment on a particular brand of telescope. In the early days we had an awful lot of issues including the wrong item completely and one batch that turned up without the lenses Once you get it right they are generally OK, but they tend to have a very high turnover of staff so it's a constant battle to ensure that information particularly regarding improvements and modifications is passed on. In short it isn't particularly easy maintaining a high standard when the manufacturers are on the other side of the world.
When I look at the 2 lamps, they contain the same ammount of material and have to go through the same processes. The mistakes, whereever they are, cant be that profitable so it is worth risking brands name or subcontractors name for. Maybe its because they started putting in time-limits for the lasting of the products at that time, wich is normal in todays work. As a collector it is easy though to see where to put your money for things to last. But as a collector I still gotta hold this Optimus 1551 too Love your story about the telescopes. Here is another: A pill-manufacturer had this translator to write the guidance that follows the pack. But some people dont read and the guidance was followed up by a pictogram that showed 3 pictures of a guy feeling bad, then he took a pill and then he was dancing. A lot of work was put in to those pictures, but in Arab countries the read the opposite direction Claus C
I'm not surprised at the quality difference you find in the two lanterns. I bought a brand new Chinese made clone that looks just like the knock-off you have in your pictures. It had so many defects it was impossible for it to run as it came from the box. I put quite a bit of time into it to make it even marginally functional. They simply will not do a good job if they can avoid it. Not just with lanterns, but yes, also with the computer I'm using right now, that was made in the land of junk. This computer cost $1400 and has been through three fans, two hard drive discs, two internal power cord jacks, four power supply packs, and a hinge that holds up the monitor screen. It's only a few years old, and was a top of the line product when I bought it new. The far east manufacturing sector is crummy at best, no matter what the product. Your Optimus, on the other hand, shows how well a product can be executed. I haven't seen it run, but it obviously has a far superior finish, and the guy who bought it probably didn't have to work on it the very first day, either.
It all comes from having pride in what you do, if there is no pride, or there is apathy about on the part of the worker, the resulting mistakes can range from funny to disastrous.
That simply isn't true... To take just one sector, astronomical equipment. Pretty much all the optics for budget up to some high end equipment is now manufactured in China. If you want something that isn't then you are really looking at premium equipment and the associated price tag. As I say it's hard work getting the quality standards to where you want them, but it can and is being done on thousands of products. China is pretty much when Japan was say 35 - 40 years ago and in the future as consistency in quality is improved the prices will go up, just as they did in Japan.
I absolutely agree here. No matter what country it is. I beleive if you are told to make another countrys products for a minimum of pay, and you know it is to be sold in another countrys name, then you dont put any pride in the job. I know the chinese ex. are able to make a high quality product, but I cant figure out when and what makes them doing it. That missing pride combined to the lack of control and craftmansship/education is probably why it goes wrong. I think like David that we as consumers have more power than we can dream of. We can just stop buying junk, no matter where it comes from. Claus C
The trouble is that's easier said than done... I think some people just like to pay peanuts and then complain that what they bought is junk. I came across a YouTube clip the other day where some guy has paid, I think, $3 for a brand new lamp and is then blaming the fact that it is a pile of junk on it's country of origin! When you think that $3 includes shipping half way round the world, profit for the manufacturer, profit for the distributor, tax etc it doesn't take a genius to work out that what you are buying isn't going to be that great.
I bought it because I wanted a Petromax type. I found two available, both of which came from the same factory in China. I bought a Sea Anchor for $40, which, by the way sat right next to a new Coleman dual fuel priced at $49. Just $9 difference in price, but a world of difference in product. No, there are no Petromax types made in the U.S.A. I paid the price the retailer wanted for a brand new lantern, and I expected it to operate correctly. It was far, far from being able to run as it arrived in the packing box. All due to crummy work habits, and poor quality control. When you consider the Coleman lantern from the very same retailer at $49, and the well known quality of Coleman lanterns, you can't lay off all the defects of the China junker for just the $9 price difference. That Sea Anchor came from a people of low work ethic, no pride of work, and seemingly no interest in improving, since they've been putting out the same junk for decades, from a multitude of manufacturing sectors. Dean
I was referring to your computer... Anyway, what some people need to realise is that there's a big difference in the psyche of the Eastern and Western populations. In the East, they generally don't expect anything to work straight out of the box and are prepared to do some fettling themselves to get the item working properly. As a result, they don't expect to pay a high price. However, we in the West expect something we've just bought to work immediately and keep on working for a reasonable length of time. As a result we've become accustomed to paying more for quality goods. So essentially, you get what you pay for. The problem arises when Western companies specify Eastern quality from the Chinese, import the goods over here and then charge Western prices. As usual, it's down to greed...
It's not just down to greed, at least not on the part of the retailer... Here in the UK the goverment add over 20% to the cost straight away just for the privilige of bringing the product into the country. By the time you add VAT and shipping the cost has almost doubled before anyone else has made a penny.
Oh, absolutely - I wasn't suggesting that. A bloke I know designs gearboxes for a world-famous company which makes powertools. He sends the drawings and specifications to China and then goes out there a fortnight later to examine the parts they've manufactured. Invariably they're made to his specification but the manufacturers always suggest ways to cut the cost of the items, obviously by reducing the quality. Now that's not his company policy so the offer is politely declined. Less scrupulous companies, however, seem to be unable to resist an opportunity to maximise profits... ...and just to be absolutely clear, I'm not, for a nanosecond, suggesting that's any company you're involved with, Gneiss.
