One Panel To Rule Them All

[r24977]

I have noticed within the trade a high percentage of Engineers will find one panel and defend that panel from all criticism even if that criticism is justified could this be wrong? I understand that it is very easy to "keep to what you know" but surely as Engineers we should not be limited by this and must have an open mind, even the ATS and the dreaded Europlex 3Gs have good and bad points!

So what makes you use the panel that you do, is it cost? ease of use? or is it just to keep to what you know?

[MrHappy]

used most things I'am normally at odds with opinion & use what other tell me is **** with I find stable ?

[IAS]

I have noticed within the trade a high percentage of Engineers will find one panel and defend that panel from all criticism even if that criticism is justified could this be wrong? I understand that it is very easy to "keep to what you know" but surely as Engineers we should not be limited by this and must have an open mind, even the ATS and the dreaded Europlex 3Gs have good and bad points!

So what makes you use the panel that you do, is it cost? YES ease of use? YES or is it just to keep to what you know? YES

in over 30 years we have only used 4 manufacturers ............ 3 if you dont count Scantronic twice

[r24977]

in over 30 years we have only used 4 manufacturers ............ 3 if you dont count Scantronic twice

So what happens if you do a takeover, and a panel from a manufacturer you don't like or have never used has been fitted, would you rip it out and start again or keep costs down and leave it in place?

[A-G]

I select by (in no specific order)

Ease of use

Facilites

Longevity

Reliability

Price

Aesthetics

I detest bad design ... and some designs are truly awful. eg, some panels have little, square buttons .... and I've never met any human with little, square fingers.

but without doubt, when you've got some hundreds or thousands of customers with the same panel it is a very difficult decision to change.

[Cubit]

and I've never met any human with little, square fingers.

What shape are yours then?

[IAS]

So what happens if you do a takeover, and a panel from a manufacturer you don't like or have never used has been fitted, would you rip it out and start again or keep costs down and leave it in place?

YES, depends on the criteria, if it`s a bog standard domestic and a 700L it can stay, if it`s a redcare and a Galaxy it`s out.

[alterEGO]

YES, depends on the criteria, if it`s a bog standard domestic and a 700L it can stay, if it`s a redcare and a Galaxy it`s out.

I would be interested to know what others think on this subject.

We used to replace the panel on takeovers, we no longer do this unless its one of a few that we won't use.

We stopped for a number of reasons, the main three reasons were:

1) If it works don't mess! you can sometimes end up with a real pain in the ****, boxed in expanders etc.

2) Cost to the customer, once you start adding on expanders etc it all gets a bit silly price wise.

3) No one else around here does it, only a few of the firms do takeovers, and the ones that do all keep existing panels other then ATS etc.

We know almost all panels anyway so not to much of a problem, however spares is a pain.

[A-G]

I would be interested to know what others think on this subject.

We replace with a Texecom. If I was in a city I'd probably do it different, but because of the geographical spread of our installs I think this is the only way. I don't want to send an engineer to a fault 60 miles away and find that he needs a part he hasn't got with him .... so we stick to one range and keep a good stock.

It does mean that we don't get many big take-overs unless they've already got a Premier, but I can live with that.

[james.wilson]

We always replace the panel unless its a galaxy or a castle. We can't support nor do we carry parts for other panels. But while we don't do as many takeovers as we could we also don't take on rubbish that will cause costly callouts.

If it was just me looking after them we wouldn't do this. I reakon I could manage any panel as long as I had the manual. But there is no way imho our engineers could.