New electrical fittings

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marej

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#243892 7-Jan-2019 19:04

Had to buy some replacement power points and was a bit stunned by the choice at Bunnings and M10. The prices ranged from $8 to around $50. How do you choose? What does the more expensive offer - they are all suitable for NZ/AU standards etc. Any preferred brands?

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#2155964 7-Jan-2019 19:45

personally get your sparky to supply and install, the stuff from the likes of bunnings amd miter 10 i wouldnt touch

PDL is my preferred brand

larknz

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#2155996 7-Jan-2019 21:29

HPM is a good brand and I'm pretty sure is stocked by Bunnings.

irongarment

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#2156022 7-Jan-2019 23:05

sparkz25:
personally get your sparky to supply and install, the stuff from the likes of bunnings amd miter 10 i wouldnt touch

PDL is my preferred brand

The stuff from Bunnings and Mitre 10 all meet legal requirements. Why wouldn't you touch them? I have Vynco in my house. Hugely expensive. Made in China. "Your sparky" is undoubtedly making a mint from that.

RickW

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#2156024 7-Jan-2019 23:51

We have Vynco too, id just go into your local electrical supplier and they normally will give you a pretty good discount if you ask, as it happens Ive just added a couple of powerpoints today for some lamps in the spare room for a "single Vynco fusion wrap" it only cost $10.81 RRP 27.03. just to stress that was just for a cash sale no account.

Ge0rge

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#2156033 8-Jan-2019 00:25

sparkz25:
personally get your sparky to supply and install, the stuff from the likes of bunnings amd miter 10 i wouldnt touch

PDL is my preferred brand

Funny - Mitre 10 stock a large range of PDL products...

TheMantis

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#2156060 8-Jan-2019 07:06

All electrical products offered for sale in NZ must meet the required standards. Of course some products exceed these standards and offer functional or aesthetic enhancements, hence differences in price. I used to swear by PDL products but the overall quality has dropped substantially over recent times. It really is a case of how much you are prepared to pay for the result you want. As a general rule though, PDL and HPM products are good quality and if you look around you can pick them up for reasonable prices.

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Smpl Mnmlst
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#2156068 8-Jan-2019 07:34

TheMantis:

All electrical products offered for sale in NZ must meet the required standards. Of course some products exceed these standards and offer functional or aesthetic enhancements, hence differences in price. I used to swear by PDL products but the overall quality has dropped substantially over recent times. It really is a case of how much you are prepared to pay for the result you want. As a general rule though, PDL and HPM products are good quality and if you look around you can pick them up for reasonable prices.

... and sold by M10 and Bunnings respectively.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

TheMantis

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#2156070 8-Jan-2019 07:42

I should also add that the cheap products, while they meet the minimum standard, are cheap for a reason. Some of those reasons might be:

Poor build quality - flimsy plastic and poor moulding

Lack of colour choices - any colour you want as long as it's white

Poor UV resistance - colours fade quickly and unevenly

Switching mechanisms of low quality - switches will feel rough to operate and mechanically wont last as long

Terminal screws of poor quality - easier to strip and break screws. As a bonus, many PDL components have integrated Robertson #1 screw heads.

Bung

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#2156077 8-Jan-2019 07:54

I believe that some of the differences in outlet build quality only become evident if more than 1 socket is heavily loaded.
The AS/NZS 3112 Standard for outlets only tests 1 outlet at 10 amps, the other outlet(s) are not loaded. A double outlet is not meant to supply 2 10 amp appliances.

At the beach I have an ant problem. They get into switches and the dead ant paste stops the switch working. When that happens I am happier replacing a cheap switch. The higher priced switches don't last any longer.

TheMantis

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#2156079 8-Jan-2019 07:58

A double outlet is not meant to supply 2 10 amp appliances.

Now there's a great source of debate.

Varkk

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#2156086 8-Jan-2019 08:27

Usually a double outlet is on the same circuit so supplied through the same 10 amp breaker.

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sparkz25

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#2156130 8-Jan-2019 08:44

Ge0rge:
sparkz25:

personally get your sparky to supply and install, the stuff from the likes of bunnings amd miter 10 i wouldnt touch

PDL is my preferred brand

Funny - Mitre 10 stock a large range of PDL products...

I will have to have a look next time i go in to miter 10.

Vynco i have never used, but i use alot of their other products, HPM are not great as they had a issue many years ago with the face-plates discoloring after some time, also the switch mech is rear loading so if it isnt installed correctly you can end up pushing the switch in the wall.

irongarment:
sparkz25:

personally get your sparky to supply and install, the stuff from the likes of bunnings amd miter 10 i wouldnt touch

PDL is my preferred brand

The stuff from Bunnings and Mitre 10 all meet legal requirements. Why wouldn't you touch them? I have Vynco in my house. Hugely expensive. Made in China. "Your sparky" is undoubtedly making a mint from that.

you are correct all the products sold meet requirements but as @TheMantis has mentioned/summed up you pay for what you get.

"My Sparky" Is not undoubtedly making a mint from that because I am the sparky

Rikkitic

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#2156150 8-Jan-2019 09:18

Most of the light switches in my step-daughter's new build flat in Sydney had to be replaced because the sparky-installed ones were so shoddy. The plastic surrounds crumbled and the switches fell into the wall. Some switches simply stopped working. Clearly the sparky sourced the cheapest Chinese rubbish he could.

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Groucho

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#2156321 8-Jan-2019 12:15

My two cents, go with PDL as they have a long history of quality in NZ. We had an electrician install some extra points to which he said he'd discounted the sockets for me as he doesn't make much on them which ended up being ~$22 each. Although I don't remember their brand they were supposedly Australian made but pretty cheap in their tactile function and aesthetics. Two years later the spring gave out in one switch that is used most days and was a bit spongy. I rolled into a local electrical wholesaler as a cash buyer and bought a replacement PDL unit and paid $2 less than the original cheap sockets.

tripper1000

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#2156381 8-Jan-2019 13:23

I have found that the cheap ones offered by the hardware stores tend to be weaker and the face plates can be loose and rattly, and just ooze cheapness. Also, the spring contacts can be weak and have a short life - I've had a couple overheat and go black and charred (very bad!!!). They just don't seem like good quality, irrespective of meeting legislated minimum std's. IMHO it is false economy to use them. They're probably fine for a temporary installation or somewhere where they are going to get beating up and replaced quickly anyway.

I mostly have a mixture of HPM and PDL in my house and PDL is better quality hands down(or was 10 years ago). I've had a lot of HPM fail with faults ranging from the switches going all loose and not working to the switches falling out the back of the face plate - PDL simply doesn't do this. When you get 4 light switches or more in one plate HPM really starts giving a lot a problems (switches twisted out of position by stiff wires etc), where as the PDL, is tight, strong and dependable.

Also PDL is way more convenient when redecorating because you can pull the fascia off to keep them clean and refit later without opening the unit and exposing live wires etc and needed an electrician , where as HPM doesn't do this so ends up with paint lines/over spray/plaster etc on them.

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