Caveat Emptor - BUYER BEWARE!!
York, PA
(6/30/05) – A
“Flat Plate” by any other name is not a GEA FlatPlate®
Heat Exchanger.
In the last several months an importer of brazed
plate heat exchangers is selling foreign made
“Flat Plate” heat exchangers as an equal or
equivalent product to the genuine GEA FlatPlate brand.
They are not! There is a misleading, if not
illegal use of, GEA FlatPlate’s name-brand. Consumers
should be aware of major product differences and
liabilities.
1. Product Life
The foreign import has thinner stainless steel
plates (.3mm) and it’s made from a lower grade of
stainless steel. When material thickness,
hydraulic pump forces and long-term fouling are
combined the life of the foreign import is at
least 25% less, perhaps more than 50%. A brazed
plate heat exchanger should last 15 to 20 years or
more under typical operating conditions.
DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESS.
2. Code Approvals
UL approval is required for many local plumbing
codes in the U.S. CRN is required in Canada. To
the best of our knowledge, some foreign imports do
NOT have UL listing and CRN for residential
applications. For commercial applications, UL and
CRN approval are the minimal requirements and ASME
code certified is recommended. A brazed plate heat
exchanger should meet all laws, code and safety
requirements. As a user or purchaser, these laws
and codes are for your safety.
3. Capacity
Here’s the big one – BEWARE!! A 20 plate foreign
import model is NOT equivalent to a 20 plate
GEA FlatPlate product!! The import products are
slightly smaller and have less heat transfer per
plate due to the plate designs. Plate for Plate,
the import will have 20% to 40% less capacity or
even less! A brazed plate heat exchanger should be
rated for BTU’s, fluid flows and temperature
In/Out with performance guaranteed by the
manufacturer. AN UNDERSIZED HEAT EXCHANGER CAN
RESULT IN LESS HEAT FOR A HOME DURING WINTER, LESS
HOT WATER THAN EXPECTED, MORE FUEL USE FOR THE
SAME BTU’S DELIVERED….OR WORSE, AN UNHAPPY
CUSTOMER.
We want you to know that GEA FlatPlate, Inc. is a
highly reputable U.S. manufacturer. We enjoy the
confidence of thousands of product users in North
America and worldwide. And we back our products
100%, in the most professional, ethical, and
personal means possible. We enjoy the spirit of
competition, but it’s something else if someone
misrepresents “a football with no air in it.” If
anyone tries to sell you a “GEA FlatPlate” and
it’s not manufactured in the U.S. by GEA FlatPlate…..let
us know.
We appreciate your confidence in GEA FlatPlate® Heat
Exchangers.
A Personal Note:
At GEA FlatPlate we pride ourselves in customer
service and support a wide range of applications
for outdoor boilers, industrial boilers, heating
systems, process systems and refrigeration
systems.
We get over 200 phone calls each month for
application assistance. Some of these phone calls
are heat exchanger users who purchased a “Flat
Plate” unit from someone else, but the unit they
have is actually NOT a GEA FlatPlate brand. They think
it is a GEA FlatPlate brand, but it is not.
Many of the foreign brands are not marked. Some do
not have labels or country of origin. Many do not
have U.L. stickers or markings designating code
approvals or quality approvals.
We also get foreign units back, once in awhile,
and we analyze these for our customers for failure
analysis. The photo below shows one (cut open)
that was used on an outdoor wood-fired boiler
system. This unit had expanded and came apart, and
shows a large bulge on one side and the plates
coming apart. This due to the low cost
construction, thin plates and lack of pressure
containment of the design.
If this had been a
genuine GEA FlatPlate unit, we sincerely doubt that
this failure mode would have happened, and the
customer would not have flooded his basement.
We want to let you know that we will support you
and assist you, and trust, that your NEXT purchase
will be a genuine, U.S. made, GEA FlatPlate brand.
GEA FlatPlate
100 GEA Drive
York, PA 17402
717-268-6200 |
