If you need any electric motor

[Tony Hwang]

When I went out to our cabin Saturday, I noticed furnace quit running for a while. Thank goodness, weather has been mild all along indoor temperature stayed at above freezing.

Found out draft inducer motor was jammed. Took it out managed to oiled the bearings with proper motor oil. Put the motor back in, furnace fired right up all is OK.

Mean time I was looking for spare motor every where when I came home today.

in Burton, MI had best price for me. Same thing years ago when I was looking for Carrier furnace blower PSC motor.

If you need any motor or motor related stuff, check this place out.

[philo]

Where I live , there are plenty of Grainger's everywhere, so can always get a motor, same day

Before I retired, I'd often get motors there. Although we just passed the costs on to our customers, I was surprised that some of those small motors (under 1/2 HP) cost as much as $50.

Guess my mind is still back in 1975

[Micky]

'75 was a good year for motors. I think that was the year the Electric Motor League was started, with American and National Divisions. The play-offs were in Pittsburgh. Very exciting.

2,014,450 revolutions to 1,943,220 iirc.

[gfretwell]

Grainger usually has what you need but they are seldom the cheapest unless you have volume enough to get on the wholesale price column.

[KLayton888]

I usually get motors from either Grainger or Johnstone Supply. However, Grainger sure seems to be really raising the prices on motors lately. Even Grainger's own brand, Dayton Motors, which were made in the USA are now made in China.

[philo]

Fortunately for our customers I did not have to get the motor start capacitors from Grainger, since our National Parts Center bought them by the truckload, they didn't cost much. I think our list price for one of the bigger ones was $55. When someone here mentioned a repairman charged them $200, it reminded me of the $2000 toilet quote I once got.

[Paintedcow]

I've done a lot of business with them when I worked for a company that had an account with them. They are well stocked and have darn near everything related to motors, and more. But their prices are high. Yet, I was always satisfied with their products and that means a lot.

If I was buying for myself, I'd probably shop around. I'll keep the URL posted at the start of this thread.

[bob_villain]

I've stated this before...I bought from Grainger with a corporate account (1hp+motor) and found a Dayton motor at Fleet Farm that was identical for $80 less! I told them on their website and they gave no response...so much for customer *care*!

[philo]

Since it was generally important for me to get a customer up and running ASAP, they rarely griped about the bills, but I always made it a point to give them a fair deal.

I doubt I would have survived 38 years on the job and several "buy-outs" if I over-charged my customers.

The funniest one I ran into was one guy always complained about his repair ticket and because I knew that, charged him a bit less than normal, just to get him to shut up...but he still kept complaining.

Finally, I took the paperwork back from him and crossed all the prices out, returned it and told him to just fill in the prices himself!

He then told me the truth and said he was only allowed to spend so much money a day and he'd get reprimanded if he signed for bills over $300.

We then worked out an agreement where every bill I submitted would be under $300 so I'd usually have him sign two separate work orders...each with a different date!

[philo]

Yeah. For an industrial customer it was one thing but if I were buying a motor for my own use...to pay more than $50 for a 1/10th HP motor would be pretty tough.

Last time I had to do that I found some surplus place on-line.

[Muggles]

Goes to show ... we often don't know why people say the things they say, so it might be worth offering them a little bit of understanding and patience so we can understand where they're coming from. :)

[Stormin Mormon]

Now, that is customer care. Good job, sir.

I had a similar conversation with a customer a while back. Same general idea. More bills, and lower dollar value.

[philo]

Because I was willing to work with my customer, he was happy and I kept the account...and better still...I did not have to try to lower my bills.

Had I consulted my supervisor for advise we would have just pissed the guy off and lost the account.

[bob_villain]

Our limit was $200 on a single item! And it didn't change in 16 years! They finally had to sell their holdings in the US (Canadian) because of lawsuits in about 6 states. We had suppliers/service that would split-bill as you did.

[Muggles]

Exactly. Wise on your part.

[philo]

Glad I'm retired now

[philo]

Fortunately I had learned that trick from an old time salesman who taught me the ropes soon after I got hired.

We sold industrial batteries and he taught me how to get things done in impossible situations.

One local manufacturer did not have us on their vendor list as a source for batteries so they bought from a competitor.

Our salesman buddied up to their maintenance department and found out that they could spend something like $1000 a month on replacement parts from wherever they wished.

One of their 18 cell batteries died, so for three months in a row we sold them six replacement cells.

What they got however was simply one, fully assembled 18 cell battery.

[Don Y]

Is your recommendation solely based on *price*? As you mentioned this is a *second* purchase, they presumably have a wide selection?

[Don Y]

Most companies have silly rules like this.

I was writing a contract many years ago and the issue of "spare parts" came up. We obviously didn't want to be nickeled and dimed with lots of little requests -- esp as it would be possible that the requests were not for "spares" but, rather, the same parts that could be used in other projects (like turning us into their "nuts and bolts" supplier: "Gee, they're sure ordering a lot of nuts and bolts! I didn't think we'd sold them that many units?!!")

We tried all sorts of proposals: dollar amounts, quantities, frequency of requests, etc.

Finally, their guy stated it simply: let's not put any language in the contract regarding these things. If we get to be a pest, you can just "conveniently" start quoting us 52 week lead times!

He was the smartest businessman I'd encountered -- and since! "We're BOTH in this to make money. If WE make all the money at YOUR expense, YOU won't want to stay in this business. Then, WE won't have a product!"

[Muggles]

Bet you're busy as ever!