"Marine" prices.

wonkywinch said:
It's worse in aviation. The alternator on a Cessna 172 is the same as a Ford part except 10x the price. And you can't use the automotive one as everything has to be certified on a plane.
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From an industrial point of view. We use some thermistors (thermal sensors) in our products. We buy them pretty cheap at a couple of quid a set, and these are mass produced but reliable. For the MOD in certain applications they request a certified thermistor as it's critical kit. The prices for these are around 8-10 times the standard item and the manufacturer confirms they are the same product from the same production runs. The only difference is that each and every one comes with a test certificate showing that it has been sat in an oil bath where the temperature has been raised to the critical point to prove that it trips appropriately. It is then the same item but has a certificate confirming operation.
Not the same testing for marine products I admit, and a single test only confirms that it worked as expected at the time. But it does show where possibly some of the cost goes some of the time.
 
Allan said:
Over recent winters I seen various interesting, amusing and helpful threads on here. An incident recently prompted me to start this one. Hopefully it will prove to be helpful at least.
We had the pressure relief valve fail during our last trip of the year to France. When the boat was lifted this week, I removed it and checked the ASAP Supplies website and found it for £19.51 incl VAT and a nice 5% discount from the RRP of £20.54. Rather than drive from Southampton to Fareham, I did a general search to find one locally. Screwfix sell the same thing without any discount for £4.07 including VAT.
So a challenge for the winter. What is your best buy for boaty items?
Allan
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Whenever I needed anything electrical, I looked at caravanning websites.
12V kit without the 'marine' label tax.
 
Andy Todd said:
Carbiner Snap Hook

£5ish on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainles...var=601636890518&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

£37!! from Wichard.
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For what use ?

Fine if it's to quickly lash down something temporarily. But would you want to rely on it to hold you in a critical situation ?
I would perhaps look at something rated for climbing from a reasonable source. No "marine tax" and designed, built and tested to meet minimum standards. Something from industrial lifting where again safety standard tend to be tested and maintained. Not sure about an unknown ebay seller.
 
madtam said:
For what use ?

Fine if it's to quickly lash down something temporarily. But would you want to rely on it to hold you in a critical situation ?
I would perhaps look at something rated for climbing from a reasonable source. No "marine tax" and designed, built and tested to meet minimum standards. Something from industrial lifting where again safety standard tend to be tested and maintained. Not sure about an unknown ebay seller.
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Having seen some of the stuff in local chandlers, I'd be just as leery about the quality; too much of their stainless steel comes from an anonymous source in China. If it matters, get a known make, preferably made in the EU
 
I still remember ordering a spare Cutless bearing in 2012 just before leaving the UK for a cruise to foregn parts for a few years. The dealer couldn't tell me the size required and asked Jeanneau who said it was a "special part" based on my hull number but it wasn't a metal shell. I ordered one and said that they should throw in a new locking washer for the propeller. I wasn't in a hurry because I had a couple of months before leaving.

The bearing came after a few weeks and it was a pretty standard metal shell at about 94 euro, including 16 euro delivery . No problem as I can measure the new part and can probably buy any future replacements for about 1/3rd of Jeanneau's price. No sign of the washer and I call the dealer after a couple of days to find out it was out of stock. I return home the same day to find that it had been popped through the letterbox in a small padded pack. The invoice for the washer quoted about 6 euro for parts and 14 euro for delivery.

I was rather annoyed as there was no reason to send the bearing. I had not said it was needed in a hurry and it should have been obvious that I'd use the bearing and locking washer at the same time. Twenty euro for a washer was not exactly value for money.

The dealer seemed to think that this sort of thing was pretty normal for Jeanneau. :D
 
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wonkywinch said:
It's worse in aviation. The alternator on a Cessna 172 is the same as a Ford part except 10x the price. And you can't use the automotive one as everything has to be certified on a plane.
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A while back, the under carriage decided to not extend on a Piper we were flying. Nasty burning smell (always attracts ones attention when 'up there'. The electric motor had burned out, so I extended it with the manual option. One of life's interesting moments..
Thing was, it turn out to be a seat motor from a GM car. But sold at aviation prices..
 
Stemar said:
Having seen some of the stuff in local chandlers, I'd be just as leery about the quality; too much of their stainless steel comes from an anonymous source in China. If it matters, get a known make, preferably made in the EU
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I bought this s/s shackle at a chandlery:

Defective ss shackle (4) - Copy.JPG
 
Not so recent now, but VP wanted £1,600 for a new gearbox oil cooler for my TAMD60C engines with Twin Disc gearboxes.

So I did some research and applied some practical engineering to fit a Bowman cooler, with necessary hydraulic fittings and mount brackets to make the finished job look like original kit, I even calculated the internal surface area of the Bowman slightly increased on the original VP.

I bought two kits of bits for both gearboxes for a tad under £200 for BOTH engines. They worked superbly and being made of decent cuprous nickel no longer required the anodes which caused the failure of the crap VP item in the first place.
 
jon and michie said:
charcoal filter for the dirty toilet tank - modified with a screwfit union for £20 and bought charcoal pellets for cheap as opposed to replacing the filter every year at £140 +
pay roughly £5 per year on charcoal.

Jon
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He probably just cut it in half and used a union. This can also be done using what we call a no-hub in the US.

Do remember to tamp the carbon in with gentle tapping and to insert a piece of foam to maintain compression. If the carbon settles the filter will bypass on one side. This is a good reason to open the filter on one end!

http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2011/04/holding-tank-odors-vs-carbon-vent-filter.html

Starbord+Hatch%u0025252C+Air+Filter+II+low+res.jpg
 
Jaguar568 said:
Having worked in a chandlers for a short time ,I was amazed at the mark up on some of the items 200% to 300% was not unusual .
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What do you think the mark up was last time you had a bottle of wine in a restaurant?
Always remember mark up is not profit, merely contribution.
I have no problem paying for the service a chandlery provides.
It’s the marine parts suppliers that are the problem. Starter motor for me £250, the exact same one sprayed green £760.
That’s what we should be worried about not the chandlers.
But the chandlers could help themselves by stocking the black starter motors in the first place I guess.
 
thinwater said:
Webbing and fabric. West Marine sells tubular climbing webbing for 10 times the price of any climbing store, exact same material.

But always watch the quality. This is not always the case.

---

I posted 100 of what I feel are "best buys" on my blog. It starts here. I hope this helps.
http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2017/05/100-best-buys-chapter-1.html
http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/search/label/100%20best
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I'm just off to do some work at our yacht club so haven't had time to look. Would it be possible to cut and paste something onto this thread?
Allan
 
Elessar said:
What do you think the mark up was last time you had a bottle of wine in a restaurant?
Always remember mark up is not profit, merely contribution.
I have no problem paying for the service a chandlery provides.
It’s the marine parts suppliers that are the problem. Starter motor for me £250, the exact same one sprayed green £760.
That’s what we should be worried about not the chandlers.
But the chandlers could help themselves by stocking the black starter motors in the first place I guess.
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A restaurant is a very different thing from a chandlery. You're paying for somewhere to sit, people to prepare the meal, provide dishes & glasses and all the rest that goes towards a good meal out. I knew someone who ran the restaurant in a good hotel once and he said that if the ingredients for a meal cost more than 1/3 the price you're charging, you're going down.

A chandlery is more like an off licence. I expect a bigger markup in the chandlers than in the offie, the market's a fraction of the size, but I don't expect to pay 3 or 4 times the online price.

Equally, I'd expect to pay a bit extra for a coat of green paint and a Volvo sticker - how big is the market for Volvo Penta bits compared with Ford, and just having a part in your database has a cost, before you actually carry stock - but not 3 times the price.
 
I ordered shaft seals for a Vetus 80Kgf Bowthruster from the Vetus shop. €18.50 each. When I stripped down the thruster I found that there are two shaft seals, one facing each direction. Called into a local bearing shop and I bought 4 for €8.

I also got the same place to make up new fuel hoses. They reused the existing fittings and I got the correct ISO pipe. €30 for the 4 new hoses.
Volvo Penta wanted around €380.
The same place sell a full range of Baldwin Filters.
 
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