Don’t get “Westerbeaked”

[Mule]

OK, I confess, I coined a term hoping it will catch on, to express the way us boaters are treated by marine oriented companies at the cash register. The term came from head gaskets from Mitsubishi in Westerbeke repackaging for $211.00 that should cost $59 retail or valves for $73 that should cost $23, the only difference is that Westerbeke put their name on the part.

Another I reported was Teleflex steering fluid at $29 a quart while the same ISO number is on a Phillips 66 aviation hydraulic fluid for $11 a quart.


Here is the latest: Barnacle Buster Concentrate for $60 to $75 a gallon but Quik Descaler Concentrate is $11 a gallon. Both bio degradable, specs seem the same. I broke an oyster shell in 1/2 submerged them in each and the reaction was the same.

Just used it on my AC, fixed the issue, moving on to the oil coolers and heat exchangers.

SupplyHouse.com SKU QT7710. 2 gallons including shipping, less than $25.

please share work arounds you have found with the group, no one likes being “Westerbeked”

 

[DavidM]

Westerbeke, Yanmar, Volvo and countless marine parts suppliers do the same thing. If it is marine or proprietary it is 2-3 times as expensive as the generic part.

My favorite is the Yanmar raw water pump. It is made by Johnson but to Yanmar's mounting requirements. Johnson can't sell you one but their almost identical generic raw water pump is 1/3 the cost of the Yanmar.

Fortunately you can buy Johnson impellers at 1/3 the cost of Yanmar impellers.

David

 

[BIG CAT]

That's common with many mfg. I have seen some pretty bad gouging on parts in my line of work. One mfg charged our customer $1,000 for a compact flash card you can get off Amazon for $100.

 

[what_barnacles]

As an alternate, this works great cleaning out heat exchangers. $10/gallon at home depot.

 

[knotheadcharters]

A lot of products like that in the marine industry, I always try and find an alternative.

 

[Mule]

Thanks What, Knot. Maybe others will share work arounds.