Adler Barbour Quality Control and Manual

[Stan Murphy]

I have just spent the second consecutive weekend attempting to install a second defective Adler Barbour Cooilmatic Series 80 on my boat. The entire installation process has been frustrating because of the nearly incoherent manual that came with both units. I do not know whether the manual as originally written in German was poorly done, but it is very clear that it has suffered badly from the translation. Apparently, a number of idoimatic German phrases have been translated verbatim leaving American consumers to guess about their meaning; example: an apparent reference to electical grounding appears as "earth leakage protection". That's one of the easier guesses. Installation instruction are poorly organized, jump from step to step in no logical way, and lack any coherent help with trouble shooting. I will be trying to work this out with the AB customer service people on Monday but right now I am frustrated beyond words to have wasted two straight sailing weekends fighting with AB's installation instructions and poor quality control. I can hear Grunert calling my boat's name.

 

[Mike DiMario]

Priceless

Stan,I like to do things myself as you are. Under the circumstances, have you considered going to a tech that does it regularly? When one considers the cost of two sailing weekends, only one thing comes to mind. PRICLESS!fair winds,Mike D

 

[Phil Williams]

Quality

It is disappointing to hear you have had problems installing your Coolmatic system. When you had trouble with the first unit did you call our customer service department for assistance? 80% of the reported problems can be diagnosed over the phone and simple corrections made thus preventing the removal of the entire unit.Phil

 

[Stan Murphy]

Kudos to AB Customer Service

In follow up to my "Quality Control" post on Sunday night, I want to send kudos along to AB's customer service rep, Al Buttery. He helped me isolate the problem first thing Monday morning and has promised overnight a replacement for the defective thermostat (last week the problem was a bad evaporater replaced by West Marine). I could not be more pleased with the response but my central points remain. The quality control on these German/Italian units is less than awe inspiring based upon my experience, and the manual should contain the relatively simple trouble shooting steps Mr. Buttery walked me though on the phone. I appreciated Mike's good natured reply but I am not certain that a tech (charging $200 for the installation--actual quote) could have done much more unless he had a stock of spare parts, something that local techs do not have in my neck of the woods. Besides, when this unit goes bad--like all marine components, it is not a question of if-- it is certain to surrender in an inconvenient, out of the way place where there are no techs at all. Having worked through the problems and fixed them myself, I will be in a much better position to troubleshoot the unit next time and perhaps save a really inconvenient situation. To me, self sufficiency is priceless. Phil, please make certain that Mr. Buttery knows how much I appreciate his help, and get those German engineers working on an understandable installation manual.