E-Bay Buer BEWARE

["David Schwandt" <finsrus@xxxx>]

Hi Gang, Just a note to suggest that any of you that may have purchased F or G dash pots off E-bay during the last 10 months or so, If you haven't installed them yet or tested them you had better do so. I purchased 2 of them during the winter months from 2 separate vendors on E-bay. One was a Vulcan #DV-84 the other a Filko DP-184. Both were correct for the F and looked great! One was to be a replacement for the original non-working unit and the other to be a spare. Both went for over $100 each ( I know, I know...Yours truly is a fool) when shipping was figured in. 

I got the F out this week for the 1st time this year to get it ready for a Centennial parade tomorrow and installed one of the dash pots so I could finally, after all these years, get the thing fine tuned and running right only to discover that the new "nos" part would not hold vacuum. What a bummer!...a $107.99 bummer to be exact!! Dug out the 2nd unit and tested it with a vacuum tester and you guessed it, it was junk also.

Boy, they sure do look nice though!! Should, for that kind of dough! Managed to contact the vendor of the 2nd unit I had bought on March 24 and gave him all the details and inquired as to whether he would consider a partial if not total refund. Waste of time, I figured and I wasn't disappointed in that expectation!! Oh well, it has been over 30 days and I have no record of the 1st seller any longer so it's been an expensive lesson hard learned for this ol' Iowa boy!!

Any way, you can bet I will INSIST that any mechanical parts that I bid on from now on be tested by the seller and guaranteed and I will darn sure test again after receipt of the item. OK....I'll admit it, it's mostly my fault, but I'll bet I'm not the only one who has bought parts to stash them away as spares or for a future restoration!!!

Does any one have any idea as to a way of repairing these? At one time John Lazenby offered a service to restore dist advance units. This would entail about the same procedure I would expect.

In the meantime, any one out there want a cheap dash pot for your static display!!!

Once burned, twice learned or something to that effect!!

Dave Schwandt


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]