The two oil filters shown in the pictures above may look the same. However, the oil filter on the left in each picture
shows the wrong part number and is very poor quality. It will also start to disintegrate after limited usage.
This counterfeit filter recently resulted in major early hour and sudden failures of six FG Wilson generating sets powered by 2306 and 2806 Perkins engines. At the time of failure these generating sets were powering critical applications in the Middle East. Rather than buying genuine parts from their local FG Wilson Dealer, the customer in this instance tried to save costs by purchasing counterfeit filters from an unreliable source.
After limited usage, small parts of the counterfeit filter disintegrated and were pumped into the engines resulting in blocked piston cooling jets, followed by piston seizure, conrod failure and damaged crankcase.
This type of failure represents a very real risk of injury to the operator and any other person close to the engine at time of failure.
Save on costs?
Counterfeit parts are less expensive. This is because counterfeit manufacturers use cheaper, lower quality materials to save on costs. They are designed using reverse engineering – i.e. counterfeit manufacturers copy the original component without having access to technical data and design information.
Whereas genuine components are designed to work together to maximise product performance and life span, counterfeit parts are created in isolation without knowledge of how they will perform within an overall package. Counterfeit parts are not tested or validated.
These combined factors can lead to rapid wear, poor performance, higher oil and fuel consumption and ultimately product failure as illustrated above.
Component damage and product failures, caused by the use of non-genuine parts, are not covered by FG Wilson Product Warranty.
Counterfeit parts may be less expensive to purchase, but can customers really afford to take the risk?
“The message to your customers is:
Always use genuine parts!”
Comments