Years ago there was a fellow on J-L named Duncan who opened one up and was making his own duplicate. The info is out there on the www but might take some searching. He had a webpage on the project

Cheers
DD

 

yes, and in Australia too, but all efforts have dissipated. John's Cars used to sell them.

I was told by David he partnered with someone who is making a replacement but the price is high and the warranty small, as in 90 days.

90 days doesn't make you trust the product in my opinion. I mean, if the darned thing is going to burn up in Day 91 as it usually happens.

Let's go to China, they will replicate the original for pennies on the dollar.

 

Mebbe so, mebbe not. Chinese electronics are built to cost, much like their other stuff.
Cheapest components possible, just barely, if at all, meet, needs. Quality control, a minimal thing, if at all. Longivity, very shaky.


As to David's 90 day warranty. In view of the fact that DIY's will make the application, I understand it.


Carl

 

PS:


Warranty is akin to insurance. Spread the risk. Make a lot of them, the risk goes down.
Make two and one fails. Done for in terms of $'s.


Carl,

 

Carl,
every manufacturer builds to cost, the difference is that the Chinese operate under very low overhead for labor and materials.

Also I am witness to the excellent quality of Chinese products in many shapes and forms, and so is Ford and GM who are having their parts built in China. The US is becoming a giant "Assembled-in-USA-From-Chinese-made-Parts" facility.

So are the established Electric Guitar Manufacturers, who have moved their production to China: Fender Musical Instruments, Gretsch Guitars, Epiphone Guitars, (a subsidiary of Gibson Guitars), most all manufacturers have moved to China, one exception is Rickenbacker Guitars, still made in USA, and Gibson Guitars, still made in USA, but their "budget" models?, Made in China.

The South Koreans are building fantastic quality guitars too. Fender Musical Instruments also builds their instruments in Mexico, and what has happened in the last 10 years?, the Made In Mexico Fender guitars are being sought-after by professional guitarists because of their exceptional build-quality, over their US-made counterparts.

 

I used a high quality So Cal chrome shop for some Jag parts... they showed me around the shop. They pointed out a lot of work being done on guitar parts for Fender. They lost their business for a couple of years but got it back due to the poor quality work in Mexico.

Now they take the new parts to So Cal, then they ship them to Mexico after plating.

 

Mexico does not manufacture the parts, they assemble and setup the guitars with parts provided by Fender, parts that come from China, though it is possible that Mexico experimented with chroming parts and it didn't work out, who knows.

But chromium does not make a guitar sound good, quality of setup does, no matter if the chromed parts are inferior. Mexicans as a rule of thumb have over 500 years of guitar experience, the spanish brought their instruments in 1520 and showed them how to build them, just like after WW2, the USA showed the Japanese how to assemble Sewing Machines and export them back to the US.

the bottom line is that the street jargon when looking for a Fender Stratocaster guitar is nowadays, MIM or "Made in Mexico" which really should be "AIM", or "Assembled in Mexico", just like Ford and GM cars should be "AIUSA" or "Assembled In USA".

 

Just thought I'd jump in and thank everyone for this post. it cleared up a lot of questions I've had about the erratic behavior of my climate control. again, thanks

 

no problem, thank Doug, he started the fight !

 

Have you guys seen this? he making the amps.
I think he's a fellow forum poster.
there is a really nice write up on the whole system, how it works and the jaguar testing procedure. such great knowledge there. wiring testing etc...
check out the 2nd link for the test stuff.

Jag-Aire
http://media.wix.com/ugd/301a85_141c...834f3a3089.pdf

 

yes, this is the person that David mentioned to me.

But I don't want a gadget inside the ashtray, so I asked him,

1) "Why can't you use the original TEMP control?"

2) "is this a replacement TEMP control or a replacement Amplifier?"

3) "I don't want a replacement TEMP control, I want a replacement AMPLIFIER".


I think he got the message and said he would work on it.

 

You lost me, Jose. What are you referring to?

Cheers
DD

 

the fellow who is making the replacement amp that mounts in the ashtray,

Jag-Aire

 

That's not a replacement amp that mounts in the ashtray.

That's an ashtray mounted manual control to *bypass* the amp. In other words, rather than replace the amp, install this manual control instead.

So, you can buy a replacement amplifier OR as an alternative buy this bypass controller.....if it goes into production, of course. Personally I think it's a great idea, assuming it will be far less expensive than the amplifier.

I configured a manual control system for a fellow using two relays and a 3-position momentary action toggle switch....but if this guy can develop a plug-n-play control it oughta sell like hotcakes.

One concern, which he is surely aware of, is to maintain the feedback circuit in the control circuit so as to prevent the servo from over-rotating

Cheers
DD

 

this is getting too complicated, I will check with the Chinese.

 

Let me rephrase:

1) Jag-Aire sells a replacement amplifier. It mounts in the same location as the original amplifier.

2) Jag-Aire is considering manufacture of a switch to bypass the amplifier. If it goes into production, it would mount in the ashtray.

That's all there is to it !

Cheers
DD


PS- if the bypass switch is of interest to anyone here please let Jag-Aire know so they can judge if there is sufficient demand to justify going ahead with the project

 

yes I fully understand the two ingenious devices, but the Warranty is out of balance with the Price. They now offer 180 days Warranty, but that is 6 months only, if they trust their product, give it a 2 year Warranty, that's all I'm saying.

I have a good original amplifier, my plan is to send it to a Chinese firm to get it reproduced. If they can make them cheap enough, I can sell them cheap enough,
and offer a 2 year Warranty on a part that normally lasted 15 years before going kaput. So my logic is, if the part lasts more than 2 years, I have done my job without trying to wash my hands off of the part after 6 months. Fair is Fair.

 

Ok, then what is it that is too complicated? Never mind....doesn't matter




I hear ya, Jose

However, surely you understand that the length of the warranty can be as much (or more) a reflection of the manufacturer's ability to absorb losses than *actual* quality of the product, right?

Anyhow, it doesn't matter. If you have some in-roads with a Chinese manufacturer and can 'build a better mousetrap', as the saying goes, that's great. I say "Go for it"!



Cheers
DD

 

I've been thinking about making a replacement amp for a few months now but haven't got around to taking mine out of the car. Depending on whats failed, I'm pretty sure a more robust version can be made, but, what we dont know is if an external component is causing an internal failure of the amp. At which point, if you make a stronger amp, you just move the weakest link to another component.

I think the hardest thing about making an aftermarket amp is sourcing the round connector. I dont know though, I havent looked yet.

 

do it!!

http://www.mouser.com/