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Unpopular opinion: newer dredge pumps are way too complex for the gain
I was reading through some old manuals from the 90s last week and noticed the pump specs on a 12-inch Ellicott from 1993 were almost the same output as a modern equivalent... just simpler to fix. Found a stat that said over 40% of breakdowns on newer units are from sensor or controller issues, not the actual pump wear. Makes me wonder if we are overcomplicating things for a 5% efficiency bump. Anyone else deal with more electronic headaches than mechanical ones out on the water?
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barbaraw471mo ago
Always figured the extra complexity lets them sell you proprietary service contracts instead of you fixing it with a pipe wrench and a Saturday afternoon.
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julia_lee1mo agoTop Commenter
Honestly, you're totally right about that. It's like they engineer these things to be impossible to work on without a special tool or a paid technician. It just feels like planned obsolescence dressed up as innovation.
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